Our 1984 244 Volvo met its demise last September, between hurricanes here in Florida. Due to hurricane damage we are just now having time to deal with her. Inga (our Volvo) gave her life to protect our daughter who was hit by a hit and run driver. She was hit just rear of the passenger (right) side wheel well. She then spun three times and subsequently took out about 25 feet of guard rail with the front. Our daughter was in a 45 zone, it is estimated by the police that the other car was doing in excess of 45 miles when they ran a stop sign and did not slow down. Amazingly aside from some sore muscles our daughter had no injuries, and we drove the car home. The police were very adamant that Inga saved our daughters life, a "cheap import" would have been crumpled.

We have agonized over the decision to either part out or sell Inga, she has been extremely reliable and faithful to our family. Reality is, she is beyond reasonable repair, the body and suspension work are simply too much. Though she has a complete brake system with less than 2500 miles on it and many other new parts, including a mostly replaced wiring harness. Her engine runs (albeit a bit rich since the accident), the brakes work well, the interior parts range from poor to nearly new condition.

We would like to thank everyone here for their help in resolving the myriad of minor problems we experienced with Inga. From door locks to AC, your help has been invaluable. We hope to replace Inga, however at this time we have other priorities (like a new roof, been waiting in line for one since September's hurricanes.)

To minimize our loss would it be wiser to strip Inga and sell her for parts, or to find someone who needs a good drive train/brakes and sell her as a whole? Your opinions and suggestions have always been most helpful, we would appreciate this one last round...

Sadly,

Rich, Colleen, and a very very sad Inga
Fort Pierce, Florida

I am pleased to hear that your daughter is okay... that is what Truly matters! On the other hand, the loss of Inga is a sad one. Back in 2001.01, my wife was in a near near near fatal crash in "Helga", our 1989 244. My wife had her neck broken but fully recovered without surgery. Helga, on the other hand was three feet shorter with the engine shoved under the firewall. I bought Helga back from the insurance company and started from there....

I found and bought a 90 244 with a good body, interior, and a trashed engine. From there, I used a saws-all to remove the sheetmetal from around the engine and tranny on Helga and cleaned it up a bit. It's important to note that Helga's engine still ran despite being half way under the floor boards "my Wife had to turn the key off after the wreck to stop the engine".

In summary, we spent $600 to buy Helga back from the insurance and another $500 for the 90 244. Helga's heart is still beating very strong in "Grey's" body.

Don't forget the possibility of finding a good "body" with a trashed drivetrain and doing the ultimate transplant, especially if Inga's heart has been well cared for!

Jorrell

Only a idea: How about adquire other volvo and mix parts con Inga to have a runing one?. I made my rojo 121 that way.

Well, those plain-jane B23 cars just do not have the parts demand that an 86-on 240 would. It may not be worth the hassle unless you have fancy gauges, center armrest, nice door pockets, alloys, perfect taillights, 3rd seat and so forth. On any 240, it is the optional stuff that so few cars came with, as well as the stuff that always breaks, that sells.

Wow. Even if you never see a penny from the sale of Inga's remains, it seems she owes you nothing.

That said, if you part it out well (efficiently), you may realize more cash that way. However, the process would last longer, and at the end you'd need to dispose of whatever wasn't bought.

If you sell in one piece as a parts car to someone who can use it, you'd probably realize nearly as much cash with less hassle and time involved.