1990 740 GL Wagon

IgotQuestions · Post by **IgotQuestions** » 27 Dec 2004, 21:56

So Im debating buying this car, it has 236k, blue book put it at 2,550/4,965 dollars and its being sold for 2,000. Driven by a lady thats always taken good care of it, and has its complete service record since she bought it in 1990. Its major work includes new cooling system, and exhaust system. Engine looks very clean, and after test driving it showed now signs of leaks on brakes, Trans, and oil pan area in general. But, I live in Oregon and its hilly, I drove the car up a pretty steap hill with peddle to the floor and it never down shifted and left me climbing the hill at nearly the rate i started up it(30-40). I finally shot it into 2nd(out of Drive) to get the results I wanted, usually given to me by my automatics automatically. Is this just the way you have to drive the volvo or is it a temp mechanical problem that needs fixing, or is this an age problem that could get worse very soon. Other than that it has minor aestetic issues on the paint and an awsome Interior. So with all this accumulated experience with volvo's I was hoping people would share with me why or why not this might be worth buying.
Whats average life in mileage that is expected out of the 740, and will I at least get 3 satisfied years out of it. I want it for camping trips among other things.

Thanks
Broke College Student

RocknTommy · Post by **RocknTommy** » 29 Dec 2004, 08:07

This may no be much help but my experience with my 92 is the tranny has over 200K on it and doing fine. Last year I did blow a head gasket, overheated and had a mess on my hands with water mixing with the oil and yucky stuff like that so I replaced the engine myself. The car is mint so I thought it was worth doing. If you are some what handy it is not a hard job to do. So to sum it up, I have seen these go 300K without an issue but it is a gamble when dealing with high mileage.

LaRy · Post by **LaRy** » 01 Jan 2005, 10:53

Of cource it should go down to low gear when it is climbing, just like any American car.
If it is not going down to 2nd gear, it could be the kick-down cable. Take a look by the throttle body where the accelerater cable connects to the bell crank. Connected to this bell crank will be at least two cables, one is the throttle cable the second will be for the transmission kick-down. Make sure the kick-downcable is not broken. Maybe it has become sticky, and some owner has just released it instead of reparing. It is rather complicated and expensive, so the old lady maybe decided not to use the kickdown function.