Lucia,

I have a 83 240 DL I bought last summer... It now has 174,000 miles on
it. A couple of things to check on the 83's is the wiring, make sure all
the lights work, If you have it inspected by a mechanic remind him to
check the condition of the engine wiring harness as Volvo's of this vintage
tend to have the wiring insulation go bad causing shorts and weird happenings.

Also little things to check are the heater fan, If it squeals or doens't
work the fan its self isn't expensive but the labor to put it in is
pricy.. About a 6 hour job. As for rust, if yours is a California Car
you probably don't have to worry too much but places that have rusted out on my
83 here in Minnesota are the spare tire wells in the trunk (lift up the
cardboard on the passenger side and check that one too) and the floors.
for some reason the right rear passenger footwell seems to have rusted the most.

I wouldn't worry so much about the chrysler ignition as wether or not the
car has been well maintained, I am owner number 5 and the first two owners
kept real good maint records which came with the car, owners 3 and 4
didn't do much of anything unless it broke first. The real Problems I had with mine were all maint related. (Timing belt, fuel filter, battery Cable)
They are good cars, So far everything in the 9,000 miles that I have driven
the car was pretty minor. Timing Belt was the worst, followed by a loose connection in the ignition (cost $64.00 at a shop to repair)

Good Luck
Mark Erickson