240 or 740 Wagon Buying Advice?

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Phil Brown

After several Saabs I'm thinking of buying a Volvo wagon, late 80s seems to be
what I can afford. About all the advice I can find has to do with
disintegrating wiring harnesses and blower motors. Any advice here or a site I
can go to with some? Thanks a lot.
Phil Brown
 
Phil Brown said:
After several Saabs I'm thinking of buying a Volvo wagon, late 80s seems
to be
what I can afford. About all the advice I can find has to do with
disintegrating wiring harnesses and blower motors. Any advice here or a
site I
can go to with some? Thanks a lot.
Phil Brown
Click to expand...

Stick with '88 or later to avoid the wiring problems.

Mike
 
Saab are ok .
had two 900 turbo's.

now in the second 240 estate, wagon,station.
The rear door wiring is easy to replace/repair yourself.
They are nice cars.
They always bring you home, mine always does.

n.b. Unless you collide with Scania, or trees.
 
Phil Brown said:
After several Saabs I'm thinking of buying a Volvo wagon, late 80s seems to be
what I can afford. About all the advice I can find has to do with
disintegrating wiring harnesses and blower motors. Any advice here or a site I
can go to with some? Thanks a lot.
Phil Brown
Click to expand...

Clean the flame trap as soon as you get it, they're often all clogged up and
it will cause massive oil leaks when it happens. Turbos shouldn't have the
flame trap, just an empty holder but sometimes someone mistakedly puts one
in there.

Disintegrating wiring can be a hassle but it's not difficult to replace the
engine harness and then you no longer have the problem, don't nessesarily
pass up a nice car because the wiring is shot, in fact you can get a very
good deal if you're willing to fiddle with this yourself.

Avoid the V6, the Diesel and the ZF auto gearbox, as well as early 760's
with the vacuum operated automatic climate control unless you really like
tinkering/meticulous maintenance. When buying a 240 check the blower motor,
when buying a 740 look at the headliner, they come apart and it's quite a
job to redo them. If the car has a sunroof (740) check that it's in good
working order, they can be a real hassle when they break. If the car has a
turbo, check for excessive play in the shaft, blue smoke from the exhaust,
and any other strange behavior. Punch the gas and check that the boost rises
smoothly and regulates at a consistant point somewhere near halfway through
the yellow.
 
Subject: Re: 240 or 740 Wagon Buying Advice?
From: "Michael Pardee" [email protected]
Date: 1/1/2005 12:34 PM Central Standard Time
Message-id: <[email protected]>



Stick with '88 or later to avoid the wiring problems.

Mike
Click to expand...

I think it's worth it to buy a 1990s model 240 wagon. Look on eBay. You can
easily get a good one for less than $5000.
 
You could find a 740 for cheaper, and maybe with a turbo engine... You
might be able to get a 940 for less money as well.

I know you're a 240 fan, but they did hold their value the best, which is
not good for the buyer, only the seller... Our 1993 960 ($40K new) is worth
less then a 1993 240 (maybe... very high $20ks, low $30k's new?)... Go
figure eh? The downside is that 960's on the used market all seem to be
highway cars with a good 300K Kms on their odometers (and we're not selling
ours with a mere 160K Kms on it)

A 960 is a great value... 6 cylinder engine of modern design, ABS, SIPS,
Electronic controlled automatic transmission with Sport/Econo/Winter driving
modes (they are usefull), Electronic Climate Control (it really does work -
hold temperature very nicely), heated seats, leather interior that holds up
very well, velvet headliner and pillar trim that holds up incredibly well
actually, you also get load leveling rear suspension, independant suspension
(rear) on the sedans (later on the wagons), and a bit of a more modern body
style (after 1994 I believe).

They're not even that expensive to maintain... our 960 is costing much MUCH
less to run then our 1999 Golf TDI (which is suppose to be an affordable
commuting type car... the only thing affordable about it, is its high fuel
mileage - the old Volvo's a way better value for money IMO).... And whenever
I see a 240 it looks beat up or quite old, i've never seen a bad looking 960
their bodies and paintwork seem to hold up exceptionally well - someone
guessed that our car was "around 4-5 years old" last year... it's almost
triple that.
 
Rob Guenther said:
You could find a 740 for cheaper, and maybe with a turbo engine... You
might be able to get a 940 for less money as well.

I know you're a 240 fan, but they did hold their value the best, which is
not good for the buyer, only the seller... Our 1993 960 ($40K new) is worth
less then a 1993 240 (maybe... very high $20ks, low $30k's new?)... Go
figure eh? The downside is that 960's on the used market all seem to be
highway cars with a good 300K Kms on their odometers (and we're not selling
ours with a mere 160K Kms on it)

A 960 is a great value... 6 cylinder engine of modern design, ABS, SIPS,
Electronic controlled automatic transmission with Sport/Econo/Winter driving
modes (they are usefull), Electronic Climate Control (it really does work -
hold temperature very nicely), heated seats, leather interior that holds up
very well, velvet headliner and pillar trim that holds up incredibly well
actually, you also get load leveling rear suspension, independant suspension
(rear) on the sedans (later on the wagons), and a bit of a more modern body
style (after 1994 I believe).
Click to expand...


If only they were offered with a manual transmission they'd be really great
cars, I personally can't stand slushboxes though. I suppose one could import
parts from Europe to convert one though.
 
I don't either (enjoy automatics)... but it's honestly not bad to drive. It
really needs a fifth ratio however, the gears are quite tall (in all 4
ratios, though 3rd and 4th are awfully tall). If you drive with the car in
Sport setting the transmission is quite responsive (for a 12 year old
transmission it's fast and smooth... I've seen new cars that aren't this
responsive)... Economy mode isn't too bad, the car feels a lot slower
though.

I've wished for a 5 speed in this car too, it'd be a really quick car with
that transmission... It'd probably be way more fun to drive then a turbo'd
940 (I've never driven a turbo Volvo yet... so can't really say, but with a
NA engine there is no turbo lag which is a bonus... and that inline 6 engine
is the nicest engine to revv the hell out of, that I have driven with at
least, I bet you she'd run 7-8000 rpms if there were no fuel cutoff at
6000rpm. It sounds like it's just opening up, ready for more - anyone who
tells you a V6 engine is smooth running and incredibly refined has never
driven with an inline 6 engine I'd say - this 12 year old Volvo motor feels
much smoother then any brand new Toyota/Honda V6, which are suppose to be
incredibly advanced/smooth engines... those V6's feel like an overhead valve
pushrod motor compared to the one in the Volvo).
 
I am quite tall and slightly overwheght and I am so much more comfortable
in the 740 model than the 240 regardless of wagon or sedan. I also tryed
out the 940 model which also was a bit small for my hight. I love the
heated seat feature on many volvos. It is not a sports car but I love it.
If you get a volvo 1990 or later I believe that airbags are standard, at
least on 740, on the driver side.
 
Saab are ok .
had two 900 turbo's.
Click to expand...

I've had 2 900 turbos myself and I love them but they do not seem to age as
gracefully as some other cars. And they're a swine to work on.
Phil Brown
 
Phil Brown said:
I've had 2 900 turbos myself and I love them but they do not seem to age as
gracefully as some other cars. And they're a swine to work on.
Phil Brown
Click to expand...

I have a 900S (non-turbo) and it seems to be holding up nearly as well as
the Volvos. As for working on it, some things are harder, some are easier,
overall I find it comparable to the 240 and 740. Very easy to replace the
clutch on a classic Saab 900, it's right out there in front, don't have to
do any major disassembly. The handling out of the box is much better than
either of my Volvos was too, though the transmission is a bit more finicky
and the seats aren't quite as comfy.
 
Rob, what is your average mpg on your 6 cylinder 960? In town? On highway?

Thanks.
 
Bummer i just sold a good one for $1500, new t-belt, belts, brakes. It
was 1990 240dl wagon. The problem areas were oil leaks, Tranny
selonoid, a/c hoses, and strut posts, rear lighting, and various
electrical buggyboos. Always started and ran well. Fixed most of the
problems with the help of this Forum.
1990 240 with 160-180k should run you about 2k and you should verify
that most of the "issues" have been fixed.
 
Averages around 10-11L per 100kms on combinational driving

Pure highway she'll do under 9L per 100kms (around 10L per 100Km even
cruising at around 130-140 as long as you don't press down hard on the
accelerator - this car drinks when you push it hard)

Purely in town around 12L per 100Kms... Around 14L in the wintertime.

Apparantly it's as good as our old 740's (1989 GLE 16Valve, and a 1985 GLE
8Valve) were in town (a tiny bit worse maybe) but on the highway it's
actually better... Plus way smoother of an engine, and more able to tow... I
believe I was told we get around 12-16L per 100kms towing (I've never towed
anything with it yet - just hauled a lot of my stuff around, but my father
uses it to tow the pop-up tent trailer in the summer).
 
BTW Sorry for not posting MPG, but we're metric in Canada (for the most
part) so all my calculations for mileage on this car was ever done in litres
per 100km.
 
Thanks, Rob. Converted to US, around 22+ mpg. I've test driven a later
960, was very impressed with engine and tran performance, and expected the
fuel consumption (mpg or kpl) to be worse than your rating.
 
It's not bad at all, remember it's a way more modern engine than in a 740,
all aluminum engine too, and the car isn't as heavy as people think.... Plus
it may but thru the air better then a 740 (very doubtfull) - transmission
may also give more efficient power delivery.
 
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