That is probably sensible for now.
That 240 saloon in Hackney that Andrew mentioned above might be worth a look at for you, I think it must be this one (although it is in Enfield):
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/154838253...YAAOSwi6ZiBCmI
The seller says he wants to sell it because it isn't ULEZ compliant - that will happen with many older cars that aren't quite historic vehicles yet.
I should think it is a 1989 motor car and has (if I remember correctly) about 160,000 miles. It is a pity the owner has covered up the registration number so we can't check the MoT history, but it might well be worth looking at. I should think if you got that at £2,000 that would be quite a good buy, and even at £3,000 it would be okay.
Good fortune, do let us know when you buy another Volvo.
:-)
Alan
PS. I could only see one 144 for sale on eBay:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/133996516...53.m1438.l2649
... it looks like a perfectly good motor car, but it is £5,650, and it is in Alloa, so it would be expensive to view and recover. I think that would be a typical price for a reasonably good runner - so 144s are no longer cheap.