1979 Volvo 244 DL review from North America

Timing belt snapped and stopped the engine. It's a non-interference design so that was all right.

My brother crashed it through our garage door and some trim came loose. From that time on it had a perpetually surprised look.

That's it... except for tune-up items (1 set of points, several filters and oil changes).

The odometer never really worked. We went from Alberta to Manitoba, and only went 2 kilometers.

The exhaust system kept rotting, and we never had it replaced. We just kept welding bits on as they fell off.

This car was a steal, at only $700. The dash had cracked a bit, and the ugly yellow colour had only been made uglier by having the car parked outside. It drove nicely, though, and we couldn't afford a better car. Now I'm sure we couldn't have found one.

This car ran in all weather, and took on snow better than our front-wheel drive cars. We never put new tires on it, and never graced it with winter tires, but it did pretty well for itself anyways.

The gas mileage was good, for an underpowered tank. The cargo space was amazing, for a true 5-passenger car. Everything on the car always worked, even the ancient cassette deck. There was no A/C, and no power steering, but that just meant you felt the road a little better, and that you got more exercise around town.

After an impact with a tree, the car lost some trim and gained a new dent above the wheel. We drove it for a year after that, and though I'm sure it had frame damage, it drove just fine. We thought we could do better with a Ford Taurus in good shape. We didn't.