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Volvo Saved My Life-Now I Need A New One! 200 80

Well, my old '80 240 wagon finally bit the dust, but only because some lady ran a red light and rammed me on the driver's side. And I had just recently finished Don's "chainsaw" blower motor replacement! It appears the woman never hit the brakes, so she must have been doing about 45 when she hit me. An eyewitness told me she was amazed that I walked away with minor injuries.

Now I have to get a "new" one. I'm going for one of the later model 240 wagons, but I DON'T want ABS or SRS. Which model years had those "improvements?" I may go to look at an '89 with 100K miles on it. Did the '89s have any idiosynchrocies? I seem to remember something about the computer module having defects.

Thanks for any info!









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    Re: Volvo Saved My Life-Now I Need A New One! 200 80

    Victor,

    It is great to hear you did so well in such a worst case accident (at least in my fears).

    I own an 89 244DL and have had all the normal problems with the overdrive and fuel pump relays. So far good luck with the computer although I plan on removing it and looking for cracked solder on the boards (177K miles). This is because '89's are somewhat notorious for ECU failures. It is nice for diagnostics to have the LED reader for both the EZ116 and LH2.4 under the hood.

    I believe the airbag became standard in '90 and ABS was an option.

    Good luck,

    Dom








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    Re: Volvo Saved My Life-Now I Need A New One! 200 80

    On-line owners manuals for the 90 and 91 240 are at http://www.extras.volvocars.com/owners/ownersManuals.htm. Look there to see what features those cars had. Personally, I agree that ABS is something I might just as well not have but whats your issue with SRS?

    The 240 seems to be somewhat of a collectors car, (read extra $$), already and I think a nice 740 is a better value. Do you have a particular reason for avoiding the 740? The drive train is basically the same but you get a stronger chassis and a little more room.








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      Re: Volvo Saved My Life-Now I Need A New One! 200 80

      I guess I've grown accustomed to 240s, starting out with a brand new one in 1980 (lost that one in 1990 in an almost identical collision, one block from this last one).

      Regarding SRS, the stories I've heard about random deployments make me a little uneasy.

      Thanks for the info. I'll check out that link.








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        Re: Volvo Saved My Life-Now I Need A New One! 200 80

        Glad to hear you're all right! Volvos are really good at protecting one from harm (I'm a member of the "wrecked a couple of volvos" club too).

        I'd be much more worried about a defective tie rod end breaking on the interstate, or some random brake failure on a steep downhill curve than I would about a one in a million random airbag deployment! They really don't just pop all that often. Plus the benefits are pretty substantial.

        Bags came standard in 1990. ABS was optional in 91-92, standard in 93.








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          Re: Volvo Saved My Life-Now I Need A New One! 200 80

          You have a point there. But another thing that bothers me it that you're suposed to replace the airbag module after 10 years, so any 240 I buy with an airbag will be due for a replacement - $$$$$!








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        Re: Volvo Saved My Life-Now I Need A New One! 200 80

        /// Good buddy stay away from those corners.....








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          Re: Volvo Saved My Life-Now I Need A New One! 200 80

          Yeah, I've been told that I should find another route!








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    Re: Volvo Saved My Life-Now I Need A New One! 200 80

    Our '87 740 took the identical hit, but to the right side. He never saw the light, was doing about 70-80 Kph in a Thunderbird. My wife was driving the kids home from a party - she was sore and the kids bruised, but all were OK in a few days.

    We got a '94 940 which is nearly identical except it adds airbags and ABS. I disagree with the concept of airbags, but so far have not had them unplugged. As for the ABS - I love them and wouldn't do without now. Just my 2 cents in a similar situation but two years later.

    I cannot help with year-by-year changes, but if you are willing to consider a 740 if the right 240 doesn't surface, check this out:

    http://www.swedishbricks.com/ModelFAQ/700model.html

    Good luck. I hope you like your new car, and that you get fair value for the old.

    Brian








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      Re: Volvo Saved My Life-Now I Need A New One! 200 80

      I agree... ABS is a great invention. It truly takes most of the worry out of braking, especially on snow and ice. In fact, I would hate to be without it.

      But why would you ever want to unplug your airbags? That defies logic, unless you and yours are extremely short and very slight.








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        Re: Volvo Saved My Life-Now I Need A New One! 200 80

        Most of "mine" are extremely short and slight, being three children aged 6 to ten. At present my wife doesn't drive due to an injury (not a car accident) and for various reasons would like to sit in the back seat on trips, which means a "short and slight" in the front.

        Also, we all were brought up in Canada, and are all therefore well programmed to wear a seat belt religiously and properly. I wonder about the incremental value of an airbag in as crash-worthy a car as a Volvo when all passengers are correctly belted. OTOH, I wish my Toyota had them, as I would expect them to matter a heck of a lot more in a collision.

        In Canada, the Ministry of Transport will issue a permit to de-activate one or both airbags if required. Switches are not allowed, and are a crazy idea anyway given the human tendency to forget things. My mechanic did not agree with de-activation, so I never did it. He lives and breathes these cars, and I just drive one, so I respect his judgement.

        I would rather the passenger airbag was not there, but it is and we work around it. The driver's one is less of an issue, as it doesn't affect the way we can use the car.

        As has been said before, safety is (like) religion and politics. I respect your position and am glad you are comfortable with it, but I am perhaps irrationlly scared of airbags.









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    Re: Volvo Saved My Life-Now I Need A New One! 200 80



    got any photos of the wrecked car?

    (also, very happy you're alive)








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      Re: Volvo Saved My Life-Now I Need A New One! 200 80

      Thanks, John.

      I took some pictures, but I didn't get them developed yet.







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