Volvos seem to always sell for a lot on ebay. Too bad this guy got one with anti lock brakes and self diagnostics. Who would buy a car without inspecting it?

"Who would buy a car without inspecting it?"

Me. I bought a pair of 780s from a charity auction lot in Chicago. I only placed my bid after numerous phone calls to the seller, many indepth questions, etc. I think I got a great deal...

"Too bad this guy got one with anti lock brakes and self diagnostics."

I would consider those to be beneficiary to the vehicle. While ABS may not be as good as a BMW Traction Control System (the best, no contest), it does provide the average driver with improved stopping ability. So far, I've only had two circumstances where I felt that I could have stopped the car better without ABS rather than with. Both circumstances did not result in an accident, and both were on ice with only one or two tires getting partial traction. -a bad situation for any driver.

As far as Self Diagnostics are concerned, I'd rather have them than not have them. While the early self diagnostic systems are primitive and often incorrect, they do give you a starting point or someplace to work from. I've successfully diagnosed many faults on many vehicles using the onboard systems. However, there are shops out there that insist on replacing all the components mentioned in a diagnostic test without checking the obvious problems. For example, a typical american made vehicle with an EGR fault, MAP sensor fault, and idle mixture fault will probably have a disconnected vacuum hose somewhere (and all parts listed above are good). Knowing how the systems affect each other is key to diagnosing any vehicle.

Just my 25 cents...

This is the car I posted a message about a week ago, and I spoke to the dealer and he told me they would take $8500 for it if I wanted to avoid eBay! I'm sure they are laughing all the way to the bank. Nearly $12,000 - impressive.

I think it's hilarious that someone would pay such a ridiculous amount of money for a 240. That dealer would never have paid a dime more than 3 or 4 thousand for that car. As a seller they may discover that there is a big difference between a winning bidder and a paying winner....
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Richard - '87 245 DL 374,000 km, '82 242 GLT 121,000 km

It has become pretty evident, though, that a nice 240 or 940 is worth bigger money. THere are fewer of them around now, and they still have the potential to live very long lives if cared for properly.

Compare that to the average $25k minivan that might experience more problems over the next three years than a 10 year old Volvo will, and the dollars sound a lot less severe. Given the choice on buying a nice 95 940T sedan and a new Taurus... well, I think I'd still be taking the 940T. And saving a lot of money several ways. Not everyone looks at it like that. But I usually buy cars for top dollar, care for them well, and they get a good resale price, for good reason.

One thing is for sure: No matter what a book value says, people will always pay up for a nice piece. No matter what. Maybe not you, but someone else will. It all goes back to my Collector theory. There are buyers and there are Collectors.

Junk Collectors.

Nothing is worth more than x dollars, no matter what. Therefore, a $1000 shit car is worth $500, but a $5000 decent car is still worth only $1000. I know a few people like this. Not intended for you of course, but just saying, there are always people to whom, ANY price is far too much.

But to others, they figure it differently. To them, they see it is worth it. I doubt they feel that they are a moron for spending the money. Maybe they'll deadbeat bid, but I've seen some other $10k+ Volvos go through Ebay and never saw them up for a second auction.

One word - RETARD!!!!

Nice car yes, but let's get real. 5k would have been reasonable. 6k on a stretch. 8k if you really want it bad. 10k you're nuts. 11,800 you should be commited for having more money than brains.

Happy Bricking!!!
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Richard - '87 245 DL 374,000 km, '82 242 GLT 121,000 km

Yeah - wow....I followed this one out of curiosity and was quite surprised at the final price. Wonder if a couple of bidders' adrenaline (or hubris) got the better of them? Be interesting to contact the seller in a couple of weeks and ask if the deal actually closed!

I'm acquainted with an older couple in So. Cal with a similar Classic with lower miles, and keep them informed of my whereabouts and my interest in offering when they decide to sell. But I'm not going to be that horny if prices are truly up there like this!
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Bob (81-244GL B21F, 83-244DL B23F, 94-944 B230FD plus grocery-getter Dodge minivan, MGB, and numerous old motorcycles)

This auction generated a long thread about a week ago when it opened:
http://www.brickboard.com/RWD/index.htm?id=733116&show_all=1

The auction itself:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2452928812

I had guessed that it would close for just under $10,000. It looks like I guessed about 2 grand low, since the final is $11,800. Nice to see that there were 50 bids on the car. Hopefully from a lot of different individuals rather than 2 or 3 bidding in small increments.

In regards to the fact that the car went for more than bluebook value, that's understandable. When you find something you want, and it's rare, most people will spend the extra dollar for it. -and yes, a 240 Classic with all DEALER records is a rare find. If you disagree, I challenge you to show me another... (and I will promply pass such information along to some prospective buyers)

God bless, and I hope the new owner someone among us.
Fitz Fitzgerald.
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'87 Blue 245, NA 230K

The single thing that made me look exclusively for, and willing to pay more, for a '93 for my wife was the ABS, standard that year (I knew a few '92s had them as an option, but they're like Hen's teeth). I figure she can benefit from that [only after I bought it, I learned that it also had heftier ant-sway bars than earlier models, too.]. But the "Classic" nameplate or trim isn't worth anything to me, or most people I would think. And the mileage on that car is more than on mine, for which I paid a lot less.
I didn't catch whether is was a genuine rust-free (sunbelt state?) car, though -- which could justify a little bit more. But that was sure still overpriced!

Actually all 92 had ABS, and a few select 91s. In case it makes a difference for other buyers...

Awesome. My Classic looks just as good and has few miles. Maybe I can get $20K!

1993 VOLVO 240 CLASSIC WAGON


Cranberry Metallic with Tan Interior!


116,270 Certified Original Miles

Like ole PT Barnum said, "There is a sucker born every minute" . Most likely more money than brains

Nice car-but-one has to remember-its a 240 wagon with a few trim pcs and fancy rims-too bad Volvo didnt add the turbo in this packgage as part of the classic packgage. I can tell you that here in central NJ--have seen two of these being sold locally-one at Red Bank Volvo--where it sat unsold for months on end--asking price was 9500.00--and down the road from there at Rassas Pontiac - they had the same exact car as this one with less milage --and they were asking 5700-it solds quickly.I looked at it--and realized--all it had that made it different than the wagon I was driving was the cheezy looking plastic wood grain dash trim, hard to clean rims, and a classic emblem on the tailgate--and oh yea--a black grill. This is a good example why ebay is for the most part--a sellers market. One cant help but wonder how happy the seller is at this point. Dont get me wrong--I love the car-but-the price is simply rediculous-oh well

fyi...the wood trim on the dash might look cheezy, but it is real wood.

-Ted

Jaguar!

Since they set up that auction to shield the bidders IDs, there's no way to look at the winner's feedback. I figured the car would bring 8 grand. With that high a closing price, that was either exactly the car somebody'd been looking for, or it was a scam bidder. We'll never know.
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1991 245, 61k miles, looking for a 5 speed 92-93 245 cheap.

That's absolutely true, but it goes on all the time. I'm not saying the seller did anything wrong, and the legitimate reason for shielding the bidders ID is to keep others from contacting the bidders to try to sell them other items off ebay. Another reason it's used by some sellers is so you can't actually see who's bidding against you, and you can't see any suspicious patterns.

Either way, a side effect of this type of listing is that a scammer can sign up for a new ID, bid up the item, and then disappear once the auction is over.

I've had quite a few instances in the past where I realized the seller was using at least one, and in one case 6, shill bidders. If I have a real reason to suspect it, I always report it to ebay.

Like I said, I'm not making any accusations against this particular seller. I'm just saying that rules or no rules, it still happens every day.
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1991 245, 61k miles, looking for a 5 speed 92-93 245 cheap.

Unless the person (identity) reporting violations of the eBay rules is a big time seller, eBay looks the other way. There are dozens of things that are "against eBay rules", and they very rarely encorce ANY of their rules....except against the "samll guy".

In point of fact, there is a guy selling illegal copies of Volvo's VLADIS ? software. Selling copied copywritten material is a clear violation, so you *should* be able to get your $$ back according to their policies right? NO. He does quite a lot of business, so eBay will protect thier income stream, and you (the buyer) are out of luck. BTW, even Volvo has reportedly asked to have him banned, no luck.
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JohnG 1989 245 MT @216,500