240 or 740 Wagon Buying Advice?

Stick with '88 or later to avoid the wiring problems.

Mike

Lots of good tips can be found here;

Best of luck.

BTW, I love my 87 760 wagon...231k miles and going strong. I've done alot to it tho...

cheers

RS

Saab are ok . had two 900 turbo's.

now in the second 240 estate, wagon,station. The rear door wiring is easy to replace/repair yourself. They are nice cars. They always bring you home, mine always does.

n.b. Unless you collide with Scania, or trees.

Clean the flame trap as soon as you get it, they're often all clogged up and it will cause massive oil leaks when it happens. Turbos shouldn't have the flame trap, just an empty holder but sometimes someone mistakedly puts one in there.

Disintegrating wiring can be a hassle but it's not difficult to replace the engine harness and then you no longer have the problem, don't nessesarily pass up a nice car because the wiring is shot, in fact you can get a very good deal if you're willing to fiddle with this yourself.

Avoid the V6, the Diesel and the ZF auto gearbox, as well as early 760's with the vacuum operated automatic climate control unless you really like tinkering/meticulous maintenance. When buying a 240 check the blower motor, when buying a 740 look at the headliner, they come apart and it's quite a job to redo them. If the car has a sunroof (740) check that it's in good working order, they can be a real hassle when they break. If the car has a turbo, check for excessive play in the shaft, blue smoke from the exhaust, and any other strange behavior. Punch the gas and check that the boost rises smoothly and regulates at a consistant point somewhere near halfway through the yellow.

I think it's worth it to buy a 1990s model 240 wagon. Look on eBay. You can easily get a good one for less than $5000.

You could find a 740 for cheaper, and maybe with a turbo engine... You might be able to get a 940 for less money as well.

I know you're a 240 fan, but they did hold their value the best, which is not good for the buyer, only the seller... Our 1993 960 ($40K new) is worth less then a 1993 240 (maybe... very high $20ks, low $30k's new?)... Go figure eh? The downside is that 960's on the used market all seem to be highway cars with a good 300K Kms on their odometers (and we're not selling ours with a mere 160K Kms on it)

A 960 is a great value... 6 cylinder engine of modern design, ABS, SIPS, Electronic controlled automatic transmission with Sport/Econo/Winter driving modes (they are usefull), Electronic Climate Control (it really does work - hold temperature very nicely), heated seats, leather interior that holds up very well, velvet headliner and pillar trim that holds up incredibly well actually, you also get load leveling rear suspension, independant suspension (rear) on the sedans (later on the wagons), and a bit of a more modern body style (after 1994 I believe).

They're not even that expensive to maintain... our 960 is costing much MUCH less to run then our 1999 Golf TDI (which is suppose to be an affordable commuting type car... the only thing affordable about it, is its high fuel mileage - the old Volvo's a way better value for money IMO).... And whenever I see a 240 it looks beat up or quite old, i've never seen a bad looking 960 their bodies and paintwork seem to hold up exceptionally well - someone guessed that our car was "around 4-5 years old" last year... it's almost triple that.

If only they were offered with a manual transmission they'd be really great cars, I personally can't stand slushboxes though. I suppose one could import parts from Europe to convert one though.

I don't either (enjoy automatics)... but it's honestly not bad to drive. It really needs a fifth ratio however, the gears are quite tall (in all 4 ratios, though 3rd and 4th are awfully tall). If you drive with the car in Sport setting the transmission is quite responsive (for a 12 year old transmission it's fast and smooth... I've seen new cars that aren't this responsive)... Economy mode isn't too bad, the car feels a lot slower though.

I've wished for a 5 speed in this car too, it'd be a really quick car with that transmission... It'd probably be way more fun to drive then a turbo'd

940 (I've never driven a turbo Volvo yet... so can't really say, but with a NA engine there is no turbo lag which is a bonus... and that inline 6 engine is the nicest engine to revv the hell out of, that I have driven with at least, I bet you she'd run 7-8000 rpms if there were no fuel cutoff at

I am quite tall and slightly overwheght and I am so much more comfortable in the 740 model than the 240 regardless of wagon or sedan. I also tryed out the 940 model which also was a bit small for my hight. I love the heated seat feature on many volvos. It is not a sports car but I love it. If you get a volvo 1990 or later I believe that airbags are standard, at least on 740, on the driver side.

I've had 2 900 turbos myself and I love them but they do not seem to age as gracefully as some other cars. And they're a swine to work on. Phil Brown

I have a 900S (non-turbo) and it seems to be holding up nearly as well as the Volvos. As for working on it, some things are harder, some are easier, overall I find it comparable to the 240 and 740. Very easy to replace the clutch on a classic Saab 900, it's right out there in front, don't have to do any major disassembly. The handling out of the box is much better than either of my Volvos was too, though the transmission is a bit more finicky and the seats aren't quite as comfy.

Rob, what is your average mpg on your 6 cylinder 960? In town? On highway?

Thanks.

Bummer i just sold a good one for $1500, new t-belt, belts, brakes. It was 1990 240dl wagon. The problem areas were oil leaks, Tranny selonoid, a/c hoses, and strut posts, rear lighting, and various electrical buggyboos. Always started and ran well. Fixed most of the problems with the help of this Forum.

1990 240 with 160-180k should run you about 2k and you should verify that most of the "issues" have been fixed.

Averages around 10-11L per 100kms on combinational driving

Pure highway she'll do under 9L per 100kms (around 10L per 100Km even cruising at around 130-140 as long as you don't press down hard on the accelerator - this car drinks when you push it hard)

Purely in town around 12L per 100Kms... Around 14L in the wintertime.

Apparantly it's as good as our old 740's (1989 GLE 16Valve, and a 1985 GLE

8Valve) were in town (a tiny bit worse maybe) but on the highway it's actually better... Plus way smoother of an engine, and more able to tow... I believe I was told we get around 12-16L per 100kms towing (I've never towed anything with it yet - just hauled a lot of my stuff around, but my father uses it to tow the pop-up tent trailer in the summer).

Thanks, Rob. Converted to US, around 22+ mpg. I've test driven a later

960, was very impressed with engine and tran performance, and expected the fuel consumption (mpg or kpl) to be worse than your rating.