Seriously?

[Moomoo]

I'm grateful to you too Othen, you clearly knew the Wellingborough vehicle to which I referred! As you said, £5000ish is sort of more realistic because as you say, it more than likely is a good car. I'm driving down the A14 in ten days so I might call in. From the time it's been there, you say, it'll probably still be there!!

Could be interesting.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Moomoo

I'm grateful to you too Othen, you clearly knew the Wellingborough vehicle to which I referred! As you said, £5000ish is sort of more realistic because as you say, it more than likely is a good car. I'm driving down the A14 in ten days so I might call in. From the time it's been there, you say, it'll probably still be there!!

Could be interesting.

The blue car does look nice from the photos, and has a lot of paperwork with it as well. The MoT history probably corroborates the mileage - it looks like it has generally covered about 2-3,000 miles/year. It has only has a few MoT failures over the past 15 years, mostly trivia, except this one from 2016:

Date tested
9 November 2016
FAIL
Mileage
45,485 miles
MOT test number
5719 4656 5783
Test location
View test location
Reason(s) for failure
Offside Front Track rod end ball joint dust cover excessively deteriorated so that it no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (2.2.C.1c)
Nearside Rear Stop lamp not working (1.2.1b)
Offside Obligatory mirror seriously damaged, affecting the rear view (8.1.2a)
Nearside Front Brake valve leaking at n/s/f chassis (3.6.A.1)
Advisory notice item(s)
unable to check repair to o/s sill properly due to filler?
headlamp patterns deteriorating
both rear tyres worn close to wear bars
slight play in front wheel bearings
n/s/f tyre worn to 2mm on outer edge [175/14t]
slight play in steering rack ends
Offside Front Front suspension has slight play in a lower suspension ball joint (2.5.B.1a)

It looks like the major faults (all bolt on bits) were dealt with within a few days, but the advisories give a little cause for concern. There are quite a few and I'm wondering whether it followed a change of ownership when maintenance became less rigorous. The one that would worry me just a little is the first of the advisories:

unable to check repair to o/s sill properly due to filler?

... the car is 34 years old now, and not many 240s of that age will have survived with no rust at all. 244s and 240 saloons nearly always rust in the same places: rear wheel arches, sills, boot floor and sometimes around the windscreen. Have a good look in those places and particularly at the o/s sill. Find where it has been repaired and poke around. If it was filled 5 years ago then that will be falling out by now - so look for fresh underseal or a general lack of metal. Have a look under the carpets at the inside as well.

I'm certainly not saying the blue car is in any way suspect. It appears to come from a reputable dealer and has lots of provenance. If it did turn out to have rusty (or poorly repaired) sills though it would go from being a £8,000 car to a £2,500 motor car overnight.

Is the car worth £8,000 - well, who am I to say (I have not even seen it)? I probably wouldn't pay that much for it, I'd be thinking £5,000 would be a good place to start. Whether it is worth £8,000 to you depends on your circumstances of course. It will not qualify as an historic vehicle for another 7 years, until then if you tried to sell the motor car privately you probably would not get your investment back in full. That may not be a consideration for you, I don't know.

If you wanted a Volvo that was modern enough to drive regularly, reliable and would be a reasonably good investment I'd suggest a pre-fuel injection car (so up to 1983) that was either already qualified as an historic car or will soon do so (1981 cars would be the sweet spot in that they become eligible for historic vehicle tax status on 1 April next year, and will appreciate in value considerably then).

If you were not fussed about ever recouping your investment then I'd say the very latest 240 (a 1992 or 93 model) or 7/9 series (as Dave says above - I know nothing of these cars) would be a lot cheaper and probably less risk (in that there has been less time for things to go wrong and be hidden from view).

Good fortune Andrew, let us know how you get on.

Alan

[Moomoo]

I'm aware of mot history, fantastic facility to have. It's early days in my search and I agree with your thoughts on the matter. If I can find something still with as much original paint as possible, I'm a bit of a wiz at injecting substances into cavities to maintain things getting little worse. Growing up when I did , the rust-bucket was the norm! Two old Land Rovers can be a baptism of fire!

I don't mind too much about tax and Mot exemption, it's handy but spending on that can be offset by less spending on resto and the like, with a later motor .Restoring a Landy to a high standard taught me " if you want a Minter, buy it don't build it". Purely from the money angle that is.

I'm rambling!

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Moomoo

I'm aware of mot history, fantastic facility to have. It's early days in my search and I agree with your thoughts on the matter. If I can find something still with as much original paint as possible, I'm a bit of a wiz at injecting substances into cavities to maintain things getting little worse. Growing up when I did , the rust-bucket was the norm! Two old Land Rovers can be a baptism of fire!

I don't mind too much about tax and Mot exemption, it's handy but spending on that can be offset by less spending on resto and the like, with a later motor .Restoring a Landy to a high standard taught me " if you want a Minter, buy it don't build it". Purely from the money angle that is.

I'm rambling!

Absolutely yes Andrew! It never makes any economic sense restoring old cars. Most of us in the 240 section dabble a bit in improving our cars, that is sort of the point and the 240s are all at least 28 years old now. If any of us accounted for the time we spend on our motor cars they would all have to be worth £25,000!

If you do decide on a 240 then buy the best one you can afford (but that doesn't mean paying absurd prices, there are always people out there flying a kite). If the free tax and MoT exemption piece doesn't worry you (and it only really becomes important if you decide to sell the motor car) then get the best condition one you can. I good 1993 car that someone isn't trying to hawk as a 'classic' could probably be yours for a lot less than a 1979 model because of the historic tag.

The answer is probably to go and see some cars. Check all the normal stuff that you will know all about from your LR days, plus any paperwork. I wouldn't particularly worry about missing service stamps from 30 years ago, that horse bolted long ago.

Best wishes,

Alan

PS. Andrew, I can't help thinking a motor car like this one would suit your needs really well and would be a better than the blue 240 you were thinking of for about half the money:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/303754084...wAAOSw~Vhfo7bg

... I should think you would easily get it for £4,000 in folding money; it is a one-owner car with a service history and 87,000 miles over nearly 30 years. This is heresy for a 244 bloke like me, but I think this is a much better car than the 240 you might buy for £4,000.

Dave and Luke know much more about 740s than do I, they may perhaps comment later to let you know whether this is a good motor car or not. Given the choice I go for this at £4,000 rather than the blue 240 at £8,000 (but then I'm a tightwad).

[Moomoo]

Pretty much Nutshell Sir!

I concur, have a look round.

Your comments on spending reminded me of a guy on a LR forum; he always said what worries him most is that if he died, his wife would sell all his gear for what he told her it cost!!

P.S.
I've only looked at that about 100 times. Your quite right. Still in 240 country at pres but I still think it would be an acceptable compromise at a later date.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Othen

PS. Andrew, I can't help thinking a motor car like this one would suit your needs really well and would be a better than the blue 240 you were thinking of for about half the money:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/303754084...wAAOSw~Vhfo7bg

... I should think you would easily get it for £4,000 in folding money; it is a one-owner car with a service history and 87,000 miles over nearly 30 years. This is heresy for a 244 bloke like me, but I think this is a much better car than the 240 you might buy for £4,000.

Dave and Luke know much more about 740s than do I, they may perhaps comment later to let you know whether this is a good motor car or not. Given the choice I go for this at £4,000 rather than the blue 240 at £8,000 (but then I'm a tightwad).

PPS. The MoT history for that 740 is unblemished, it has been doing 2-3,000 miles PA and has all the hallmarks of a well looked after motor car. If I didn't have the RB (and another 2 cars and 4 motorcycles) I'd buy it myself :-).

[Bob Meadows]

This seller has had a lot of Volvo cars on their books for quite some time plus other cars (Classic) to include a Riley RM chopped! and way of the price scale for what it pretended to be:~

Prices are always rich from this seller and I do feel they are overcharging - Lytham is an area we know well with a larger retired population- probably selling off long term ownership vehicles.

Personally I would not go there as you could get far better value privately.

Next time I'm in Lytham I can grab a pensioner for you!!
Regards Bob.

[Moomoo]

I liked both my 740 and 940 but it's the slightly more old time edge about the 240s I liked.

I'll probably drive one and think- well that was a Rose Coloured Spectacles load of nostalgic twaddle!

[Moomoo]

Originally Posted by Bob Meadows

This seller has had a lot of Volvo cars on their books for quite some time plus other cars (Classic) to include a Riley RM chopped! and way of the price scale for what it pretended to be:~

Prices are always rich from this seller and I do feel they are overcharging - Lytham is an area we know well with a larger retired population- probably selling off long term ownership vehicles.

Personally I would not go there as you could get far better value privately.

Next time I'm in Lytham I can grab a pensioner for you!!
Regards Bob.

Thought that myself about it being Wrinkly country. Getting there too, myself!

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Moomoo

I liked both my 740 and 940 but it's the slightly more old time edge about the 240s I liked.

I'll probably drive one and think- well that was a Rose Coloured Spectacles load of nostalgic twaddle!

... not really. I started looking for 240s, and eventually bought the RB (a 1980 244 auto) because my very first brand new car (in about 1986) was a 240 (estate, I picked it up from Gothenburg and drove it back to Osnabrück where I was living at the time). I really liked that car, kept it for several years until my job moved to Cyprus and always intended to get another. 35 years passed before I got round to doing so :-). I still enjoy driving the RB, that lump of nostalgia certainly wasn't twaddle :-)

Alan