Hello,
Thoughts and opinions needed please. My brother (who loved working/messing with cars when he was a teen and still is into old cars, but pays someone to work on them now) bought his cleaning lady's 1982 240 (I think, not positive where to look) Volvo wagon to help her out. He has brought it out to my house to be a project car for my 15 year old son (will be 16 in Feb) as a "gift". Now never mind that my son has never expressed the slightest interest in working on cars and since my husband had a major stroke nearly 2 years ago we have no one with mechanical aptitude here anymore. It needs some work of course and badly needs a paint job, but that said, it was free and if it would be a reliable car my son says he would not have a problem driving it. It needs to hold up to a daily 45 mile round trip to school and I need him to be able to drive to school when he gets his license to help free up my schedule so I have more working time options. In between getting him to and from school, scouts and misc, along with my husbands many doctor appts I spend hours a week driving and am looking forward to shuffling off one driving chore. According to my brother if my son will keep his foot out of it, (are they are turbocharged w/intercoolers?) it should get gas mileage somewhere in the mid to upper twenties, which I confess surprises me as I assumed that since it's older and big it would get much worse. So this is what I know about it.
My brother says to replace all the belts, hoses, spark plugs, filters, generally a tune-up. Check for vacuum leaks. Needs tires, brakes and probably shocks. the lady that had it told him she thought it had an exhaust leak because she would get a headache driving it long distances, but he said he didn't smell/notice any exhaust getting into the car, but if there was a problem he would suspect the connection where the manifold connects needs to be tightened. Power windows don't work, but that's not a biggie.
So assuming we don't go with the do it ourself option, can a regular mechanic work on these, are brakes and shocks normal for these cars or do they have to be done a special way? So I have no real idea of what this would all run, but let's say I put 1500 into it, what can I expect in the terms of reliability? Is this a car that's going to break down often since it's that old. I have no idea on how it's been maintained, but I would guess average at best.
And what's the best resource book for this car, I looked at the auto zone in the next town over (we live near a very small town), they only had one, and it covered a bunch of years and models, I was looking for a more specific one, if there is one available.
And any tips on finding a decent mechanic for this car, without using the Volvo dealer, my daughter's boyfriend's family has a couple of older volvos which they take to Dallas for major service, and I don't want to do that, there is bound to be someone more local (rural East Texas, near Tyler). Money is very tight so I do have to consider that, but at the same time, he'll be on the round a lot and I need something safe and dependable for him. Any thoughts or experiences with this type of situation. Thanks in advance.

A good repair manual is Haynes #97020, Volvo 240 Series, 1976-1993.

Properly maintained, the Volvo 240 is a safe and reliable car, easy to work on.

However, I would not choose a 1982 240, with unknown maintenance history, for a first-time driver. It would be OK as a project car, if he has the interest, especially working with an older more experienced tech with tools and some equipment. You gotta figure that no maintenance history means no maintenance.

Consider the safety equipment of 1982 compared with today. A lot has changed in 26 years. It doesn't have air bags or ABS brakes. The mileage is not very good for a 45-mile commute. You didn't say how many miles are on the car, but I can assume it's approaching 200k or more. So you can figure the suspension is shot, plus the exhaust system, if they haven't been replaced in 10 years or so.

The Volvo dealer will eat you out of house and home. If you have an independent Volvo tech within driving distance, that's a plus. But it's still around $100/hr for labor so it's best if you can do it yourself.

You can get a 5-yr old small car, a rice burner (Honda, Nissan, Toyota), with better safety equipment and mileage, and with a verifiable maintenance history. For example, Budget Rentals has car sales and the cars are generally in excellent condition. That's probably what I would do.

Even late rice burners don't come off well it hit by a heavier vehicle-you're in the US, & avg GVM is prob still around 2T. Hitting such a vehicle with anything significantly lighter is going to hurt......The rice pudding volvo will prob just get driven too hard to keep up with the local snails by an inexperienced young driver/petrolhead, which will cost fuel and place him at greater risk of an accident. Whilst its a good car to have an accident in, I would expect the young man to end up taking risks to go quicker, and that's not wise. Being free & affordable does not alone qualify it for acceptance for this job.

Hi scribbulus,

As nice86 said, parts and labor are not cheap on Volvos, but if properly maintained, they have the potential to run a very long time.

My suggestion would be to find a local independent Volvo shop.
I am not familiar with Texas geography, but the Volvospeed forum has a section with reviews of Volvo service locations. Check it out to see if one is listed near you:
http://volvospeed.com/vs_forum/index.php?s...filter=all&st=0

You may need to register with the forum to see the posts, so here is the main page:
http://volvospeed.com/vs_forum/index.php?act=idx

Make sure you find a mechanic who is experienced with Volvos as they have their own "quirks" that non-Volvo mechanics may not even be aware of, and thus not look for it.

Once you find a mechanic you like, schedule a "new car inspection." Over here in CA, it costs about $150 and the car is checked from head to toe. The findings of this inspection will leave you better informed about the condition of your car and whether it can be expected to be a reliable daily driver or a money pit.

If the car is found to be a good candidate for your son's daily driver, expect that you may need to get the car caught-up on some missed maintenance.

If the car is found to be a money pit, or otherwise unsuitable for your needs, you can post a classified and sell the car to a Volvo enthusiast looking for a project car.

In either case, take a look at the Turbobricks forum:
http://forums.turbobricks.com/index.php
There are a lot of 240 enthusiasts over there.

As you can see below my avitar, I am a driver of an older 240.
All of the above thoughts I have shared with you have come from personal experience:
I also found a car with unknown maintenance history and had to find an independent Volvo shop, I had to have a new car inspection, and I had to spend between $2,000 to $3,000 (I don't remember the exact amount), just to "catch up" on all the missed maintenance and make it a safe reliable driver. I am also very meticulous about the car's mechanics and it is now always very well maintained-- I have regular check-ups/oil changes every three months. While this may seem excessive, I am a strong believer in preventative maintenance and feel that the car gives back all that I have put into it.

I hope the car you found meets your needs and becomes the safe reliable daily driver that mine has become.

Good luck!

I own a 1982 Volvo station wagon and love it. I've had it for about 14 years, bought from the orignal owner. It's a great car. However, I currently own two of the 240 series and these are my 4th and 5th Volvos, I do some of my own work on them and have a Volvo mechanic I've dealt with for over 25 years. I've averaged less than $1000 a year in upkeep and mainance but again I do my own tune ups and general maintence. I wouldn't give a new driver or any teen a turbo. I bought my 17 year old daughter a 1991, 244 automatic and it was a steal for $1000.

Old Volvos become almost an obsession, they have their quirks and you come to love them. You will have to decide if this car is worth it under your circumstances, in all honesty if I didn't have Gary and Burta and Jay at Volvo Parts in Denver, I don't know how long I could keep these cars on the road. A good Volvo mechanic is hard to find and worth their weight in gold!

I suggest that it's not wise to spoil youth with the very good stuff as a gift, particularly before they've had some experience with something significantly worse, so they learn to appreciate the good thing. There must be opposition in all things, and if you don't know good from evil, how can you choose the good? You need knowledge to be able to choose, and knowledge comes from experience-her lessons can be expensive, even fatal, but she is a good teacher-if you want to learn. You can even learn from the experiences of others-that's real wisdom.

I have a 1975 244 - and I think it would be fair to say that it is the most reliable and cheapest to fix of the 10 cars I have owned to date - almost everything on the car seems to be designed to go the distance.

I also have a niece and nephew who both started in 240s - no dramas.

That said - just because it was free it isn't necessarily cheap - you could probably find a really nice one for $2000 that needs little or no work. I have wasted a fortune on fixing old cars that I got cheaper than a decent one.

I believe that ABS and airbags have been shown to make people feels safer and so drive faster - so they have just as many accidents - only at a higher speed. Still, I think I would rather have them than not.

GM