[bigwill51534]

My wife surfs a site offering things for free that are up for the taking in and around Groton, CT. She was looking last night, and found a FREE 1986 Volvo 245 station wagon. No information on it, just wanted it gone. I called this guy, and he said that the car ran, and was driven where it sat about 6 months ago. He just said "first come, first serve." We went to take a look at it, and he said someone was on the way with a flatbed wrecker to get it, but said if we get there first with something to haul it, we can have it. We got a dolly from a guy I work with, and made it back in time to score the car. We loaded it up, and hauled it home with the free and clear signed title. Upon further inspection, we found the car had just been tuned up (new air cleaner, distributer cap, rotor, wires, plugs, hoses, etc...) and also had the owner's manuals and a Chilton tech manual. The car only needs tires, front brakes (and the car came with front pads, too), a lens and bulbs for the front driver's side parking/turn signal lights, and a battery. We jumped it, and got it running. Everything works! All of the power windows/locks work, all of the lights minus the front driver's side parking/turn signal lights, the heated seats, and I believe the A/C even works! It has a 2.4 liter SOHC 4 cylindar with a 4 speed manual tranny with overdrive (a button atop the shift knob electronically shifts it into 5th gear), four wheel disc brakes, full leather interior, decent paint, and it doesn't smoke or rattle. It's high mileage (215206 miles), but doesn't really show it.

Think I did too bad?

~Will Courtier~

[ninefivezero]

Was it Craigslist?

Anyway, amazing find. I love old Volvo wagons, I have a few friends with them.

[ivanolo]

Dang, I need to find a website like that here in Springfield, Illinois. <=== Got my hint? Yeah, if anybody knows of one, please let me know....

[bigwill51534]

Originally Posted by ninefivezero

Was it Craigslist?

Anyway, amazing find. I love old Volvo wagons, I have a few friends with them.

Got it off of a Yahoo group a friend of my wife made. It was originally made for Navy families to get rid of stuff. I don't know of anyone in the area of NYC/Boston/Connecticut, but I could give the web site if someone could use it. Most stuff is junk, but every once in a while something useful comes along. Just gotta be fast with the items worth taking. We also got a few small locking suitcases with dividers to hold 15-20 computer hard drives or cards. They were from the Navy (I believe), and held repair parts for electronics in submarines. Kinda cool, they make some awesome ammo boxes.

~Will Courtier~

[bigwill51534]

Pics!







She's kinda of rough, but what the hell... It was free!

~Will Courtier~

[super_Chris]

It doesn't like there are any dents/dings in the body, nice. Get new head lamp lenses and blinker lenses and get it painted, it'll look pretty good.

I'd say it was a good deal.

[jag_e_fattig]

ok good, welcome to the volvo lifestyle. i'm not kidding, these things become an addiction. go register at www.turbobricks.com and start reading. the search function of the forum is a real treasure trove of information on making that brick you drive haul som serious ass.

[Cr@cKpiPe tE@sEr noOb!]

my gf has a mid-90's Volvo. Overall, it's a peice of shit. The tranny literally jumps into 1st gear, the ac spits out cold air for about 10 minutes then turns into a hair dryer (which is bad in hot Miami), and the side trim is falling off. It would be a good car except for those things. It is very roomy inside and the leather is pretty nice. She got it for free though from her aunt. They tried to paint it reddish but came out orange, which actually looks nicer. But thats a cool find.

[ivwshane]

Goog find but how many cars do you need!?

[cjgallen]

Originally Posted by ivwshane

Goog find but how many cars do you need!?

You can never have enough cars!

[bigwill51534]

Originally Posted by ivwshane

Goog find but how many cars do you need!?

I've only got this, my 1992 Isuzu Trooper, my wife's 1993 Geo Prizm, the Volvo, and my bike, which is a 1992 Buell S2 Thunderbolt. I'm probably going to let my room mate drive the Volvo until he leaves for Washington State in February, then decide to keep/sell her.

~Will Courtier~

[hans5849]

let the wife drive the volvo, its better than driving a Geo.

[bigwill51534]

Originally Posted by hans5849

let the wife drive the volvo, its better than driving a Geo.

Yeah, but the Geo is cheap as hell (nearly 35 mpg). She also says the Volvo looks ugly, and says she wouldn't be seen dead on it. I guess she doesn't appreciate a good car when she sees one.

~Will Courtier~

[hans5849]

you know what i see people driving Geo's and i laugh, even though i have no driveable car.

[bigwill51534]

Originally Posted by hans5849

you know what i see people driving Geo's and i laugh, even though i have no driveable car.

I know, I do too I even seen a late-90's Geo Metro for sale for $700 and got a good laugh. Those cars aren't worth their weight in scrap metal. Well, I guess I can't laugh much, as I used to drive a Suzuki Swift GTi (the PERFORMANCE geo metro). It was really a joke, but was pretty quick. It also got over 35 mpg. My wife talked me into buying another car and giving the swift to her brother. I regret this, as he beat the shit out of it, and destroyed the suspension hitting pot holes too fast because it rode so low... Man I miss that car....

~Will Courtier~

[jag_e_fattig]

Originally Posted by bigwill51534

She also says the Volvo looks ugly, and says she wouldn't be seen dead in it. I guess she doesn't appreciate a good car when she sees one.

~Will Courtier~

you might have to talk some serious sense into your wife. no disrespect to her at all but picking that geo piece of shit over a volvo 240 because she doesnt like the way the volvo looks is just dumb. plain and simple. for gods sake, increased crash safety in a geo is laying the sunday edition over your lap when you drive around.

she's right about not being caught dead in that volvo though; i talked to a guy who has been an emt for over 15 years and he said out of the 1000's of car wrecks he's been called out to, he has NEVER pulled a dead body out of a volvo. whoever was in it was alive every single time. you cant say that for many other cars. least of all some geo.