1986 Volvo 740 GL Estate review from UK and Ireland

Rotted Brake servo hose collapse, caused braking problems (cost £1.50)

Both fan belts snapped on the same day (has 2 belts) (cost £14)

Rear exhaust section fell off (rusted) (£40)

Front passenger electric window intermittent (fixed this later see below)

Interior plastic brittle and easily cracked or broken off (used super-glue to fix)

Front wheel tracking, needed resetting (£15)

Idle control needed adjustment.

I bought this car for £400 (no MOT) from a trader, I put 2 tires on it and took it to an MOT station, it passed with no problems. I sold it 2 years later for £450, now that's economical motoring!

I didn't exactly spend much time working on it, I didn't need to, when I did anything I found it very easy, it helped that the 2.3 carb engine is very basic, no problems to diagnose and fix.

On the road I found it very smooth and the seats never caused me the back-ache problems I had with my previous (new) Ford Escort estate TD; A pub signpost implanted itself into this car one night on a unexpectedly slippery, newly surfaced, wet, country road, that car was a write off, if it had been a Volvo I think it would have just dented and scratched the car a bit!

Performance was not fantastic in lower gears, but in third gear, there was adequate torque to overtake without problems! Cruising at 80 on the motorway was effortless and reasonably quiet. This car was the only one in my street to start or move after a (rare) night of snow, then severe freezing (Jan 2001)

I had the misfortune of parking in the wrong place, an opportunistic thief smashed my passenger front window, leaned in and stole my CD player, I had bought a week earlier. Luckily there was a 740 Saloon in the local breakers and I got the glass for £10, again the simplicity and practicality of the Volvo helped, it took me 30 minutes to change the window, which had the added benefit of (mysteriously) sorting out the intermittent stickiness, which had plagued me since I bought the car. I never did get all the glass fragments out of the rubber seal around the window, so it always grated and crunched a bit when closing!

In conclusion: I don't soppily lurve Volvos, nope, cars are for getting from a to b, in my experience (for the money) no car does it better, than a Volvo.

I am buying another Volvo within the next few days, this time I'm looking at an 850 Estate, I can't wait. I only sold the 740 because my new partner didn't like it much. Last year, I made her an offer she couldn't refuse, I made her pregnant, she had a baby, now we NEED a Volvo, you know it makes sense, yeah baby, yeah!

I had a rare (it's unlisted above) 265 GLE before this, read my review of it, if you like!