1990 Volvo 240 DL 2.3 4-cylinder from North America
Summary:
A tank, literally!
Faults:
Overdrive solenoid was dead the day I bought it.
Power antenna motor dead.
Speakers were poorly wired.
General Comments:
I bought this car off the original owners last year (2012), and I loved the condition in which it was kept. The last owner put only 6,000 kilometres in the last 9 years, and had it rust proofed annually. The car was literally free of rust. It had all service records, and was driven with care.
Fuel economy is very poor, given that it's literally a box, which has 0% aerodynamics. The 4 cylinder engine really picks up, due to the massive amounts of torque, and the tranny shifts very smoothly!
Most of my friends hate the styling, but love the comfortable seats and the vault sounding doors. Some say it looks like a car that would be owned by the mafia; others think otherwise!
I've now listed this car for sale, but unfortunately it's tough finding a buyer. It's got a very niche market, exclusive to only Volvo owners or people who have only bought classic Volvo's for the past 40 years of their lives and never anything else (must have very boring lives). There are more cars out there than just Volvo's, they're tough, but how about performance and handling? Don't Volvo owners want to try something different? BMW's, Jag's, Lexus, Infiniti, Toyota, etc? I mean I saw it as an alternative from your regular Honda Accord/Camry from the 90's! It's just as reliable, and 1000 times tougher!
All in all, it's a great car, no doubt about it! As Volvo owners say "if you haven't owned one, you won't appreciate one."
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 21st January, 2013
24th Jan 2013, 17:06
"but how about performance and handling"
Some people just want comfortable transportation, plus those old Volvos are very easy to service compared to most of the cars that you listed.
Volvo did release a few performance models in the 70's-80's, but they're pretty rare.