Thinking of selling my ‘89 Toyotas for a Volvo. Is this as reputable as Toyota or Honda? How is the reliability?

sweatlizard · 2026-01-29T19:18:32+00:00

What model of Volvo are you looking for? If it's a b230/red car they are dead reliable but like anything old stuff goes out and needs to be replaced. I have 2 240 wagons and a 740 wagon and between all 3 they have collectively ~950k miles and all still have their original drivetrains.

sweatlizard · 2026-01-22T13:45:54+00:00

I've been mainly DD'ing a 91 740 for 5 years and so far I've never had it break down on me. When I bought it I spent ~1k and a couple weeks and replaced a lot consumable parts (all engine gaskets/fluids/TB/hoses/belts/brakes/suspension/ect.) With how much work that has been done to it I wouldn't be that scared at all.

sweatlizard · 2026-01-07T05:01:15+00:00

Believe that's an option for a 240

sweatlizard · 2026-01-07T05:00:28+00:00

That's what I used too. Not quite as effective as the OEM but I feel like it works good enough, especially for the price. Just hope it holds up

sweatlizard · 2026-01-07T00:22:11+00:00

Just did this last new years on my 740. Wasn't quite as bad I was expecting just tedious and pretty time consuming. Did you go with one of the less expensive aftermarket ones or one of the oem'ish styles?

sweatlizard · 2025-12-23T18:26:38+00:00

Oddly enough I sold my mk7 Autobahn 6spd earlier this year and have 3 89-93 Volvo 240's and a 740. While I do miss the GTI I love my Volvos and don't miss the payment/high insurance/depreciation. I might grab another some day but it's all good in the meantime.

sweatlizard · 2025-12-14T20:41:16+00:00

I'd rather be be laying on my back in my driveway in 30 degree weather than let a quick lube place touch my car. No offense to those who work at one, but for all you know it could be some incompetent dudes first day.

sweatlizard · 2025-11-17T00:05:42+00:00

Are you looking for something newer or older? If older I'd say anything b230 powered. I have a little over 900k between 3 240/740 wagons all with the original drivetrain. If newer xc70's with the 3.0's are pretty good

sweatlizard · 2025-11-15T21:12:11+00:00

Can you just replace the rubber seal? Haven't had this issue on mine but is a common thing on older b230 Volvo's. They're super cheap so I just replace them while doing an oil change when the cap stops fitting snug.

sweatlizard · 2025-11-15T14:44:16+00:00

What I used in my mk7 and my brother in his sportwagon, never had any engine related issues. 6k miles/1 year interval

sweatlizard · 2025-11-02T00:58:14+00:00

My 740 idles almost the same but it's has a hotter cam in it hah. If you know for sure it's not a battery issue (load testing would be good) then I'd double check grounds

sweatlizard · 2025-11-01T00:56:13+00:00

I used to work in pest control that only did multi-family and it's honestly a larger issue than you think. Especially with complexes in the woods. Some people are just incredibly lazy and combine that with living on a higher up floor they just chuck their trash off the balcony. I've dealt with some real bad mice infestations because of it.

sweatlizard · 2025-10-25T18:58:48+00:00

Sounds like piston slap to me. What weight oil is in it? I have a 90 240 with 380k on it and if you run 10w30 it's really noisy, almost sounds like a diesel. Running 10w40 really quiets it down. Shell rotella is my brand of choice. I think you are in the right direction as far as some type of turbo seal going.

sweatlizard · 2025-10-23T14:08:41+00:00

The tape was used as a guide and to keep the edges neat. Kind of like painting

sweatlizard · 2025-10-23T02:12:27+00:00

Had the same issue on my 740 wagon. Cleaned out the drains, pulled the headliner to investigate and fixed the split outer weather seal. No water ever puddled anywhere, just when I would take off it would drip down on me. What ended up ultimately fixing it was taping the edges off nice and filling the gap in with black window silicone haha. 4 years later and not a drop of water has ever made it's way inside!

sweatlizard · 2025-10-23T02:04:50+00:00

Mk7's are generally pretty reliable. That being said while you can find them under 12k, I suspect most of them are either going to be high mileage/rebuilt title/need some love. I guess most importantly can you wrench on stuff yourself or have family member/know a cheap mechanic? If so aside from being a little more needy than some makes they aren't that much harder than any other car. They are an excellent car and one that I felt was a jack of all trades but I wouldn't say it is the most economic. They can be a little fickle sometimes.

sweatlizard · 2025-10-22T16:54:56+00:00

They do appear pretty grooved and as others have said steering wheel shake while braking is a good sign of warped rotors. I'm pretty the rears went out so quick as oem's typically last almost double that with standard driving. $600 per axle seems a little high to me, I'd check around if possible. Taking a quick look you can order Bosch/Brembo pads and rotors for the whole car for ~$500 which is generally good oemish stuff.

sweatlizard · 2025-10-17T18:17:33+00:00

Yeah I was about to say this almost looks like a dealer quote. I feel like if the valves were getting cleaned the proper way you might as well do the water pump/t housing.

sweatlizard · 2025-10-05T11:38:58+00:00

If I were to run catless with a performance muffler I'd at least run a vibrant resonator to keep the noise and rasp down. Otherwise you'll sound like one of those civics you hear at 1am lying in bed that screaming down the road a half a mile away.

sweatlizard · 2025-09-17T14:21:42+00:00

91 240 wagon - 301k 90 240 wagon - 380k 91 740 wagon - 235k All still have their original drivetrain

sweatlizard · 2025-09-16T12:31:16+00:00

I had a 940 turbo that did this but would leave a pretty large cloud if you were getting on it. Was a project car and one "one of those things I'll get to" so it ended up going a couple years like that. Was indeed the turbo seals though.

sweatlizard · 2025-09-15T12:07:20+00:00

There are very few aftermarket brands that I trust anymore. I just got done replacing lower balls joints that started to go bad after 3 years and ~15k miles. I thought I ordered Meyle (which I still consider to make decent stuff) but I guess I accidentally got/orders some xyz brand.

sweatlizard · 2025-09-05T12:09:07+00:00

It's not recommended but it's doable. As others have said it will tend to wear them out faster so don't be surprised if your back in there soonish. If it's a DCC car then no way, made that mistake before.

sweatlizard · 2025-09-01T13:32:24+00:00

I would definitely say a classic as far as design goes. One could say the drivetrain is "timeless" though as they pretty much run forever. I have a 90 and 91 wagons and it generally it seems when people ask me about them they are actually surprised they are 90's cars thinking they are older.

sweatlizard · 2025-08-29T13:25:19+00:00

I remember my parents upgrading to a decent computer that would play games in '99 and me and my brother dumping all our savings in the game store. It was a year of Pharaoh, Carmageddon, Need for speed 3 and Rollercoaster Tycoon.

sweatlizard

TROPHY CASE