Faults:

Belt needs to be replaced. It squeals when high speeds are obtained and it rests. Good twenty dollar fix.

Many fuses had to be replaced. This too was pretty cheap.

Muffler rusted off the catalytic converter which was easily fixed by a friend.

Seats have holes in the back, but that is cosmetics and don't bother me.

Radio doesn't work when I want it to, something wrong with the wires.

Replaced speakers when I bought it.

Brake lights needed to be replaced as well as the socket on the passenger side. Six dollars at a dealership.

General Comments:

The car is a dream. For being my first car and reasonably priced, I couldn't ask for anything else. Although I'm looking forward to a truck I will definitely give this car to my brother because he'd be very safe in it and the gas mileage is awesome. About twenty eight miles to the gallon with highway traveling. Good handling if I had to say so. The only thing that bums me out is the winter time. The car is rear-wheel drive and doesn't move when you hit the gas. Took a little getting used to, but is now overlooked.

Faults:

Upon purchase the wiper motor needed replacing, as did (according to my Volvo dealer) the speed and throttle sensors as well as one of the headlights.

According to previous owner, absolutely nothing has gone wrong aside from normal wear and tear.

Valve tappets collapsed recently, I think. The engine suddenly became 10dB louder.

General Comments:

What a fantastic car! The quality of construction and driving feel are impeccable, and you feel like you're driving something truly substantial. Especially if coming from a 1900lb Tercel that felt like a tin can.

I sometimes wish that I had the turbocharged 240 like Volvo used to sell in the 80s. Acceleration is generally adequate, but on hills you start wishing for 30 more horsepower.

I'm also only getting 23MPG, which I understand is par for 240s, but pretty disappointing when your previous car would get 38MPG easily.

The rumors you may have heard about Volvo repair costs are true, by the way: they get VERY expensive, almost in BMW and MBZ territory. I spent $753 on those nitpicks listed above! On the other hand, a lot of the cost is from the dealer end. One could easily get by with a Chilton's repair manual and some elbow grease, because 240s are relatively simple to work on and parts can be found cheap. That's one advantage of a design dating back to 1975, I guess. But then again, my experience with Volvo dealers has been quite favorable, almost worth the exorbitant prices they charge.

And did I mention the fan-base this car has on the web? 240 owners are a loving bunch, myself included. I easily see myself keeping this car beyond the 200k mark, both because the car will easily go that far and because I WANT to keep it running. It's been a great ownership experience for the brief amount of time I've owned it and the car comes highly recommended to those wanting something along the lines of a used Camry, but with more panache.