I have been driving an 88' 240 DL for a number of years now and have been very impressed with the reliability and longevity of this car. I am considering purchasing a newer front wheel drive volvo somewhere in the 93-98 range. Can I expected to get the same kind of use out of the new volvos? How do the engines compare to the B230F as far as quality? Does anyone have any recomendations on a model or year in the above range.

Thanks for your input.

Greg Normington

Greg, if your '88 is starting to wear out, but you love it (as I did my '87!) then why not opt for a great condition '93 or even the limited edition'93????? The latter might be hard to find, but many 92's & 3's out there!!!!! Bill

If cost and repairs are a consideration....I'd think the best currently manufactured approximation of the 240 would be a Toyota Camry SE 4-cylinder 5-speed with ABS and side airbags. The latter are optional, I think. Camrys have a very good "real world" safety record.

http://www.carsafety.org/vehicle_ratings/ictl/ictl.htm

-Punxsutawney Phil

Well, no newer FWD Volvo is like a 240 IMO but if you want to keep it simple, an 850 with manual trans and manual climate control is probably your best bet for overall hassle-free ownership. The auto trannies really aren't bad if you do periodic trans fluid flushes like you would with your older 240 (if auto trans). Electronic climate control also isn't all bad but it's more expensive to repair if anything fails with that vs a manual climate system.
FWD 850s and FWD (NOT AWD) S/V 70s are reliable and still decent cars and will last a long time if properly maintained, like almost anything.