90 740gle 16v or 93 940 Turbo?

[Stanley Rockafeller]

Consideirng one of these cars. Which is better bang for the buck and comparable to an e30 in terms of simplicity and reliability? (I also like the turbo power but that car's a/c is inop.

)

90 740 GLE 16V
http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/van/cto/3504977841.html
emailed seller who hasn't responded yet. Has working AC and only about 100k miles
The fact that it's simpler without the turbo attracts me, but the performance (or lack thereof) makes me wanna go with the turbo version.

93 940 Turbo
http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/pml/cto/3474501899.html
Called the owner who purchased car from a small dealer. Only selling since the car is too old for her. Has a little over 100k miles


any advice is greatly appreciated

 

[DuckRyder]

Neither of your links work, all things being equal 940T.

 

[eljefino]

+1 on the 940T but I'm biased because I have one. I also used to have another with 278k miles.

Take it on a test drive and make sure the speedo/ odomoter work. Not that it matters. Look for rust in the front floorboards by a cross brace and in the rear rocker pinch weld area.

One thing to look up, the 940 T has the AW71 heavy duty trans that does NOT have a lockup torque converter, this cuts mpg. The twin cam has, IIRC, the AW72 that might.

The AC thing could be electrical, the control heads are junk. If seller is willing, you could hot wire the compressor clutch to see if it then kicks in.

 

[Stanley Rockafeller]

links fixed

 

[synthetic_crazy]

We had a '91 740 that spent more time in the shop than in our driveway. At that time we also had a '90 240 that was in the shop alot as well. We owned the cars for 4 years and spend a total of $10k trying to keep them running. We gave up and went back to Toyota and Honda and have never looked back.

Some people have great reliability from Volvos, but we unfortunately, did not experience this. Hope you have a better experience if you decide to purchase one of these Volvos.

 

[DuckRyder]

Precious little information and scant pictures in those ads.

I would be inclined to look at both of them, but would go with the 940 if there wasn't something bad wrong with it (like rust). The B230FT is much more common and is a very good engine.

I think both these cars may have IRS/Nivomat. If one lacks Nivomat, that is a big check in box for it.

In addition to the climate control heads the vacuum actuators can go bad and are a bit of a pain to replace.

The 700/900 FAQ should cover both cars, lots of stuff can be fixed cheaply if you are pretty handy.

 

[JOD]

There isn't a lot of info in either of those ads, but as a former 740 owner, the 940 is just a better car all the way around. It's also 3 years newer, so the rats nests of vacuum piping will all be newer. Definitely worth the price difference if they're in equal condition. Are there any service records on either of them? The 930 seems like a really good deal if it's been reasonably maintained.

The only real downside to those cars is that they're tough on gas. They're easy to work on, parts are readily-available and they're fun to drive.

 

[bustednutz]

Had both engines thru the years. I'd stay away from the 16v. The turbo is a far better vehicle. But buyer beware...........these are both pretty old vehicles....

 

[Stanley Rockafeller]

Originally Posted By: bustednutz
But buyer beware...........these are both pretty old vehicles....


That's exactly what's keeping me from going thru with the transaction. My current daily (the 88 325is) is leaking/losing oil. I really dont' wanna deal with engine repairs/rebuilds given the age of the car all over again.

if I do pull the trigger, I feel I'm back to square one all over again with a car I'm unsure of it's maint. history regardless of it's low mileage. The fuel consumption is equivalent to my current car and does not bother me with a vehicle costing me so little to purchase

 

[rslifkin]

I've got a friend that's currently daily-ing an 88 740 turbo he bought for $700 with 205k miles. Original B230FT engine and AW71 trans are still going strong, although it's getting a new wastegate on the turbo as the current one is sticking (previous owner was an old guy that drove it super-gently and never got it much into boost). It's got plenty of power, handles decently (and has good steering / brake feel) and has been rock solid so far (he's put 2k on it since buying it).