Faults:

Not much. We celebrated its "25th birthday" this January.

Here's when something did go wrong.

Some dude in a new (name censored) rammed into my car from the front a year and a half ago. I had stopped at a red light. I heard from him that his car cost $9,300. Mine - I sent him a check for a new light casing and a new grille.

I think you get the picture. the 240 is a T A N K. It would be a tank except -

Mounting cannons are illegal

My car is a black one, not the camouflaged color.

General Comments:

I still love this car. 25 years have passed. I have used it for my wedding car (about the time I bought it) and, when my 23 year old gets married in 16 months, I will use it for hers. Hopefully I can use it for my grandchild's. But I may not be alive by then, and they may have to find a car like this in a Vintage Car rental shop. LONG LIVE VOLVO!!!

PS - My wife drives the Volvo 850, and it's much more round. But equally stable.

Faults:

Starter had to be replaced soon after purchase.

Some problems with tires, but due to their age, not because of the car itself.

General Comments:

My parents purchased this car last year (2007) from a lady down the street. She was the first and only owner of this car, which was purchased new in 1982. As her primary vehicle for 25 years, she only put 78,500 miles on it. Naturally I jumped at the chance to get such a great car.

Since we have bought the car, the only internal thing that has gone wrong was with the starter. It cost $300 to replace, but I'm sure that some of that was labor costs and the cost to get it all the way up to my little corner of the globe.

This car doesn't have much power, and seems reluctant to reach highway speeds for long periods. But, such is unnecessary for the type of driving I demand of my cars.

The interior has held up very nicely since this car was purchased. Cloth seats don't have any tears. Seats are comfortable, although back seat is crammed with three adults.

The greatest thing about this car's interior is the trunk. It has a HUGE trunk, and it is ideal for a load of groceries or any other big load of cargo.

I love my Volvo!

Faults:

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.

General Comments:

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.