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Driving to work this morning I was wondering how many others
were out there asking their aging 240s to really perform each
day or at least very often.
Mine sees an arduous mountain pass at high speeds twice a day
with a total commute of about 70 miles per day. This isn't a
competition to see who demands the most of their Volvos. I'd
just like to hear about others that are driving the wheels off
their cars.
I've actually sold a 242 because it was too nice for the amount
of use our cars see.
Cheers,
Ron
Wasatch Mountain Range, Utah
89 245 M47, 242K miles owned since 160K
85 244 M46, real mileage unknown
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I demand a lot of my 89-240 just driving approx 700-800 miles weekly. It only let me down once. Right after I got it, and before I installed the voltmeter, the "new"alternator went bad on me while coming back from New Hampshire. With no idiot light or gauge, I didn't realize it wasn't charging until I went to put the lights on. Running synthetic in the motor and rear(soon the automatic)Probably hasn't hurt and the car runs as well as anything on the road.
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I am one of two technicians that service the drivers license facilities in the state of georgia. Some weeks I do around 1300 miles, others only 200. My 1978 244 has only let me down once and I sort of saw it comming. Fuel pump had made awful noises for a long time and finally died. This car has k-jet and otherwise simple. It is also 25 years old and does not need emmissions.
Joe in Atlanta
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I don't think I demand near as much from mine as others do, but I still enjoy driving the 1990 245 ALL the time. It has actually saved my life already. I know this is not an answer geared toward the question, but I bought mine in November of 2002. I had to park it inside my garage because I could not get full coverage from my insurance company (it has/had a salvage title). I began parking my 1994 Oldsmobile outside. I bought the Volvo as a fixer-upper. It had about 170000 miles on when I got hold of it. The previous owners NEVER seemed to do any of the regular maintenance, so when I got it, I started dumping lots of time and money into it. At first it got about 12-14 miles to the gallon. Now, after countless hours it gets a very consistent 25-26 mpg (I do mostly city driving) On one tank I actually got 28 mpg. Anyway to make a long story longer, I awoke about 5:00am one Sunday morning (I play drums at my local church) and heard the car alarm on my 1994 Oldsmobile going off. I walked outside only to see the thing in flames. It had actually spontaneously combusted. I used to park the Oldsmobile in the Garage (directly below my flat)
Sorry for offending anyone, but I don't drive the wheels off mine. But I REALLY enjoy driving it and it has already saved my life.
--
'90 245 180k
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I don't know that I really make my 245 'perform' per say, I'm a pretty conservative driver during non-emergency conditions. (I've seen too many people die in motor vehicle accidents and I know that 5 mph can make a difference between life and death). However, my vehicle does see a LOT of idle time. Anywhere from 1 to 4 hours for a typical tank of gas might be considered normal, depending on the circumstances and the issues on scene. My rear tow hook sees a lot more use than it was probably intended for, and my front air dam does double duty as a 'snow-plow' from time to time (usually when my driveway isn't plowed).
The engine runs great on synthetic oil (Valvoline or Mobil 1), and with the stock clutch-fan I trust that it's not going to overheat if I'm out of the vehicle for an extended period of time.
I love the snow, and I love my snow tires. God bless and drive safe,
Fitz Fitzgerald.
--
'87 Blue 245, NA 231K
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I put at about 2000-2500 miles on my car a month. I do an awful lot of driving it seems. During the summer, there was a week where I put roughly 1800 miles on the car, most of the week was spend in the car! I don't think I've ever filled up so many times in one week as I did then.
At the time I had 3 jobs, and one of them was over 120 miles out one way. Lots of time spent in the car.
This past summer, I put around 8000 miles on my car alone.
These days, my daily drive isn't so long, I just go back and forth a lot. I'm taking classes at MHCC which is about a 40 minute drive from where I park the wagon every night. I also seem to always end up taking someone to somewhere it seems. In fact, this Thursday I'll be taking a trip from Portland up to Olympia, Washington to bring a friend back down to Portland. I'll probably take him back up on Friday, and come home. (He's paying for the gas on all 4 trips... heh heh heh.)
I don't mind doing the driving at all. I could honestly sit in the car and drive 6 straight hours and not mind. Only thing that keeps me from doing that is the cost of gas...
Oh well, the speed limits on most of the highways in Oregon are still 55 mph, and I never speed, so my gas mileage is good.
I'd say I demand quite a bit out of my car, and it's never let me down. I reward it with oil changes every 3000 miles.
--
If you listen to the radio in Portland, OR, you may know me as 'Portland's Favorite Soul Brother!'
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I drive my 81 245 GlT on a daily driver basis driving 80 miles a so per day 6 days a week has never let me down once. The old girl keeps on moving.
~Mark
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I drive 120 miles round trip to work every day on New Jerseys Garden State Parkway and the NJ Turnpike I95--and when not sitting in bumper to bumper traffic at the toll booths or rubbernecked induced traffic jams--Im rollin at/ or around 75 mph( rolling with the traffic flow) in either an 86 245 aw70 or our 87 244 M47. I kinda split the duty between the two of them. Iv driven both of them to work when we had snowstorms this year and last year-never had a problem. I dont baby either car-or abuse them--I demand alot from two cars that our considered rather old in most peoples eyes. Once in awhile--I drive my wifes car--93 945 turbo-what you might call our flagship car-but-working in Newark, parking is tight and easy to get wacked by some. Not to get off the track of this post-but--have also converted a few freinds who thought I was strange driving older volvos as I do. Their simplicity and reliabilty make them perfect for me current needs--
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Until I moved to the Phoenix area last summer, I drove an '88 245 and then a '92 345 80-100 miles a day over twisty, hilly back roads in western CT. Rumblegutz (the '88) was retired after being rear-ended a week after hitting 250K, and still had the original clutch. Son o'Gutz, the '92, had almost 2 years of the same treatment, but was probably pushed harder because he got suspension improvements and a VX cam. To this day he sees 5000 rpm a couple of times daily because he revs so nicely, but - none of that before he's warmed up, and always a crankcase full of clean Mobil 1.
Not sure that's 'driving the wheels off', but I think I demand a lot from my car.
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I haven't asked as much of my 91 245 as I did my last brick, but it is my primary transportation. I drive it to Little Rock (about 70 miles away) at least 3 times a week for shipping and junkyard runs. I expect it to deliver, and it always does. I'd have no worries about driving it anywhere, anytime. I'd take it coast to coast tomorrow if I needed to go.
My 87 245 was a tow rig, and I counted on it to take me on trips of 1000 miles or more while towing a car on a tow dolly. The only time it let me down was when I blew an AMM in North Carolina. I had an earlier AMM that got me to my mother's house, but it really ran rich. I had to drop $100 on a junkyard unit, which taught me to carry a spare. I'll be using my next 245 for towing, and I'll do a lot mmore upgrades on it to make life easier on the car.
BTW, one of the few cars I trust mechanically as much as I do a brick are the Toyota Tercel wagons built from 1983-88. I've had 5, and all but one had over 200k miles when I sold them. I drove the first one, an 84 model I got for free back in 1993, over 55k miles in a year when I was selling vintage guitars on the road. I still regret selling that one. My current Tercel has over 240k on it, and although it does burn about a quart of oil every 1000 mmiles now, it shows no sign of giving up any time soon, but it's been on loan to my in-laws for a few months.
--
1991 245, 61k miles, looking for a 5 speed 92-93 245 cheap.
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Yo CL. Sorry to get a bit off topic, but you sell vintage guitars? I've got myself a bit of a collection here, and work in the local guitar shop. This isn't the first time i've seen guitars and volvos come together......... i wonder if there's something there?
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I haven't done anything in the vintage guitar field in quite some time. I Started back in 92, driving my BMW 2002 to shows around the country. It was soon followed by my first Tercel wagon, and that's when I hit my driving stride. Most weekends I was at a show someplace, and driving back home on Monday. I managed a pace of over 1000 miles a week for a year. It was tough, but I really didn't have anywhere I had to get back to, so it was kinda fun.
I was really into the lower end fender and Gibson stuff before it was cool. Guitars like pre-CBS Musicmasters and Duo-Sonics were $100 all over the place. I'd hit the shows, sell what I'd brought, and everybody in the circuit knew they could unload all the $20 Harmony, Silvertone, Kay, etc, etc, on me. I'd leave some of thhose shows with 20 or 25 of those cool old 50s and 60s beginner electrics. I had a couple of shops that bought a lot of them, the rest would sell well at shows in other parts of the country.
I have 3 guitars that stand out in my mind. One was a 1964 Fender Musicmaster with the rare see-through red finish. It was chipped up around the edge, and I picked it up cheap. The neck on that thing was just magic. The pickup was dead, and I had Lindy Fralin rewind it for me, and it was just the sweetest sounding guitar I ever owned. It was my keeper, but I pawned it once and couldn't get it back out. A couple of friends of mine saw it at a couple of different shows after that, but I couldn't bring myself to call and find out what it'd cost to get it back.
Another time I was at a show and went out to get something out of my car. This particular show had a rule against dealing on the sidewalk in front of the building. I saw a guy walking toward me on the next block, and his look just screamed "bass player". I caught him before he walked across the street, and asked what he was selling. He had a Fender Wildwood Coronado II bass in beautiful condition, and a 50s Supro amp with a blue-frame Jensen 10, complete with the store tags on it, just a dead mint amp. I asked how much for both, and he said $150. I didn't have the heart to price the bass while he was in the show. Suffice it to say I recouped my money off the amp alone, and then some.
The last one was a WWII era low-end jazz-box, I believe it was a Kay. It had a 17" lower bout, solid spruce top, with a DeArmond pickup and no cutout. The action was dead, but I could see the problem. The guy was shopping it all over the show for $75, with no takers. I wanted it, but I was tired and didn't try to intercept him. He finally walked up to me and asked if I'd give anything for it, and I got it for $50. Back at the motel, I shaved the frets at the neckline, polished them all, oiled the fretboard, and polished the entire guitar with some glaze I'd found that worked great on that stuff. The next week some guy came along and offered me $350 for it, so it found a new home. I still think I made the wrong decision.
I miss it, don't get me wrong, but toward the end everybody that walked in the doors figured they were carrying a chunk of gold under their arm. Some were right, but most were wrong. I still wanted to deal in the cool old stuff, but it got too hard to buy them, so I took a vacation and nevver went back.
Then there was that beautiful 100% original '58 Les Paul flametop that walked in out of the cold, and the guy asked if it might be worth a grand or 2. That's another story altogether... ;)
--
1991 245, 61k miles, looking for a 5 speed 92-93 245 cheap.
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AH! A flametop that got away!!! Not fun to hear about!!! My first guitar was a pawn shop '84 American standard Strat, which i quickly realized was not my cup of tea, and sold it and picked up a '56 musicmaster for about $300. Still have it, and it still has the nicest maple neck i've ever played. That through my '63 Fender Pro, and oh boy, watch out.
I totally hear you on the "gold-under-the-arm" bit. I get one of those a day at least in the shop. Unfortunately it's about 90% junk. One cool one was a family brought in a guitar to get re-strung. Knowing my stuff, i immediately knew it was an early 60's Gibson. Opening it up i found a MINT (i mean MINT) '64 J-45 that had been inherited by the 10 year old kid by a passed on family friend. After i learned that's how it came to him, i couldn't bear to try to buy it, he was gonna have that thing forever. They then preceeded to ask "is this Gibson name a good one? or is it just a sears special?" It was hard to know what to say. I proceeded to take the kid to the couch and teach him about his new found prize.
Email me offline sometime and we'll share collection inventories.
Sorry to everyone who has no clue what we're talking about :P
If anyone is still reading this, do you have any exceptionally interesting "i've got a rare beauty here" stories that turned out far from true?
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The flametop story: This is true, I was there.
This happened at a Kansas City guitar show in either 1993 or early 94. I don't remember for sure, they had 4 shows a year there and I hit them all. It was a Sunday morning, and the hall was fairly dead. Sundays never picked up till after lunch, so it was fairly common for the dealers to just leave their tables and look at everybody else's inventory. A guy walked in carrying a 50s Les Paul case and said he really didn't want to pay the $5 admission if he wasn't going to find a buyer for his guitar. The guy behind the ticket table, who actually owned the show, called over the closest dealer.
The dealer comes over, and it's obvious what the case is. The guy asks him to look at the guitar and tell him if he could sell it. The dealer does, and about goes into shock. It's a 58, near-mint, and totally untouched. It was a flametop, but not a particularly good one. Still, it was a hell of a guitar, and by far the best thing that had ever walked into that show.
The dealer says yes, it's a good guitar, does the guy have a price in mind.
The guy says... and it hurts me to even think about it... that it was his dead father's guitar, and that his mother told him to see if he could sell it for enough to buy a refrigerator, and maybe a washing machine. "Would $2000 be too much?" he asked.
The dealer couldn't buy the guitar in the entranceway, it had to come inside the show. We all liked the promoter, and didn't want to break the rules. He told the guy to consider it sold, but that he'd have to pay the $5 and bring it to his table. While the guy bought his ticket, the dealer went back to his table and counted out $2000.
At this point, he was the only person inside the show that had any idea what had just walked in. It should have stayed that way.
The guy with the Les Paul carried it to the table and set the case down. The dealer started to hand over the 2 grand, but the guy kind of balked. He wondered if he might have underpriced it. The dealer said fine, I intend to buy this guitar, would you take $3000? The guy said yes, and the dealer turned around to get another grand.
That's when it all fell apart.
Another dealer walked up and flipped the case open. He took one look in the case and yelled "I'll give ya 10 grand for that!" A bidding war ensued, and it finally ended at $22,000.
Now here's the bad part. At that particular time, that guitar might, just might, have been worth $25,000 on a good day, and it would have taken a while to get that price. There's no way any dealer in his right mind would have offered that, but his table had been violated, annd he intended to buy the guitar whatever it took.
The Les Paul guy trembled, slowly closed the case, and walked out of the building without saying a word. He was terrified of what he was holding in that case.
I heard about a year or 2 later that he never did sell the guitar. When you get offered an obscene amount of money like that, sometimes you've just got to jump.
--
1991 245, 61k miles, looking for a 5 speed 92-93 245 cheap.
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Hi. I was just trying to reach you about your eBay auction of your headrest pads -- I bought and paid for them, but haven't heard from you yet to confirm that you've been notified. Are you the same person (they're also calling themselves CLBOLT), or are you someone else? If you're not the same person, sorry.
Best regards,
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During the school year my '89 takes me back and forth from CT to NH at least twice a month, a round trip of 400 miles. When I'm home I commute about 75 miles each day to work. I just check/change the oil and fluids on schedule and keep an eye on the car. Every once in a while I leave the stereo off and listen for new noises/problems.. I've NEVER been stranded by my 245.
Bought with 163k in 1999, about to go over 250k... auto tranny, new paint job, dash, and whitewall tires.
take a look!
http://homepage.mac.com/matthogan
-Matt
--
"I was unfashionable before anybody knew who I was." - Paul Desmond
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