[wooble]

The 2.3 actually gets better economy than the 2.0, even according to the owner's handbook. Mostly it's because it's so much torquier you don't have to hoof it to get around.

At this point I'd say it's better to look out for a car with a solid body, no rust and good paint than anything else. Mechanical hiccups and ragged interiors can be fixed up easy as you like, there are lots of spares and knowledge and these cars are incredibly easy to work on, but rust and paint are a time and wallet killer on any car.

To be honest, I'd recommend against the GLE. It gets some more of the plush options, but none of the 'sporty' ones, and the B230K engine can be a real dog. It's fitted with the infamous solex-cisac carb which nobody knows anything about and no spares are available for, Renix electronic ignition which there are no bloody spares available for and hardly anyone knows anything about and a unique cylinder head and pistons which aren't compatible with any of the other redblock engines should you need to swap the head. the B230K also suffers from a pain-in-the backside EGR system, air injection system (pulsair) and a spider's web of vacuum hoses that none of the other engines had to deal with. Basically it was Volvo's attempt to make an 'economy' engine in the 80s, which like most other manufacturers only succeeded at increasing complexity unnecessarily.

I'd say go for a GLT, or see if you can find a late GL or SE with the 2.3. Late 2.3s are much rarer than the 2.0, but you're getting the best engine fitted to the 200 series in the B230F in terms of economy, and with a few tweaks you can easily equal the B230E in the GLT in terms of power.