Ok fellers, need opinions again. Gotta guy selling a 1989 Volvo 740, 220k miles, automatic. Power everything but the drivers window doesn't work (how much of a pain is it to fix). He says it runs and drives well, but the power steering is heavy at slow speeds. Body is suppose to be rust free, but with one dent. I have not seen pics or the car yet, going up tomorrow (gonna be a bit of a drive).

So, the big question, if it runs, drives, and stops without any drama is it worth the $350 he is asking? I figure I can scrap it for that if needed but I would like to actually drive this for a bit, or fix it up and give it to my wife to drive.

I know some of ya are Volvo folks, so what engine does this have, is this one of the "good" volvos? What are some problems I should look out for? You are my guys, so school me.

Posted by jeepdave Ok fellers, need opinions again. Gotta guy selling a 1989 Volvo 740, 220k miles, automatic. Power everything but the drivers window doesn't work (how much of a pain is it to fix). He says it runs and drives well, but the power steering is heavy at slow speeds. Body is suppose to be rust free, but with one dent. I have not seen pics or the car yet, going up tomorrow (gonna be a bit of a drive). So, the big question, if it runs, drives, and stops without any drama is it worth the $350 he is asking? I figure I can scrap it for that if needed but I would like to actually drive this for a bit, or fix it up and give it to my wife to drive. I know some of ya are Volvo folks, so what engine does this have, is this one of the "good" volvos? What are some problems I should look out for? You are my guys, so school me.

yes, its worth $350.
you can't kill those tanks.

The 740 is considered one of the most reliable cars Volvo ever built. I have a '91 740 that I bought 17 months ago with 150k on the clock, paid $1400. I had to do the rear brakes and part of the exhaust, no surprises. I've put 17k on it and it's been great. Only issue I have is that it doesn't like to start in the cold, but it always eventually does. A few times it's taken as long as 5 minutes, but generally less than a minute. The power steering issue seems weird; one thing about this car is that it has an amazingly tight turning radius. My other car is a Mini Cooper and the Volvo turns way tighter. But for $350 I can't see how this wouldn't be a good deal.

Just thought of one other issue I've had. After plowing through some serious puddles in a rainstorm, I lost the overdrive 4th gear. There's some sort of relay or something that will (temporarily) fail if it gets wet, and Volvo fucked up and engineered it so that it fails in the wrong (adverse) direction. There's a button on the gearshift that lets you disable the overdrive gear for towing or whatever. Anyway, the next day it had dried out and worked fine. There's a wicked overpriced part you can buy that's essentially a metal plate to jump the relay and disable the disabling of the overdrive gear.

The '91s and '92s are recognizable by the grill design, and I see these things fucking everywhere, on almost a daily basis. Way more of them on the road than '91 models of just about anything else except Benzes.

It's also the most anonymous, forgettable car in the world, which is good for exploring.

My family had a 1990 740 GLE wagon, refrigerator white, from 1991 until October 2008.

What Samurai said is true; you couldn't kill those things with a dump truck. But if the engine develops any abnormalities, they WILL get worse and you WILL pay out the nose for them.

On a separate note, I got a fella looking to trade his 1991 Acura Integra 5 speed for my 2wd Cherokee. Would you do it? Suppose to have only 120k on it, but it does need a bumper and headlight on the passenger side. Zero rust and ugly aftermarket wheels. Thoughts on that?

I'd do it because the Integra is a fun little car and the Cherokee is only 2WD.

Skelly would not.

Posted by jeepdave On a separate note, I got a fella looking to trade his 1991 Acura Integra 5 speed for my 2wd Cherokee. Would you do it? Suppose to have only 120k on it, but it does need a bumper and headlight on the passenger side. Zero rust and ugly aftermarket wheels. Thoughts on that?

that year Integra will go 300,000 miles with ease, especially down south. Up here, they were really vulnerable to corrosion. Fun cars, nimble, nice to blast down a country road. Not the fastest thing on four wheels, but they were fun.

Posted by bandi I'd do it because the Integra is a fun little car and the Cherokee is only 2WD. Skelly would not.

No, I agree...two wheel drive Cherokees should be given away

Posted by Agent Skelly No, I agree...two wheel drive Cherokees should be given away

Fluffy had one he brought back from Florida... it would get stuck on a wet lawn.

Posted by Samurai Fluffy had one he brought back from Florida... it would get stuck on a wet lawn.

Fluffy? Man, you have weird friends...

Its actually pretty easy to put 4WD into a 2WD cherokee...the only hard part is you need to punch out the hole for the 4WD shifter, but there's a precut on the chassis for it.

Ok, the "rust free" Volvo had a 2' chunk of C Channel for frame where it had rotted out.

The Integra was trashed beyond belief. Ran good, drove well, but I just couldn't stomach it. Skull shifter, Type S wheel knob, oh and the BIG FUCKING CHUNK OF FRONT END PUSHED BACK 2' that he said was "miner Dmage".


From now on, a spelling test will be conducted before I go see any car.

Posted by jeepdave From now on, a spelling test will be conducted before I go see any car.

The same should be said about selling a car.

Awful fucking nightmare selling my 93 Civic hatchback. I stopped replying to anyone who didn't use proper sentences, grammar, or spelling because it always ended up being a complete waste of my time.

Posted by Agent Skelly Fluffy? Man, you have weird friends... Its actually pretty easy to put 4WD into a 2WD cherokee...the only hard part is you need to punch out the hole for the 4WD shifter, but there's a precut on the chassis for it.

his real name is Dave Lafountain... we call him Fluffy because of his hair back in school. It was David St. Hubbins fluffy.

Posted by jeepdaveType S wheel knob

That's at least 5 hp right there.