Hey,
I found a 1985 240 Wagon, thats in my price range (300-600) and is in decent shape. Seats are firm, clean and nice, dash is nice, new tires, strong clutch, OD works and has 207K miles on it. And it handles real nice when I drove it.
But the wiring harness needs to be replaced (the oil warning light wire was toast) and the owner didn't know that the oil was incredibly low (nor that the OD worked..or possibly that it had it or what it was). Also, the wiper relay needed to be replaced (I think thats what it was) and it needs to pass DEQ.
He wants 500 for it, and a good friend of mine (who is a volvo nut) suggested I "walk away from it", due to the wiring harness mostly.
My question is, how hard is it to replace a wiring harness on it? If I was to replace the wiring harness, I'd do it myself. So Im not expecting it to be easy. I know it'll be time consuming (but I think worth it). Are they ungodly expensive though?
Also, and I realize that none of you know what it looks like, should I lower my offer (if I were to buy it) because of the wiring harness issue? He didn't seem to know it was bad, which suggests he didn't price it based on that knowledge.
Part of me says "stay away" because he didn't know about the wiring harness problem, or the oil being so low or the power steering fluid being low. And I don't want to buy a car that I have to fix a lot of and then have to pass DEQ.
But part of me realizes for the price I can't expect it to be perfect.
If he lowered it to 300, or would accept 300, I'd think long and hard about taking it. I can provide more clarity if needed.