Evening. I'm about to buy a 1983 240 form a guy. This will be my first Volvo, and I'm thrilled about it. He's touted the car as being pretty easy to work on and directed me to this forum, which he uses for questions. My first question is incredibly general in nature.

Simply put, I live in an apartment complex that does not allow the parking lot to be used as a garage. That means no home oil changes, and god knows what else. So when I run into trouble, I'm not sure what to do. How long do most matters take to fix? Would I be able to take care of most things before anyone had time to nag?

It sounds pretty hopeless to me, like I'll just need to get a mechanic until I get a house, but I'm hoping some of you might have experience and advice with this.

Thanks for your time!
(Also, if you have any specific hints related to the 240, I'd love to hear. Nothing is too basic - I'm a novice!)