Advice on buying an older Volvo

Crap Master · 2003-06-27T07:14:13+00:00

I'm looking to buy an older Volvo, and can't spend very much. I'vealways been totally in love with the 740/760 - it's totally anaesthetic thing - I don't really know very much about cars. I guessmy biggest concern is about mileage. I know that I have to buysomething with a lot of miles, and I have no idea how much is toomuch. I was thinking that 200K might be pushing it, but now that I'veread up on them a little bit, it seems not uncommon for them to lastto 300. I even read a review of one with 445K - un-f-ing-believable!Until now, I've pretty much always had Japanese cars. I just can'tbring myself to buy another one because it seems like they're soexpensive. Ten years ago, you could buy a ten year old Japanese carwith 100K for $1000. Today, that very same car is 20 years old with200K and still costs $1000. Those old Accords and Tercels are great,but my impression has been that they're really hitting the end of theline at 200K.So anyway, what's a reasonable life span for a 740 and/or 760? TodayI saw a 1989 760 for $1000 with 309K - that seems like a little muchto me - and I've seen them cheaper on ebay.I don't know if this matters, but I'll be using the car to delivernewspapers, which unfortunately really kicks a car's ass. The lasttime I got brake pads on my tercel, they lasted 7 months, and a newset of tires lasted only a little bit longer (admittedly the cheapestnew - not retread - tires money can buy...)Oh...I talk to much....thanks for any help!

C

Crap Master 23 years ago

Wow! Everybody's opinions are really helpful and appreciated and confusing at the same time!

Personally, I really haven't found that the Japanese cars have gotten cheaper. Between 1991 and 1996, for less than $700 each, I bought an

83 sentra, a 72 toyota corona, an 80 something nissan pulsar, an 83 subaru gl, and an 83 accord. Except for the accord, which had 150K, the others all had less than 100K when I bought them. It seems that right now, you can't get anything japanese that you can even drive home for that price. I just saw an ad for the very same 83 subaru that I bought for $500 in 93 - 280K, needs a clutch - $600. firm.

A pickup would be nice, but wouldn't really work with the newspapers and the baby too. Wilson is right that I don't really know how to fix anything (but not right about me being a guy!) I'm open to learning stuff, and I was so proud of myself when I replaced a piece of heater hose in my Subaru, - I even had to move the alternator to get to it. But it's frustrating because my only power tool is a black and decker screwdriver with 2 AA batteries! Also, it's hard to try and fix a car and watch a 2 year old at the same time. Anyway, I'm pretty good at finding nice people who like fixing cars. Last winter a really wonderful guy replaced the rack and pinion on my tercel and the clutch on the subaru for only $400. But the sub no longer runs and the tercel is making horrifying noises and I'm afraid it wants to kill me...and I've spent way too much money trying to fix both of these cars (which have 255K and 225K)

So Wilson is also right that money is a huge issue for me. Me and my baby are living on about $1,000/month in Seattle. Cash flow is always an issue and I'm completely dependent on my car for work. My contract even requires me to have a back up car, so they could technically fire me if I ever couldn't work because of a car problem. I really need reliability.

I found it really interesting that many of the volvo classifieds that I've seen mention that the car "never breaks down" and "won't die", and I've seen lots of them with 300-400K. Not exactly what I'm in the market for, but it sure does leave a good impression of the car's durability.

I still talk too much, and I need a nap....

Vote

A

Alex Zepeda 23 years ago

I'm going down this road with a friend of mine. She just bought a cherry

245 and I'm showing her how to fix some stuff for minimal financial compensation (a few tools here and there, the occasional ride, etc). Up next, valve cover gasket and timing belt. The mechanic she talked to wanted $150 for the valve cover gasket and about $400 for the timing belt and seals... all in all he came up with $1700 worth of *MINOR* repairs. Ugh.

She's taken such an interest in the car, that she's browsed through the Bentley, and can identify where the various parts are that she's going to replace.

The topic of a good starter set of tools came up. A decent set of 1/4" drive metric sockets, ratchet, and extension will set you back about $20 at Sears. Yeah, you really have trouble applying a lot of force with those tools, but they're cheap, and they fit nearly everywhere you'd want them to. All in all, something I'd highly recommend if you want to tinker with a Volvo. I just think there are enough small areas that you can't get 3/8" drive tools in.

An old Volvo is a great car to fix up, and it probably won't leave you stranded (they don't tend to die without prior warning). But I question whether or not any Volvo will be as reliable as most Japanese cars. I love my two non running cars.. but certainly if I had sunk that kind of money into a Japanese car, I probably wouldn't be having these problems :)

- alex

Vote

A

Alex Zepeda 23 years ago

Yup. Why do you think I'm going to be doing the work and/or showing her how to?

Altho in all fairness, the valve cover gasket is about $15 from a non discounted dealer. :)

- alex

Vote

J

Joseph Oberlander 23 years ago

Don't even get me started on the belt - $400??? Ouch - the dealer charges that much.

Vote

H

hgawluk 23 years ago

Sure you pay for the parts. But when they last 2-300K you don't have to worry about that particular part for probably as long as you're going to own the car. Or you buy domestic, jobber or whatever and replace the parts every

50 or 60K. You do the math.

Vote

N

Number1169 23 years ago

That may be true in theory, but no other car has managed to come anywhere near Irv Gordon's car. You have to give a lot of credit to the robust design of the Volvo mechanicals.

J.M.Copeland

Vote

J

Joseph Oberlander 23 years ago

Actually, his car was in second place for a decade until the owner of that Mercedes got too old to continue driving it. :)

Something like 1.1 million miles on a Mercedes - quite impressive as well.

Vote

N

Number1169 23 years ago

Yes, Mercedes engines are also legendary for their longevity, especially the diesels. There was also a guy from California with an old Volkswagen Beetle who held the high-mileage record for a while. Many say he cheated because he went through something like a dozen engines and transmissions to do it!

J.Copeland

Vote

Advice on buying an older Volvo

Join the Discussion

Didn't find your answer?