I posted a while back about the '93 240 'Classic' my father-in-law owns. He is now considering selling it, but he wants to know what he should reasonably expect to get from a sale.

It should be noted that this isn't just a '93 240 'Classic'. This one is special. Now, though no pictures are posted, I will describe it very accurately:

'93 240 Classic Sedan - VIN# YV1AS8800P1487345
Automatic
Ruby Red
73,000 ORIGINAL MILES
One owner with ALL maintenance records and original bill of sale/dealer info.
Garaged its entire life, and while in Mexico (see below) regularly cleaned/detailed/waxed by house staff
NO RUST ANYWHERE - body is in near mint condition (there is a small scrape/dent at the left rear wheel well - VERY MINOR)
Black leather interior
Has 'Classic' badge on trunk lid, 'Classic' 'X' rims, interior wood trim, matching painted headlight trim and side mirrors, though original grill is chrome
This car is NOT numbered. (i.e., 1200/1600)

THis car was purchased in the spring of '93 in Washington DC. My father-in-law was a diplomat and got this 'Classic' through the 'Tourist/Diplomat' special order program at Marten's Volvo in DC. For whatever reason, it has all the markings and trim of a '93 240 Classic EXCEPT for the matching ruby red grill and numbered dash plate. Thus it does not appear to be among the apparently 1600 Classics produced, and may be among a handful of 'Classics' reserved for diplomatic sales, though I have no idea???? It was shipped direct from Sweden.

A few years later, this car was brought to Mexico City where my father-in-law was stationed as a diplomat for about 3.5 years. It was garaged the entire time, and house staff regularly cleaned/maintained it. It was the '3rd' car and used infrequently, hence the low mileage.

Then, the car returned to DC where my father-in-law returned to finish his career before retiring. It was kept in an underground garage and used as a second car by my mother-in-law.

Now the car is in Miami where my in-laws have retired. It is kept under a sun shade and used again infrequently as a third car.

This car is in absolutely MINT condition. The only mechanical issues are an exhaust leak in the pipe between the downpipe and front muffler, a fuel gauge that doesn't work (though I'm looking into this & hopefully will be an easy fix), an the center panel console lights don't work, which I am also looking into.

Other than that, everything works flawlessly, and it is in absolutely MINT condition. My wife and I are considering taking it off his hands, but we already have 2 cars, and I don't really want to get rid of my '92 245 that is so useful for errands etc. (just moved a 7 foot x 5 foot armoire with ease).

Though we'd like to keep this gem in the family, we're not sure if we'll be able to. So, that's why I'm coming here first, knowing that if this car must go, we want it to go to someone in the Volvo family who will know how to take care of her. We don't want it to end up in just some person's hands looking for a cheap used car and who will not appreciate that this car is special.

So please understand that this Classic is NOT for sale, yet, and we are NOT entertaining offers. At my father-in-law's request, I am merely trying to test the waters to see what the consensus of the Volvo community is regarding this car's true value, and whether we could reasonably rely on selling this car to someone in the Volvo community as opposed to merely throwing it up on ebay or a private sale.

The Blue Book Values come back as:

Trade-in - $3500 (as if)
Priv. Party Val. - $4700
Sug.Retail
Dealer Re-sale - $6000

But what do you guys think this car is really worth?

Thanks to all for your input, it is much appreciated.

Here are the pictures of the Classic. You should note that I took these pictures of the car in its 'everyday' state. It was NOT cleaned inside or out, and the pictures show the car not even washed! You'll see the pictures of the undercarriage show a near pristine condition. It looks like the exhaust might need replacing soon, it could be original, but I'm not sure. Note also the pictures of the regular maintenance schedule and the progression of the mileage. There were some years where this car was driven less than 5000 miles!

Anyway, please have a look and tell me what you think. Thanks again!


http://picasaweb.google.com/nermil/Volvo240

Hm. Why don't you sell your '92 and keep this red one? Sounds like a no-brainer to me...

If it's truly as pristine as you describe, you can expect to get $6,500 at least, possibly much much more with the right buyer. Very nice, late-model 240s have been commanding higher prices on eBay these days, some Classics in the $7k range.

That said, if you don't find that "right buyer," no one will give you more than around $5k for it.

PS - SHOW US PICTURES!!!

One sold not so long ago for like $9,000 on eBay. Which, I think we all found pretty absurd... though there are people who'll gladly spend that kind of munny on a 240.

IMHO, there's nothing special about a "classic", aside from the wood dash trim (which I do like quite a bit).

-Ryan
--

Athens, Ohio
1987 245 DL 314k, Dog-mobile
1990 245 DL 134k M47, E-codes, GT Sway Bars
1991 745 GL 295k, Regina, 23/21mm Turbo Sway Bars
Buckeye Volvo Club

Interesting.
The fact is, it will never be a true 'classic' - though it sounds like it has all the right stuff.
I would put it on eBay with a reserve of $7000 - and start it off at like, 4500. If it doesn't sell, you can make a deal with the last person.

I love late model 240's - they're climbing in value too.

What would make it a "true" classic?
Why did it not get numbered?

Well, that's what I don't understand either. It has all the markings of a classic except for the numbered badge. All I know is that it was special ordered from Volvo in late spring of '93, so I don't know if Volvo had more than 1600 'classics' and reserved a handful for diplomatic sales or what. I will try to get pictures up soon so people can see what I'm talking about here.

http://www.vlvworld.com/indexframe.html?production.html

I don't know if it's accurate, but you could check the last 6 digits of the VIN, which is the chassis number, and see if it comes near the end of the range.

'93 4dr should start at 478,290 and there were 11,812, so that would make the last one 490,102.
--
forums.turbobricks.com

Just a guess here...
Ordering a '93 in spring of '93 would be well into that year's run. Possibly they'd completed the numbered series of Classics but still had all parts except the red painted grilles in stock. Rather than disappoint a good customer, they built the car.
--
Sven: '89 245 NA, 951 ECU, expanded air dam, forward belly pan reaches oem belly pan, open-front airbox, E-fan, 205/65-15 at 50 psi, IPD sways, no a/c-p/s belt, E-Codes, amber front corner reflectors, quad horns, tach, small clock. Wifemobile '89 245

Many Classics were shipping (I've read) along with the '92 model year, I believe, and according to my own chassis number and several others' they certainly were not the last 1600 made.

And there was a board member a while back (might have been T'Bricks) that had a '94 240 - apparently the left over parts were slapped together and sold in Europe for a while after they officially stopped making the car.

In any case, this one sounds gorgeous.
--
'93 244: 'A' cam 4 deg. advanced, 25/22 sways, custom heim endlinks, poly bushings, and a lot more styling customization than I care to recount.

I've taken pictures and will try to get them available in the next day or two. Checking the VIN number shows the car to have been among the last 2700 or so produced. Photos will be up shortly.

Yes some cars were built in 1994 for the Olympics that year.
Anyways, I'm VERY interested in seeing photos.
Comparable 1992 models seem to be selling for around $4000.
If you do decide to sell, I'm most definitely interested.