finding the correct part
 

Hi All, I'm going to buy online some front suspension parts for my '93 245. Many online stores have a filter where you can add the car details, make, year model etc. or put in the reg number. Are the filters reliable? Have any of you bought a part in this way and a wrong part has been supplied?

Many thanks, Ian

Hello.

I suspect there are varied experiences re such purchases.

I am wondering what parts you need.

And have you started by consulting a Volvo dealer. A good starting point in my opinion.

Some dealers are more helpful than others re parts for 240s. I have bought from FRF Swansea by post and delivery, and been well pleased.
01792 790066 or 01792 784272 - Quoting discount code: C3 or just mention this forum.

Other forum members have found other helpful Volvo dealers.

Some forum members seem to try hard to avoid buying from a dealer. Hey ho. I prefer to keep an open mind. Compare price and quality. And if we don't buy from the helpful Volvo dealers, we will lose them. :(

Good luck.


.

The filters are ok but I would use them for guidance only- sometimes they can work the opposite way i.e. will throw up a “will not fit” when you know it does-usually when listed for a specific car/model etc.

I would always ask for confirmation from the seller prior to purchasing, when confirmed as yes keep the mail—you are then entitled under P/pay for a full replacement from the seller to include postage costs as the onus is on them, some state that a refund in full can’t be made if it is a wrong order from the purchaser.
Hope that helps.
Bob.

Bob has addressed the actual question, in a very clear and helpful way.

I still think it would help the forum to give help to you skelly, if we knew what parts are needed. And it would also help you skelly if you check with a helpful Volvo dealer. The price, availability and quality can sometimes be a very good surprise.

Good luck.



.

Good point Bob,

On the whole I find the parts finder databases a good guide, but only buy if the search takes you for a page with a photo or line drawing of the actual part you need (not a generic part).

I have found that 99% of the time the parts are exactly correct. I had an exception recently when an on-line supplier (mr-wiper, otherwise trades as ACP) sent the wrong rear brake pads for my Skoda Superb - it turned out VAG had produced 2 variants of the car, with 2 different brake suppliers (Bosch and Lucas), the only way of telling was to take them off and compare with the new parts. The problem was that mr-wiper/ACP had provided a generic image of some Mintex brake pads ... the company would accept no responsibility, it would not exchange the pads for the correct part and insisted I pay for the postage to return them to be processed for a refund. It is not really worth a fiver's postage and an hour of my time to post them back to mr-wiper/ACP, so I'll bin them and have bought the correct pads from a competitor. The moral of this story is twofold:

a. Never buy anything from mr-wiper/ACP.
b. Never buy car parts without an image or line drawing of the actual item.

Re Volvo dealers: the vast majority do not care one iota about 30-40 year old 200 series cars, are unhelpful and a waste of time for everything except buying new cars - just an opinion that has developed from bitter experience.

Good fortune,

Alan

Dealers and older Volvos
 

Re Volvo dealers, both Rybrook Warrington and Clive Brook Huddersfield have parts people who DO care about the older cars and will try to help owners.

I've had to order obscure Volvo Global bits for both the Exxon Valdez (1997 945) and a friend's 1987 240GL from Rybrook and they were most helpful, especially for the 240 bit as the car has the uncommon B230K engine and the exhaust gas pipe is unique to that engine.

Clive Brook had, prior to the Covid-19 lockdowns, a classics meet at their showroom every month and both allowed owners to put their cars up on lifts for inspection by a garage technician and offered discounts on parts from the back catalogue.

My only connection with Rybrooks is as a satisfied customer and with Clive Brook is as a consumer of their free tea coffee and Danish pastries at the meets:regular_smile:.

Holdcroft in Stoke can be hit-or-miss; they have active involvement with the Cheshire Section of the VOC but the 240GL owner said that they didn't seem interested in helping him.

That is good to hear Loki; I am delighted to be proven wrong.

I have only had one search for an obscure part for the RB (a spacer for the fuel pump) - I phoned a few dealers' parts departments (including the Swansea people) and got the same answer everywhere: it was obsolete, try someone else. I got the part from a Dutch marine engine dealer (the same part was used in Penta engines) after a Google search in the end.

I'm really glad Volvo dealers are supporting older cars and that my experience was an isolated one.

:-)

...and FRF Swansea (Mike in Parts) is happy to provide a service second to none for older Volvo drivers

All Volvo dealers may have difficulty sourcing specific parts, but from point of view of service, that's three dealers who have all been recommended

A recent one I have seen is that the late model clutch master cylinder is now being listed as fitting all 240's where it does not without extra parts. To use it you would to change the brake bottle and add the link hose.

Then there are things like rotor arms and distributor caps where online sites often also list the US spec parts that were never used on UK cars. Also you have the rev limiter rotor arm that has some pros and cons to being used

Rear brake pads also need checking very carefully. There are two basic differences, seemingly variously fitted at different times, so you can't just go by year.
Then I've often found a sub-variation where the pads are nearly correct, but differ in length by 0.5 mm. The smaller kind fit easily, but rattle. You can cut shims out of tin cans, but better is to have one of each for comparison, which is obvious when you rest them on a flat surface.