Vehicles

Volvo 240

Cheapest reliable used car

The Volvo 240 series of cars is quite possibly one of the best used car deals for the cooltools crowd. They were made from 1975 until 1993 — so there are plenty of them to go around. In fact, Volvo wanted to stop making the cars three years before they actually stop producing them — the community demand was so great they just didn’t stop!

240s are roomy (especially in wagon form), reasonably fuel efficient (20 – 30 mpg), durable (engines with 200,000+ miles are not blinked at), solid (steel construction), safe (one of the many cars that built the Volvo=Safe reputation), comfy (lumbar support, heated seats, et cetera), simple to work on (thanks to a roomy engine bay), excellent community support (comprehensive FAQ & online forums), excellent parts support (online junkyard parts galore, and you can still get parts at dealerships), good in the winter (with proper snow tires) and best of all, cheap! A 240 in good condition can be had for anywhere from free (it needs a little work and it’s so old and has so many miles… who’d want it?) to $2,000+ for a well looked after example. (The 240’s latter siblings, the 740 and 940, are both fine cars as well – based on the same mechanicals as the 240)

I’ve had two previous Vovlo 240s and love my current 1990 240 wagon. I purchased it with 225,000 miles already on the odometer for a trip to Alaska. It may be a 16 year old car, but it brings a smile to my face.

— Zach Zaletel

1985, 150,000 miles, $1,000
Available from Cars For Sale

User forums
Brick Board,
SweedSpeed,
TurboBricks,

Online parts shops
FCP Groton,
eEuroparts,
VLVworld,
RPR Company, Inc. (note: RPR shut down.)

06/16/06

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