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Considering Selling ?87 240 (145,000 on engine)- how much should I ask?

apollo13

New member
Joined
Feb 8, 2015
I?m seriously considering selling my 5-speed 1987 Volvo 240 DL, which has only been owned by my father and myself. This is the same car that brought me home from the hospital over 29 years ago, so there?s definitely some sentimental value here! I would like to sell it because I use another car as my daily driver and I?d rather save for a house. As much as I love this car, I just don?t want to put any more money into it in this season of life.

While this Volvo has a little over 300K on the body, I swapped in a newer BF 230 engine from a ?90 Volvo wagon with only about 145K miles not even 2 years ago. The original engine suffered catastrophic failure when a broken valve spring fell into the combustion chamber, cracking the cylinder head and breaking the timing belt. Since swapping in the newer engine (and with it the new gaskets, seals, timing belt, & more) the Volvo runs like a new machine and I think it has even more power than before! I also had a new clutch and harmonic balancer installed with the engine swap.

This car has been very well maintained over the past 30+ years and I have all the records to prove it. The AC system was converted from R12 to R134 back in 2010. While the odometer intermittently didn?t work for approximately 10,000 miles, I fixed it in 2015 and it currently works. Tires have about 50K on them but there?s still some life left on the treads. The vehicle also has IPD sway bars and a performance camshaft as well as a performance exhaust for some added horsepower.

The Volvo does have 3 small rust spots and some cosmetic blemishes such as cracks in the dash (see pics). This car has been garage kept for almost all of its life and you can see from the pics that it?s a very clean Volvo.

Given that this Volvo is a newer ?heart? in an older ?skeleton? so to speak, how much should I ask if I decided to sell it?

https://imgur.com/a/Q47Yn
 
Thanks for your input. What could/should I do if I wanted to get more money for the car?
 
Every $1.00 you spend will get you another ten cents.

It ultimately may not be worth it. You can sink $1,000 and still only get $2-3,000.
 
I'd start at 3999.99 and negotiate down, Anything over 2K is good

Not quite .10 on the dollar in my mind, but will be hard to get any money back you invest, Only thing I would even consider is some new/ newer tires

Every $1.00 you spend will get you another ten cents.

It ultimately may not be worth it. You can sink $1,000 and still only get $2-3,000.
 
Appreciate your input. Does it make sense to address those rust spots? Wasn't sure if that would help my cause given those cosmetic defects are definitely an eyesore.
 
Appreciate your input. Does it make sense to address those rust spots? Wasn't sure if that would help my cause given those cosmetic defects are definitely an eyesore.

NOPE! If you didnt already get around to it, it was for good reason ( it didnt bug you or you didnt have the skills/time/$)
Instead of fixing those, get a professional detailing done on the exterior, the interior looks great (besides the seat belt cover)

Id start at $3000 on CL and if u wana ebay it set the reserve at 3K or 3.5. People are nuts on there
 
Broken trim, some rust, cracked lenses, cracked dash, manual windows, swapped engine, and then some. The good is it's a manual. Any money your thinking of spending put it in your pocket. Add to that the maybe $2000 you'll get and call it a day.
 
I hate to say this, but that A-pillar rust creeping under the windshield seal is bad news, if not potentially fatal, to anyone that knows these cars. Once it takes hold, the car is almost instantly a parts car because big leaks aren't far behind. I'd almost suggest fixing that just so people don't move on to the next car on CL.

-Ryan
 
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