Volvo 4 cylinder engines are famous for being very long lived, if it's well maintained the engine should be the least of your worries, 185k is just about broke in, they regularly go for 300K or more. If only Volvo had used Diesels that were as well made as their gasoline engines.
I am looking into buying a 1990 740 GLE wagon listed on Ebay. The dealership in NJ says it appears immaculately maintained, and the photos look good. It has 185K miles. The Kelly BB says the value from a dealership is abt $5K, from and individual, about $3300. the reserve price is unknown. Anyone have an idea how high I should bid on it? My brother picked up a 1992 Volvo GL wagon for $3000, but it was an individual. and the AC didn't work. On this one they claim everything is functional. My other concern is how many miles are these engines good for? 185 K is a lot of miles! I know it won't last as long as a diesel would, but they are tough reliable engines.
I should add a couple of things. It is a GLE model, not just GL...and it has 2.4 L engine. From nadaguides.com, this, I think, means it is the 16-valve engine. I think the 16-valve engine has interference type-valves, which is bad news when the timing belt breaks. Also, the eBay ad says nothing about it having turbo. I am a little concerned that it might be very sluggish/underpowered without a turbo. Nadaguides.com shows average retail price of $3000, but I think that it is not factoring in a deduction for high mileage (under the mileage column at the bottom, it just shows "N/A").
2.4L? I think even the 16V engines were 2.3 but I could be wrong. 16V engines are nice, you *do* have to keep up on timing belt maintenance, but you should do that anyway. They're also quite powerful, nearly as much so as the turbo, but less low end grunt. Even the standard 8v 2.3L is reasonable, with an automatic they're a little sluggish but with a manual they're not bad at all, particularly if you drop in a VX or K camshaft. It's all a tradeoff of power, fuel economy and maintenance effort but all of the 4 cylinder engines are quite well made.
A GLE has the 4-cylinder 16-valve engine. There were some problems with these leaking oil at the bearings so look for excessive dripping. The engine is not all that powerful when hooked up to an automatic. My 740 GLE was a slug in fact. But, my 745 Turbo was much much quicker and longer lived. If it is a regular GL 4-cylinder (or the turbo) it will last longer than the GLE 16-valve.
My neighbor just sold his '94 740GL wagoon in very good condition (no turbo,no leather) for $3,400. It had 125k on it. It is not even at its half life.
Pete '98 V70GT '99 V70 XC90
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