1982 Volvo 240 review from North America

I bought this car from a college student in the bay area. The body looked like someone tried to squeeze between two cars and was scratched and dented from front to back on both sides. I agreed to pay $700 regardless, due to the reliability and engine condition of the car when I purchased it. However, a few weeks after I purchased the car I noticed that the 4th speed kept popping out of gear and it would turn off the overdrive. Eventually, the overdrive burnt out and had it replaced for $14 and found a fix for my gear problem - A $3 bungee cord. As soon as I got on the freeway I would wrap the cord around the gearshift, keeping it in place. I've gotten so good at wrapping the bungee it had become second nature. No problems other than that.

I've had the car for almost 4 years and it never gave me any problem other than the air condition going out. When I finally sold it it had almost 400,000 miles. Just recently I saw it on the road and approached the new owner. She has over 500,000 on it and was told that the only thing she had to do was finally fixed the transmission.

It was the most solid car I've ever owned. Now that I think about it, had I kept the car I would have saved thousands of dollars. I've driven the car for 3 years (two trips from California to Illinois and back) and the new owner have driven it two states over several times. I paid $700 and 3 years later sold it for $500.