Best car ever! Would love to have another!
Needed to replace air valve, brakes, lighting issues and computer.
Drives well on and off the highway. Great car, and can always count on it, no matter what. Mileage means means nothing, because even at 200k, it still runs wonderfully.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 27th February, 2011
Overpriced Chevy Corsica
Problems have included:
1. Brake master cylinder - $100.00.
2. Timing belt - 15.00 - luckily it's not a clearance engine (mechanic bartered for install $$$).
3. Entire engine wiring harness - harness ALONE $400.00 on the web ($250.00 more for mechanic to install - no odometer since).
4. Water pump grenaded into radiator - 200.00 for water pump, radiator, fan, clutch, labor.
5. Automatic trans has NEVER shifted into 4th gear. Replaced relay, no help. I don't have a garage to park it in to remove the trans and bypass the external solenoid.
6. Windshield with more bubbles than a bubble bath.
7. Decrepit leather interior - leather is crispy - see #11 below.
8. Disintegrated door map pockets.
9. Disintegrated front and rear turn signal assemblies (thanks, eBay, or I'd never pass another inspection) - $150.00 so far to replace 3 of 4 assemblies.
10. "Glove box" door plastic "hinge" broke, door crashed to the floor, disintegrated. I now have a "glove hole".
11. Most plastic trim in interior has disintegrated - crispy, like a potato chip. Push on the rear package shelf and watch the chunks break off.
My brick has been a money pit - spent more time parked than on the road in the approximately 4 years I've owned it.
My local Volvo dealer refuses to service it: "Our computer doesn't go back that far"...
When operational, it runs well enough. Even without 4th gear, it gets roughly 30 MPG at 65 MPH. Doesn't leak oil, decent handling and braking. Interior and exterior (paint) have not held up well under southwest sun and heat.
If you think these are cheap/easy to service yourself, either you are a mechanic or you have a very well equipped, heated garage.
135,000 miles.
In short: For a "luxury" car, it is an expensive piece of crap. Any car will go 500,000 miles if you throw enough money at it. I owned a 1975 International Scout II (160,000 miles when I sold it) - I'd trade in a minute. The Scout was crude, rode like a buckboard, and got only 15 MPG, but except for 1 busted shock, it NEVER broke - even with all of the off-roading I did with it. I'd compare it to a 1988 Chevy Corsica I owned - another money pit, but the Corsica cost 40% less new, and mine had a V-6 that ran strong (until that deer customized the front end and trashed the motor (crankcase suddenly full of water...).
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No
Review Date: 6th January, 2011
If god has a name, it would be 'VOLVO'
Not a thing.
The Volvo 240 is the most perfect example of man's creative power, No one owns a Volvo, you are just extended the overwhelming privilege to drive it.
Volvo = I Roll.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 18th November, 2009
Expensive
Everything. Maybe my car was a fluke but everything failed on this car. Particularly all the sensors for the engine. At the end I had to junk it because it was glorified parts car with a new transmission. But I couldn't drive it too well when I got rid of it because the rear axle things wore out and it violently vibrated back and forth. The transmission mounts sank and the overdrive occasionally worked.
In the year I owned it I spent 4000 dollars on all the repair. The previous owner spent 3500 dollars in the few years he owned. It handled okay and was comfy but with this car I just threw and burned money at it. This car is only good if you love it and don't mind spending 2000 dollars a year on it.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No
Review Date: 9th May, 2008
The thing that makes these cars great, are how easy they are to work on and maintain.
If you rely on shops to do your work, you WILL overspend on repairs and maintenance. Only those who know their way around a shop as a novice can see the value in these cars.
I have 2 240 GLs, and they both work wonderful and have nearly perfect everything on them. One has 245,000 miles, and the other has 111,000.
All of my repairs have not exceeded 350 bucks in the shop and 130 at home, but I have met many people who were "taken" for lack of a better term by their Volvo mechanic. But clearly if you look online, you can see how ridiculously cheap parts are. Even so, having to fix them is rare for me and I've had 4 Volvos. I have never been broke down or stranded. Even when I got t-boned at 50 mph I drove the car to a safe parking place.
I have owned an 86 245 DL standard shift... I loved it. If you keep on top of the biodegradable insulation on the wires, and keep up with maintenance, you're good. But definitely do all the work yourself, or you will end up dumping a fortune. It's an easy fixer, and a fun driver.
7th Jan 2011, 00:57
Well hang on tight - NONE of the modern cars will ever be as simple as the Scout.