On my 1988 240DL Wagon, one of the metal side latch gizmos will not operate. The center latch pull and the other side latch are ok. It's like the wire going to the one side has broken.

I never figured out how to take the center latch pull out without fracturing the plastic bezel, but I'm all ears if there is a way. Not sure what I'd do once I got in there. Maybe I should just plan on it breaking, and buy a new one through Volvo.

And I'm wondering if there's anything to be gained by trying to access the side latch from the side of the seat.

Any advice? Thanks....Lyle

I replaced the center latch pull. It was a pita and doesn't work that well. But if you climb in the back on each side where it latches you can use a screwdriver and pull up or push down (I forget which way) on the little "teat" that sticks out, and this will allow you to fold the seat.

Exactly. Leave a screwdriver in the back well, and whenever you need to drop the back seat down, take out the screwdriver and basically stick-it-in-the-middle of that back seat locking/unlocking mechanism.

While that original center latch always felt dry and an effort to pull up, and thus a pain in the ass when you needed to drop down the rear seat, you'll find that using the screwdriver method is actually easier. Primitive yes, but extremely quick and effective.

Also, since we're on the topic of rear end 245's, if the back tailgate is locked shut from the main key locking mechanism not working properly - i.e. the rest of the 4 doors will open but the back tailgate is locked shut and still will not - crawl back into the back and dose that internal tailgate latch with WD-40. From there, take that "t-bar" rear internal latch and pull that whole t-bar latch forward toward you. The tailgate will now open.

Between an '85, an '82, and a present '90, I've spent a lot of time crawling into the back of 245's with regard to internally rusting and stubborn rear latches.