I have had over the last 20x years at least a a dozen different Volvos. Of that I have had various year models. The one that gave me most trouble was the '88. Bad tranny, head gasket blew, bad steering rack. My current driver and my fave(so far)is an '86. Really solid & dependable and it is close to 200,000 whereas the '88 only had 120,000. However honestly I do not really think you can generalize or say one year is better then another. I mean keep in mind we buy these used, they are old(20x years give or take), and we rarely know service history or how they were treated/mistreated. I think each car has to be considered individually. I would suggest if you are not that familiar with Volvos/240's to have a good Volvo specialist mechanic check any car you are considering purchase of. Good Luck.