What is the best Volvo 240 ever made?

Answer 1

87 or earlier wagon, non turbo. There are MANY examples of 80's Volvos with over 1 Million miles on all original drivetrain and still running very well. I have seen SEVERAL coming through car auction lanes with over half a million miles. The only thing I have seen come close was a 1983 Toyota P/U, BASE MODEL, 4 cyl, manual trans ~ 450,000 miles. Didnt look or run NEARLY as good as the worst Volvo I have seen with a half mil on the odometer.

The catch:

It needed to be previously owned by someone who gave a crap about the car and serviced it themselves with dealer parts, or had it serviced at the dealer or equivalent/better than dealer specialist location (i.e. R&H Imported Car Service) its whole life. Volvo oil filters are VERY special! They are not only a VERY LOW micron rating, but they also trap the oil in the engine to prevent dry starts - the average Fram or Pep Boys special just lets it drain back into the pan so every time you start your car you subtract miles from its life. Just because something is an OEM replacement or It FITS does not mean it will do all the things the OEM part will do. This makes the difference in a 150,000 mile engine that smokes, or a 700,000 mile engine that doesn't. I have an 87 240DL Wagon in my drive, 477,000 miles - does not smoke a LICK, and I drive the living CRAP out of it! I am regularly holding it down to the floor to pass slow traffic as I am a bit lead footed. With a 114hp engine, 4 speed automatic, and the weight of a tank, you gotta make it work hard to achieve interstate speeds. However, the wagons tend to be geared shorter (as Volvo expects wagon owners to pull more weight more often), so their acceleration is typically better than the sedans.

The 87 year and previous year models actually used a STAINLESS STEEL (yes, you read that right) crank shaft! Not cast iron, STAINLESS STEEL! That factor alone makes the 87 my model of choice.

This is all in the eye of the beholder. In all honesty the 87 740 Turbo/Intercooled wagon would be my all time favorite of modern bricks (as Volvo said, until Ferrari makes a station wagon in one of their ad campaigns). They are rock reliable, as long as you are willing to maintain properly and understand that the turbocharger is a MAINTENANCE part, not a "Will last as long as the car" part. (Maintenance part meaning something you expect to replace every so often, like a timing belt or spark plugs).

My favorite Volvo of all, the P1800. Back when Volvo let the engineers do what they wanted, and the bean counters didnt have much input in what goes. When you went to the dealer, if you had to ask the price, you couldn't afford one. Style, elegance, curvaceous lines, sloping hood and roof, non obtrusive stabilizer rear fins, and the ONLY street legal car of the time to be SCCA Approved for racetracks WITHOUT a Roll bar! With good paint and some chrome accents (tasteful amounts) they will fit in at ANY car show and DEFINITELY turn heads. Some people will stop and say "Is that really a Volvo!?"