I posted this on the Volvo Forum website, but I thought you might also be interested in having a look at the 340GL my girlfriend and I just picked up. It's a 2 owner car with 40K on the clock and full service history (the sales receipt shows the owner, Mr Holmes, traded in a '74 144GL for it, back in 1991). He bought it for £5,000 with 32K on the clock and racked up just a further 8K in 11 years.
It hasn't moved since 2002, when Mr Holmes decided he was too old to drive and put it away in his garage. After a bit of encouragement and some fresh petrol it started up and drove all the way from Chorley to its MOT appointment in Wallasey, Merseyside.
The brakes were a bit knackered after sitting still for so long, so it needed a new master cylinder and some new pipework. We also got a set of second-hand 14" wheels off a Vauxhall Astra and some decent tyres, as we thought the old rubber was probably a bit of a risk after the 11 year rest. Once that was done, and a couple of other minor bits & pieces, it passed with no advisories and now has 12 months ticket and a fresh tax disc.
The next job is to change the cam belt before we use it properly, and to work out what's making all the dashboard lights come on when the headlights are switched on - I think I might have just put a bulb in upside down, but it needs investigating.
The good news is it only cost us £150. The bad news is that I now have to make space on the driveway for it, which means disposing of my 240!
Thanks for looking!
Roy.
