Guys (and gals),

My '86 240 is getting long in the tooth. Quite possibly the best car I have owned with a view to reliability, but I am at 280,5xx now and I would be surprised if the engine goes more than 350K. That would give me another 4 years with the car, which would be great. Only problem is that I am getting "bored" after driving the same car every day for 17 years!

I have put some money into the car, but not an exorbitant amount:
-Steering Rack (225K)
-A few sets of tie-rod ends and ball joints, every 75-80K or so.
-Radiator (150K)
-Water pumps (80K, 180K, 250K)
-Trailing arm/panhard rod/torque rod bushings (175K)
-Alternator (150K)
-Clutch (original at 180K!)
-Overdrive rebuild (180K with clutch job, it had symptoms starting around 160K)
-Center carrier support/bearing (150K)
-Cat converter (3 since 1990, cheap aftermarket crap)
-Cat-back exhaust (x2)
-Wiring harness (2001)
-Air mass meter (x2 since '90)
-Fuel pump mounted under the back seat (>200K)
-Blower motor (2002)

A few miscellaneous things. Overall, I would say that the frequency of repairs has been above average for an old car and given the fact that I have gone almost 300K on the original engine and transmission (and starter!), I can hardly complain.

I am looking at replacing the car with possibly a VW Golf TDI. From what I have heard, VW has rectified the build quality issues that plagued their assembly plant in Mexico, and the new TDI's are supposed to be very reliable. They also deliver 42 city and 49 highway with a stick, and 170 ft.-lbs. from 1900 RPM. Oh, and a five-star crash test rating. Resale value is very good, it's common to see '00 and '01 models with 120K miles going for $8-$10K.

Sounds very tempting to me. The 240 is a bigger car, but I don't have many passengers, no kids, and do not have a need to haul around a lot of cargo.

I would still keep the Volvo and drive it until it blew up (which could be several years, LOL). The VW would be my new commuter car/daily driver.

What think yee of the Brickboard?

Thanks in advance for all opinions/feedback/bashing. :-)