thinking of buying a Volvo

Hi friends,
I know nothing about Volvos, as I have a history with Ford, VW, Subaru.... I
was thinking of stepping over to the big V!! maybe a 740 or 850 station with
Gas. I need to know a couple of things from you experts...

1. I only have a very low budget of 2500 euro, so it's going to be an older
model. I heard that Volvos have a long life. so if I see one with 400,000 km
is it still worth buying? how far can one expect such a model to run under
normal circumstances?

2. What are the main pitfalls with the 740 or 850 from more than 6 or 7
years old? What should I look out for.

3. How is it as far as maintenence is concerned. I'm not a great mechanic
but I could do quiet a few things on my Passat. Is there anything I should
consider when looking for a Volvo? Do all the models have Volvo engines,
because I heard that some have Audi and Renault! is that true?

Please give me some advice.
thanks in advance
Toss

 

In <ad0a7$44035538$d47fb804$>,

Volvo's 5-cyl engine is not Audi's, but their own. Volvo has used VW diesels
in the past, but no longer do.

Volvo has used a Peugeot-Renault-Volvo V6 (PRV V6) in older 260 and 760 models.

AC

 

Toss schreef, Op 27/02/2006 20:45:

Yes, buy a newer Passat.

My previous car was a Passat.
Now i have a V40 ('99). This is my first and my last Volvo. (Sorry
Volvofans)

 

Please tell me why Rick, what made you come to this decision?

 

Toss, given your budget, consider a 740 non-turbo wagon.

Look for one that has been well maintained, with frequent oil changes.

Make sure the plastic belly pan is still there: that is one thing that
helps them last so long (good engineering helps too); if the belly pan
is missing, odds are the car has been neglected.

Well maintained Volvos can easily go over a quarter million miles
before requiring an engine rebuild.

 

Here in Holland the Volvo's with a quater of a million miles, thats 407,000
km are selling around and above my budget. Is it really still worth buying
one, I drive myself between 25 and 30,000 km each year, and I do hope to
keep going voor a good couple of years. Generally, do Volvos really reach
the half million km's ???

 

I have a 1987 740 non-turbo GLE that I just bought with 200,000 miles.
I think the only reason I am machining the crankshaft and replacing
engine bearings is because of a fuel injector that is leaking gas into
the cylinder and wore the bearings. Anyhow, that's only costing me
about $55 USD to machine the crank and $40 for bearings. I found a
mechanic with cheap labor to pull the engine.

I expect my sedan to go another 100-200 thousand miles.

 

I have an '87 760 GLE with the PRV V-6 (B280F, the better of the two). It
is a North American (Canadian) car.

It is about to turn over to 300K kms, and it is still running well. The
dash is all cracked (typical), and the plastic is brittle in the interior
(typical again), but otherwise, it always starts and drives (AW71 automatic
transmission).

In the past 2 1/2 years, I've put in very few $$ worth of repairs. I'm
impressed with the reliability. Just the fuel pump relay let me down once,
not bad for a 19 year old car.

It has the original rad hoses, original tranny, engine, well, actually...
JUST about everyting is original!! Even the starter motor (knock on wood).
It also has original paint!! (and it shines!) the only rust is on the roof
(of all places) near the sunroof and a few small spots just randomly in the
middle of the roof.

The car was given to me, and yeah, I like it. I just won't admit it. The
Euro cars have better looking bumpers, the N.A. ones are very ugly in my
opinion.

Cheers!

 

Aren't the bumpers identical on the 700s?

I know the headlights are different but I didn't think the bumpers were
as is the case with the early 240s.

 

I think I have only _twice_ spent more than that on a car. For the last
couple of years I've been driving a two-previous-owner 740 estate with
400k+ km on it. It cost me 300 euro and I've spent less than 300 euro /
year on maintenance.

After 6 or 7 years they have problems with the ashtrays filling up
(obviously 6 or 7 months in NL !). A 740/760/940 Volvo of this age is
barely run in. An 850 is looking lived in, an 850 T-5 has already been
crashed and written off twice and a V** is probably scrapmetal.

You need new wrenches. Until I had a Volvo I'd never used the ends with
the even number sizes! Everything on a Volvo is 14mm and 16mm. Weird.

Apart from that they're simple and have good access to most components.
Things do wear out, but parts are cheap and they're easy to fit. Parts
are so cheap!

When you go to buy parts, remember the age of the car. This is because
parts for Volvos up to 40 years old are still available off the shelf
and the range can get a bit confusing. Or else just fit whatever is
nearest - everything fits. There's a neighbour running a couple of '60s
P1800 Volvos on '90s 760 running gear. It all just bolts in.

Only the good ones. The 4 cylinders last _forever_. The 6 cylinders are
only good to donate their bodyshells to keep a 4 cylinder running. the 5
cylinders are more complex and more fragile than the indestructible 4
cylinders, but still pretty good.

The 850 T-5 suffers because they're bought by maniacs who thrash them.
If you compare them to something like a VW VR6 engine then they're
fairly simple, but they're still a whole different ballgame to a B200.

 

The car was given to me, and yeah, I like it. I just won't admit it.

Ahh, I think I'm mistaken. I thought that the Euro bumpers were "tucked" in
closer to the body a little more than the N.A. ones. I had an Alfa Romeo
Milano with the NA bumpers, and in Europe, they were MUCH shorter. Very
different bumper regulations.. . Maybe Volvo made a world bumper
(expensive way to go).

Funny, the bumper was originally designed to prevent damage to the body at
5mph, then 2.5 (in the US, 5mph still in Canada). That's about it. It was
up to the chassis to distribute/absorb crash loads of greater magnitude. I
think the 760 would have looked sweeter with shorter "tucked" in bumpers.
My '87 has the accordion style sides, while the later cars have real nice
clean bumpers that were a HUGE improvement IMHO.

Cheers

 

While I think it does look a bit better to have more tucked in bumpers,
having been rear-ended twice in my 740 I'm thankful to have the big
thick ones. The car looks a lot better with thick bumpers than it would
with crumpled sheetmetal in the back.

 

"Everything on a Volvo is 14mm and 16mm."

Now wait a minute...10mm and 13mm are common.

 

The 5 cylinder diesel engine Volvo used before they introduced their own D5
engine actually DID come from Audi. Before the Audi engine, Volvo used the VW 6
cylinder diesel engine. Renault's 4 cylinder engines can be found in all Dutch
made Volvo's (300/400/X40). As said above, the V6 engine was used by Peugeot,
Renault (and Renault Alpine), Citroen, Lancia, DeLorean, MVS Venturi and, of
course, Volvo.

The 5 cylinder engine that's being used since the 850 model is a 100% Volvo
engine.

 

Being Dutch, just like me, I really recommend to have a look at these Dutch
websites which will provide you with an enormous bulk of information:
www.volvo-forum.nl
www.volvo850forum.nl
www.volvo700vereniging.nl
They have very good and lively and vivid forums as well so you can ask all
questions you like (about Volvo, that is).

 

Hi, Toss.
Just thought I'd put in my 2 penneth. Had 11, that's eleven, volvo's so
far. Lot's of other makes as well, but the volvo's beet them all, and
never got rid of one just for the sake of it. 240's, 740's and 940's, new
and old. They all did well over 300,000 mile, except my present 940
Wentworth which only has 52,000 mile on the clock. Drives like a new car
even though it's actually 14 years old. Always liked the volvo estates
because I have always found them the most practical car on the road. Even
slept in them on occassion. My old 245 est did over 500,000mile before I
got rid of it and that was purely because it looked terrible with all the
lacquer peeling off. Wife said it was embarrassing, but drove perfectly
(the car).
All cars have their funny foibles, volvo's are no exception. But they're
well engineered, confortable and made to last. I am not an anarak and
therefore can't quote specs or data, but I can certainly tell you which
parts fail first, best engine IMHO, preferred model, and so on.

 

Out of curiosity, how the heck did you manage to drive so much?

 

On mine, 3/4" and 1/2" are common. The 140 series and earlier we not
metric; that was started with the 240s...


Gary
Suggestions needed on how to remove the pully from the alternator without
doing any more damage (broke corner off on of the cooling vanes).

 

Well just to inform you all, that yesterday I bought my first Volvo !! an
850 estate from 1995 with 2 liter 5 cyl, gas and 400,000 on the clock, for
2600 euro. The car is fantastic. I've never driven anything so comfortable,
its a dream. It's in perfect condition and as far as I can determine it's in
great shape. It's always a risk buying old cars, but this was a risk
certinaly worth taking. I'm really impressed with this machine so far.

Thank you all for your comments, they really helped me over the line
(especially when I had to consider the 400,000 k!!!)
Toss

 

Sounds like a nice car, hope you enjoy your new ride. So long as it has
been well taken care of and runs well, the mileage is of little concern.