Is 240 clutch worth repairing?

I have an '89 240 estate. It was given to me a year ago and is serving me well - two kids under two mean work and it laughed at the 1700 mile trip we did in just 10 days over new year. When I put my foot down to accelerate, sometimes, the engine will rev before engaging. I'm assuming that the clutch probably needs replacing. Looking round the web, it seems common for 240's to need a clutch replacement somewhere between 130-190k miles and mine's done just under 150k. Here's the problem - I can find another 2/740 for between £250-£750 in good condition, with service history and similar mileage. The clutch replacement is going to cost me between £200-250 (I've phoned round for some quotes). Would I not just be better off using my money to put into getting a replacement car rather than spending all that on a clutch? Surely, if I can find another 2/740 that's already had the clutch replaced, that's a smarter move. Please don't just reply by saying 'hey, do it yourself'. I'm sure it's a very easy job if you have a Haynes manual and feel confident playing with your car, but I'm not. I'm the guy who managed to get 1st degree burns trying to deal with a little bit or air that was trapped in a car's cooling system!

Thanks

Tim

Reply to
Tim Butt
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^^ ||------------This maybe the deal breaker.

IF you can find a car that you are confident is in as good condition (even the unseen bits) AND it has had a new clutch within the past couple of years or so, then it may indeed be a smarter move.

Do the sums - consider everything that is wrong with your car that NEEDS to be put right. Does the engine have more than 200K miles on it yet? How many more years out of this car would you settle for before the clutch job became a bargain? Is rust eating it away?

If, at the moment, only the clutch needs replacing, then get it fixed; you'l be as sure as you can be that you have a good car that'll never need the clutch replacing again.

If other stuff needs doing, consider how sure you can be that another similar car won't need the same stuff doing. Dunno how much an AA or RAC inspection costs, but you could factor that into your calculations.

If you end up changing the car, you'll have a 100% unknown quantity.

*Maybe* you'll get a better deal.

I think that the beauty of owning an old Volvo is that they just keep going. I may need to replacing things from time to time, but the point is I don't need to keep replacing the whole car.

Reply to
Stewart Hargrav

Personally I'd be tempted to have the repair done. The car you have is running well otherwise. It's up to passing the MOT presumably.... Another car may not be in the same condition despite it's service record.... £250 you have a car with an new clutch; which is a known qualtity. ...buy another motor and it might have a clutch about to fail too.... the more you know for certain has been done to a car the more you can rely on it....

A case of better the devil you know!

As for the haynes manual. Well frankly if you're going to motor on that sort of budget (and it can be done) you really need to get into doing your own maintenance... £15 on a manual should be a reasonable investment

Reply to
LaoFuZhi

It's always better to fix something that you know its history than to inheret somone else's problems. There is a reason they decided to get rid of their Volvo - and it usually isn't cheap.

Reply to
Joseph Oberlander

Just have it fixed, yeah so maybe you can find 240's that ridiculously cheap over there, but you might get one only to have the clutch fail in that too. If it's all it needs, take it to a garage and have it done.

Reply to
James Sweet

the car was free!!!! and if you don't have anything invested in it and it only has 150,000 miles why wouldn't it be worth spending 250.00 on?

Reply to
Islandguy77554

And look at it this way - if you replace the clutch with the real thing, ie. not a cheapo pattern copy, you are going to get another 150,000 out of the clutch. That is way ahead of some cars I know. I had a maestro once (before I knew better) and its clutch went at a regular 30,000 to 40,000 miles. If the rest of the car is OK, which should be on a young '89, it's well worth the investment. I had a clutch on my old 740 replaced at 210,000 miles, its first replacement from new. I used a guy who used to work for Volvo but then went private. All he does is service old Volvos. He put in a new clutch for £210 and I had the same car up to 320,000 before I retired it due to rust. It was a C reg with the M46 box with overdrive. Again, if the rest of the car is fine, do it, cos you wont have to do it again for a long time.......

Reply to
Stuart Gray

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