For Sale - 1988 240 GL Saloon, Metallic Silver

[BarryS]

A reluctant decision but our family 240 has to go. I bought this car in October 2006, 1 owner with a genuine 61,600 miles because it was in superb overall condition with full service history. It had been little used for 5 years. I then immediately spent over £2000 on it including all new discs, calipers, pads, handbrake shoes, rear shocks and springs, hoses, engine and gearbox mounts, cam belt, distributor cap, all ignition parts and full service, the list goes on. None of this because it really needed it, but because the car was to be my wife’s daily drive and we also planned that my son would learn to drive in it. It had to be mega safe and reliable and it has been. Upkeep has included new headlight reflectors, new indicator/side light lenses, oil/filter changes, etc. I taught my son to drive in it and my wife swapped into her newly commissioned Amazon, so the 240 became my son’s car, used as his weekend driver whilst in sixth form but he is now at Uni and I have been using the car since. Mileage is now 113,300, so almost 52,000 miles in 4.5 yrs of total dependability.

I have the original November 1987 bill of sale for delivery January 1988 showing price of £10,010. Also the original pre-delivery paperwork, original owner’s Manual, original Volvo 240 range catalogue, original Volvo Accessories catalogue, original Volvo Safety booklet, original Volvo Guide to Towing and a Feb 1986 Practical Caravan article on towing with the 240, all of which were with the car when I bought it.

I have the original Volvo Year Record with entries up to 55,000 miles June 2001 supported by invoices. Then comes the sale to me Oct 2006 followed by invoices for the re-commissioning outlined above and subsequent invoices for tyres, headlamp reflectors and service parts. I have all MOT certificates back to 2000.

The Good – Exceptional interior, very clean, no damage. Front/rear plastic floor trays. Good tread Firestone F630 tyres all round. All original glass etched with registration number. Tow bar with dual electrics (unused in our ownership). Tidy paintwork. Sony door speakers. Totally dry inside, not aware of any leaks.

The Bad – Drivers electric window not working, switch blank missing from dash, broken drivers side sun-visor clip, rear light lenses degraded. Welded repair to exhaust recently so a new exhaust will be needed in due course. A few shopping/parking dints/scrapes but nothing serious. Some tar spots and a few stone chips. Powered aerial bent and not properly functional. Radio removed. Milky edges around windscreen.

The Ugly – Corrosion in drivers door at bottom/behind door trim panel but not evident in outer skin. Some corrosion evident on sills in front door shut areas.

Reason for Sale – Wouldn’t start a few days ago. On a couple of previous occasions had some difficulty starting but it was perfect once running and did a round trip of 320miles without fault prior to non start. Battery is strong, it cranks and initially fires but it will not continue to run. I can get it to stutter and rev for a while by giving it throttle but it will not idle/run properly and cuts out. Fuses all ok and not corroded, I think it is highly probable that there is a problem with the fuel injection system.

I don’t have the time or expertise to sort fuel injection and circumstances have now conspired to force me to abandon plans to improve the car this summer. Tough decision, but getting my 144S back on the road is a priority and I also need to devote some time to the Amazon.

So, I really hope someone will see fit to give what has been a truly brilliant 240 a renewed lease of life. MOT expiry 25/10/10, taxed to end of September. If not, it represents a whole lot of very good parts. Car is near Yeovil, Somerset. Anyone interested. Offers?