1979 Volvo 245 review from Australia and New Zealand

I bought this old girl based on the reviews I read here, and I have not been disapointed.

I paid $500 for it, it needed three rust holes bogged up, then a bit of money spent to get it on the road. I live near a VOLVO specialist wrecker, so most of the parts have been salvaged.

It needed a radiator, steering rack, and one muffler, rear shocks, set of tyres, battery, then a few small things like dis-cap / rotor, plugs and leads etc. All up I spent just short of $1000, so for $1500 plus rego, I was on the road.

The clutch was wearing out when I got it, with some vibration when reversing, so after six months, I put in a new clutch plus master and slave cylinders - all up $700.

This old girl starts every time, doesn't blow any smoke, goes hard when I need it to. She's comfortable to cruise in, although a bit thirsty on fuel - by my calculations 14L / 100KM which is about as bad as a modern V8.

I've read that these cars can go for 1/2 million miles, and my plan is to drive it that far (which might take me the rest of my life, considering I only drive it one or two days a week (I use a scooter for the daily commute to work)