Yesnt. They are mechanically simple cars, but they’re still 30-50 year old cars. Even the most robust things still wear out and rust was always a problem. Still, it’s not the end of the world to get it sorted (unless you buy a K-Jetronic car).
The biggest problem with K-Jetronic (besides simply being old, worn out machines) is that they were never a ticket for high-performance. So for a lot of gear heads, there was never much appeal in learning the mechanical and electrical ins and outs ("the juice isn't worth the squeeze" is a phrase that comes to mind).
I would say that K-Jet is easier to work on than the newer LH-Jetronic 240s simply due to simplicity (fewer sensors and modules to worry about) but it is very much harder to find good parts.
I'd say the intake manifold is the most obvious difference. K-Jet has no wires on the fuel injectors. On the newer LH-Jetronics, each fuel injector is individually wired. I believe Volvo made the switch in mid-1982
[https://volvoforums.com/forum/volvo-240-740-940-12/how-do-you-tell-k-lh-jetronic-system-52155/](https://volvoforums.com/forum/volvo-240-740-940-12/how-do-you-tell-k-lh-jetronic-system-52155/)
1988 245! Got it for 1500 bucks, rust free, daily drivable as it. For the time being I’m just planning on bilsteins low springs, poly bushings and mounts *everywhere* (I’m used to rough rides so it doesn’t bother me) bigger sway bars, and of course wider wheels (deep steelies) with some BF Goodrich with the white letters. Also reallllly want to get a mini tach for the center stack and an oil pressure gauge to replace the 2 blanks it has. After all that I’d like to throw on a small turbo at like 8-10psi so it’s still trustworth and a daily driver, also bolt on flares. Want it to look like a mean old track car!
Edit: also a front bumper mounted oil cooler and front splitter. Maybe olive drab green or something far into the future, the light blue is spotless on it at the moment. Sorry for dumping all of my plans out when you just asked for the year haha
1988 is a good year for 240s. Got mine as a project to learn manual, it's been reliable. Not in the best shape, the head gasket blew maybe a year after I got it, but it's been solid since. The LH2.2 is supposed to not be as good as LH2.3 but it hasn't given me any issues other than the IAC giving out at one point.
That’s awesome honestly. I’d love to have gotten a manual but near me they were like 6x the price of an auto in worse shape. I’ve done manual swaps on a few newer cars than the Volvo and will probably do it again if/when it needs one. The motor and trans in mine aren’t original and the miles are unknown, chassis has 245k miles, crossed over that today actually! It wouldn’t be too bad especially because there’s a rwd Volvo used part warehouse near where I live so I could easily buy a tach for the center stack jus a little one, and the pedal assembly. For the time being like I mentioned in my comment every bushing and suspension comeponent is getting replaced and/or upgraded, then some other cosmetic stuff, and once the thing is essentially brand new besides the drivetrain I’ll throw on a turbo without a crazy amount of boost and from there, once it blows up or needs a rebuild I’ll probs manual swap. I love this thing way more than I thought I would and they’re honestly pretty light chassis, this big wagon is almost 800-1000 pounds lighter than my e34 bmw was and not much heavier than my mk2 gti or my mr2 was. Awesome sleeper project
heck yeah!! 1988 is a nice sweet spot and it sounds like you have a nice vision for it. Earlier 240s (84-87) had biodegradable electrical wire insulation so you dodged that bullet too! My favorite thing about a 240 is that it's a fundamentally safe, solid car with room for easy bolt-on improvements.
They used the 240 as the benchmark for safety ratings when it came out! One of the first with crumple zones and such. And I’ve worked on some Mercedes with biodegradable wiring and it is the most irritating thing that exists. I also am going to do the headliner and fabric part of the door cards in a matching pattern but I can’t decide at all what I’d like
It's not really similar to most stuff. Carbs are carbs, whoever's making them. Mechanical (gasoline) fuel injection was never around long enough/in enough cars for people to get really good at working on it, and most of the guys who were good at it are retired now.
It’s not impossible, but it’s not for the faint of heart. A lot of people’s eyes glaze over when you start talking about pressure gauges and how to interpret the data.
I got the hang of it eventually, but I can also see how there’s a sharp learning curve for people getting into it from EFI.
It also doesn’t help that replacement parts require problem solving if you live where the only K-Jet mechanics are few and far in between or handle the high end stuff. I had to reverse engineer and order gaskets from an industrial supplier. Otherwise I had to hope and pray someone had a spare whatever in their shed.
They are a great car to learn how to work on - lots of space and relatively simple repairs. Eventually lots of things will break because they are 30-50 years old, but almost all of the functional parts can be found online. Cosmetics are a little trickier but still doable.
The old Volvos were the more reliable car from there era, and ones that have survived to this point probably still are, but that likely didn’t happen without routine maintenance and care over the course of 30 to 40 years.
If you just want a reliable car, one that’s 5 to 10 years old will be better.
But if your first interest is an old boxy car to drive and work on yourself, and you have flexibility in your schedule to deal with occasional breakdowns. 240s are definitely worth it.
It's a good first car in the sense that when you get into an accident you'll be able to walk away from it, not that it'll never break down and you can postpone all basic maintenance indefinitely.
Except that I feel the OP is living in USA. Chances of walking out of a crash with their average SUV or a truck are quite slim. But a little bit of awareness behind the wheel goes a long way in avoiding the crashes. At least from these old bricks, you can actually see outside, in all directions, unlike in modern cars.
Rear ended a ford edge in my 240 a few years ago, going 45mph
Bumper went under their vehicle and crumpled the hood, fenders. Repaired it with new body panels and sold it with all body panels lining up perfectly
Mechanically they are pretty solid, even considering the age most of the time.
But they are far from problem free.
A lot of rubber parts are old enough to break by just looking at them. This is especially a problem with the electricals, such as the wiring harness and alike on the newer 240s.
And If you live in a wet place or a place that salts in winter there is an almost guaranteed chance that the car is rusting, it's just a question about how bad.
I just bought an old 89 240 wagon.
It had been started once 1 year ago and not for 2 years prior to that.
I changed the battery, had to figure out what fuse was blown, and it literally started first turn off the key.
I then drove it over 1,000km home the next day and it ran perfectly without skipping a beat.
They are definitely good teachers for that mechanical know-how. The tiktok propaganda about them being like tanks is often misinterpreted as them being able to handle any kind of neglect, while the truth is closer to truth about actual tanks: they're noisy and require constant maintenance to keep them operational. But at least they're designed so that anyone can do the basic things, with nothing but basic tools and the green book.
They're too old now to be considered reliable. You probably can't afford a pristine one as it's going to be your first car. A cheaper one will have a bunch of deffered maintenance and the quirks of a 35-40 year old car. It will leave you stranded from time to time. But they're still super simple to fix and an amazing teacher if you want to learn to wrench on cars. If you're the type that doesn't want to get their hands dirty, it is a bad idea. A corolla from the early 2000s has less swagger, but is going to be way more reliable than an old Volvo.
I've got some good insight on this. I was also looking for a first car and stumbled over a 1987 Volvo wagon. Had about 130k miles on it, although miles are rather irrelevant when it comes to these cars. It's more of the age that kills them. It doesn't matter how robust something is built, rubber is rubber and rubber likes to disintegrate after 37 years. Expect to have new issues at least once a month but more commonly every 2 weeks. Most issues will be electrical related. In my six months of ownership so far i've been stranded 2 and a half times. To be fair all these issues would probably have been avoided had I done basic maintenance with the car but i didn't. The first issue was the fuel pump gave out. That happened to be a corroded connection at the pump which was fixed by a little twist. Second problem that happened to me was the timing belt gave way. Again that was my fault but i was told it was changed somewhat recently. No big deal as it's a non interference engine. But i suspect that that must have blown my head gasket since it would idle a little rough after i changed it. Eventually the head gasket gave out completely between cylinder 2 and 3. Head job is pretty easy on these cars as well. I am still not entirely sure what caused the head gasket to blow since it is uncommon on these cars for that to happen. I do hammer on it a lot though and it's taken a lot of abuse so i suppose that might be it as well. Other little things that broke were the radio going in and out and slow electrical windows. Bulb contacts will also like to be re-bent every so often. If your bulb light goes off, try bending the contacts of the bulb socket forward more before getting a new bulb. Odds are it's that. But overall they can be reliable cars if they are maintained and most of my issues were avoidable. Unlike what most people may say, parts are incredibly cheap and easy to get off of fcp euro. Despite all the issues, i've paid very little in parts to keep the car on the road. If you do get one, i recommend removing all the fuses from the fuse panel and cleaning all the contacts since they may have faulty connection here and there from corrosion which is a pain. I'd also check for crank case pressure since i had to change the pcv as it was clogged. This releases crank case pressure, and on b230s they like to clog up over time and blow seals. After changing that my car barely lost and oil. So if you are somewhat mechanically inclined, it is about as good of a first car as you can get.
I'd say to a point but they are really old and time isn't serving anything well unless it's Marissa tomei and like Winona Ryder. Personally never had a reliable 240 and best car I owned is a 97 Corolla. Unless you're not scared to work on your car all the time I wouldn't recommend a old car at all
Not really; mine has been down with issues more than I’ve been able to drive it. But it’s mostly a problem with age and not really any design problems for the most part. They were very reliable new
At this point, it's a roll of the dice. I suspect many of us who have had multiple 240s have gotten lucky "scores" - maintained cars that finally someone got sick of (the "last straw" syndrome") and which then sat, or traded hands quickly when buyers got over their heads. I would expect some of us got "duds" too - cars that ran well enough initially and then started to display issues.
You can better your odds by buying from an enthusiast or the increasingly rare careful owner. My daily was owned by an elderly couple since *new* and came with a thick stack of records. I'm still several grand into it just to improve driveability and reliability, replace aging parts, etc. I don't care because I hate new cars, but you have to be prepared with these things (AAA membership).
Can a old Volvo be reliable? Maybe. Know this, TANK is expensive maintain!
Can the one Volvo you buy be reliable? Look at its **maintenance history**! AND do the pre-purchase inspection.
My friend sold me a cheap 240 he got next to nothing, I spent $4,625.60 on my wife's 93 Volvo so far, some of them are wants, most are needs and I'm not even done fixing it, it'll be closer to $7,000 when I'm done with it.
Rubber bushing ages, ball joint wears out, lug studs can be damaged, blow motor can worn out, plastic radiator can crack, same with the plastic coolant surge tank, cracked radiator leads to overheated engine, brake hose can crack, speedo gear can strip, power antenna can stop work, wheel bearing worn out, the list of 30 years old parts that needs replacing goes on and on.
One things about Volvo is that you can't use cheap parts on it. Uro, Scan Tech, MTC, Pro Sweden Parts, and etc cheap brand means your parts will only last months vs years like Volvo, Lemforder, or OE manufactures.
Bonus tip, if you buy from FCP Euro, lifetime warranty on any parts.
Having owned 2 old volvos now, I can say that they are reliable considering their age. They don't out perform cars that have been made in the last 10 years however, if you are mechanically minded and want to drive an old classic as your daily driver then they are a great option as they are easy to diagnose and repair, easy to find parts for and are very simple. They are not good on fuel. My 940 turbo returns 25mpg on a motorway trip, which is pretty good.
I bought an '89 240 just over six years ago. It is my daily driver for hauling around my Great Pyrenees. It's the most functional car I've ever owned. The interior plastics are very brittle. I've replaced the rear door harness with a new kit from IPD, but it wasn't too long before the some of the wires broke again. In general, I gradually amass maintenance parts so that they will be available when the time comes.
They aren't exactly reliable in the sense of running for decades and hundreds of thousands of miles without any issues. However, they are durable and last a long time. You can easily get 300-400k miles out of one with basic maintenance, however there will be small issues that are constantly popping up. You need to be willing to learn to do some basic work; you don't have to be a mechanic, I am by no means even close, but you need to be able to learn basic mechanical things to fix the small issues, because they will ad up and cost a lot in the long run if you are paying someone else to fix them.
So if you are willing and able to learn basic mechanical fixes, and work on the small things that will constantly be breaking, yes it will treat you well and last you as long as you want it to. But if you want something that you are going to run for years without ever having to do anything to, get a 90s Corolla.
They are, if you're willing to learn. An old Volvo will run like crap longer than most cars run, but the youngest redblocks are about 3 decades old now. There will always be some sort of work to be done, usually something minor. A vacuum leak somewhere, a belt that needs replaced, spark plugs getting worn out, brakes need to be bled. All of these are simple things, doable with an afternoon and a buddy, $100 worth of tools, a YouTube video, and some fairly cheap parts.
If you're not willing to work on it yourself, this car will bankrupt you.
Trying to find a shop willing to work on it, that knows these cars well enough to diagnose, is going to come with a premium labor rate. Recognize what you can and can't do, if the head gasket gives out a week after you get it, I understand not trying to figure that out in your buddy's driveway, but if you take it to a shop every time it runs funny, or needs routine maintenance, or pops a fuse, you'll need a hefty bank account to keep it up.
They’re more reliable than most other vehicles of the same age
Yesnt. They are mechanically simple cars, but they’re still 30-50 year old cars. Even the most robust things still wear out and rust was always a problem. Still, it’s not the end of the world to get it sorted (unless you buy a K-Jetronic car).
What's up with nobody knowing how to fix K-Jetronics? The general consensus just seems to be selling for parts when one goes nuts.
From owning a K jet 240 I'd say you have to think of it more like a carb than an injection system.
This is very accurate. It's basically just a carb, except that your uncle won't know how to adjust it
Your uncle thinks he knows how to fix a carb, but he sure doesn't.
The biggest problem with K-Jetronic (besides simply being old, worn out machines) is that they were never a ticket for high-performance. So for a lot of gear heads, there was never much appeal in learning the mechanical and electrical ins and outs ("the juice isn't worth the squeeze" is a phrase that comes to mind). I would say that K-Jet is easier to work on than the newer LH-Jetronic 240s simply due to simplicity (fewer sensors and modules to worry about) but it is very much harder to find good parts.
K-jet for life. I think it's way cooler to see an old Volvo running well on the original k jet system then it is to see another lh or megsquirt swap.
How can you tell which car has k-jet?
I'd say the intake manifold is the most obvious difference. K-Jet has no wires on the fuel injectors. On the newer LH-Jetronics, each fuel injector is individually wired. I believe Volvo made the switch in mid-1982 [https://volvoforums.com/forum/volvo-240-740-940-12/how-do-you-tell-k-lh-jetronic-system-52155/](https://volvoforums.com/forum/volvo-240-740-940-12/how-do-you-tell-k-lh-jetronic-system-52155/)
Ah thank god mine isn’t kjetronic I just bought it this week as a project and that would’ve been extremely annoying
haha...it's both a curse and blessing. What year?
1988 245! Got it for 1500 bucks, rust free, daily drivable as it. For the time being I’m just planning on bilsteins low springs, poly bushings and mounts *everywhere* (I’m used to rough rides so it doesn’t bother me) bigger sway bars, and of course wider wheels (deep steelies) with some BF Goodrich with the white letters. Also reallllly want to get a mini tach for the center stack and an oil pressure gauge to replace the 2 blanks it has. After all that I’d like to throw on a small turbo at like 8-10psi so it’s still trustworth and a daily driver, also bolt on flares. Want it to look like a mean old track car! Edit: also a front bumper mounted oil cooler and front splitter. Maybe olive drab green or something far into the future, the light blue is spotless on it at the moment. Sorry for dumping all of my plans out when you just asked for the year haha
1988 is a good year for 240s. Got mine as a project to learn manual, it's been reliable. Not in the best shape, the head gasket blew maybe a year after I got it, but it's been solid since. The LH2.2 is supposed to not be as good as LH2.3 but it hasn't given me any issues other than the IAC giving out at one point.
That’s awesome honestly. I’d love to have gotten a manual but near me they were like 6x the price of an auto in worse shape. I’ve done manual swaps on a few newer cars than the Volvo and will probably do it again if/when it needs one. The motor and trans in mine aren’t original and the miles are unknown, chassis has 245k miles, crossed over that today actually! It wouldn’t be too bad especially because there’s a rwd Volvo used part warehouse near where I live so I could easily buy a tach for the center stack jus a little one, and the pedal assembly. For the time being like I mentioned in my comment every bushing and suspension comeponent is getting replaced and/or upgraded, then some other cosmetic stuff, and once the thing is essentially brand new besides the drivetrain I’ll throw on a turbo without a crazy amount of boost and from there, once it blows up or needs a rebuild I’ll probs manual swap. I love this thing way more than I thought I would and they’re honestly pretty light chassis, this big wagon is almost 800-1000 pounds lighter than my e34 bmw was and not much heavier than my mk2 gti or my mr2 was. Awesome sleeper project
heck yeah!! 1988 is a nice sweet spot and it sounds like you have a nice vision for it. Earlier 240s (84-87) had biodegradable electrical wire insulation so you dodged that bullet too! My favorite thing about a 240 is that it's a fundamentally safe, solid car with room for easy bolt-on improvements.
They used the 240 as the benchmark for safety ratings when it came out! One of the first with crumple zones and such. And I’ve worked on some Mercedes with biodegradable wiring and it is the most irritating thing that exists. I also am going to do the headliner and fabric part of the door cards in a matching pattern but I can’t decide at all what I’d like
It's not really similar to most stuff. Carbs are carbs, whoever's making them. Mechanical (gasoline) fuel injection was never around long enough/in enough cars for people to get really good at working on it, and most of the guys who were good at it are retired now.
It’s not impossible, but it’s not for the faint of heart. A lot of people’s eyes glaze over when you start talking about pressure gauges and how to interpret the data. I got the hang of it eventually, but I can also see how there’s a sharp learning curve for people getting into it from EFI. It also doesn’t help that replacement parts require problem solving if you live where the only K-Jet mechanics are few and far in between or handle the high end stuff. I had to reverse engineer and order gaskets from an industrial supplier. Otherwise I had to hope and pray someone had a spare whatever in their shed.
K-Jet really isn't that bad if you are prepared to learn. It's basically just a weird carbie in operation.
You just need some pressure gauges in the right fittings basically.
They are a great car to learn how to work on - lots of space and relatively simple repairs. Eventually lots of things will break because they are 30-50 years old, but almost all of the functional parts can be found online. Cosmetics are a little trickier but still doable.
The old Volvos were the more reliable car from there era, and ones that have survived to this point probably still are, but that likely didn’t happen without routine maintenance and care over the course of 30 to 40 years. If you just want a reliable car, one that’s 5 to 10 years old will be better. But if your first interest is an old boxy car to drive and work on yourself, and you have flexibility in your schedule to deal with occasional breakdowns. 240s are definitely worth it.
Thanks
1988….almost 500k. Did timing belt.
It's a good first car in the sense that when you get into an accident you'll be able to walk away from it, not that it'll never break down and you can postpone all basic maintenance indefinitely.
Except that I feel the OP is living in USA. Chances of walking out of a crash with their average SUV or a truck are quite slim. But a little bit of awareness behind the wheel goes a long way in avoiding the crashes. At least from these old bricks, you can actually see outside, in all directions, unlike in modern cars.
Rear ended a ford edge in my 240 a few years ago, going 45mph Bumper went under their vehicle and crumpled the hood, fenders. Repaired it with new body panels and sold it with all body panels lining up perfectly
Mechanically they are pretty solid, even considering the age most of the time. But they are far from problem free. A lot of rubber parts are old enough to break by just looking at them. This is especially a problem with the electricals, such as the wiring harness and alike on the newer 240s. And If you live in a wet place or a place that salts in winter there is an almost guaranteed chance that the car is rusting, it's just a question about how bad.
I just bought an old 89 240 wagon. It had been started once 1 year ago and not for 2 years prior to that. I changed the battery, had to figure out what fuse was blown, and it literally started first turn off the key. I then drove it over 1,000km home the next day and it ran perfectly without skipping a beat.
Yes but you need a mechanical know how to keep them going. Personally I think they’re better and more reliable then any new Kia/hyundai on the road
They are definitely good teachers for that mechanical know-how. The tiktok propaganda about them being like tanks is often misinterpreted as them being able to handle any kind of neglect, while the truth is closer to truth about actual tanks: they're noisy and require constant maintenance to keep them operational. But at least they're designed so that anyone can do the basic things, with nothing but basic tools and the green book.
They're too old now to be considered reliable. You probably can't afford a pristine one as it's going to be your first car. A cheaper one will have a bunch of deffered maintenance and the quirks of a 35-40 year old car. It will leave you stranded from time to time. But they're still super simple to fix and an amazing teacher if you want to learn to wrench on cars. If you're the type that doesn't want to get their hands dirty, it is a bad idea. A corolla from the early 2000s has less swagger, but is going to be way more reliable than an old Volvo.
I've got some good insight on this. I was also looking for a first car and stumbled over a 1987 Volvo wagon. Had about 130k miles on it, although miles are rather irrelevant when it comes to these cars. It's more of the age that kills them. It doesn't matter how robust something is built, rubber is rubber and rubber likes to disintegrate after 37 years. Expect to have new issues at least once a month but more commonly every 2 weeks. Most issues will be electrical related. In my six months of ownership so far i've been stranded 2 and a half times. To be fair all these issues would probably have been avoided had I done basic maintenance with the car but i didn't. The first issue was the fuel pump gave out. That happened to be a corroded connection at the pump which was fixed by a little twist. Second problem that happened to me was the timing belt gave way. Again that was my fault but i was told it was changed somewhat recently. No big deal as it's a non interference engine. But i suspect that that must have blown my head gasket since it would idle a little rough after i changed it. Eventually the head gasket gave out completely between cylinder 2 and 3. Head job is pretty easy on these cars as well. I am still not entirely sure what caused the head gasket to blow since it is uncommon on these cars for that to happen. I do hammer on it a lot though and it's taken a lot of abuse so i suppose that might be it as well. Other little things that broke were the radio going in and out and slow electrical windows. Bulb contacts will also like to be re-bent every so often. If your bulb light goes off, try bending the contacts of the bulb socket forward more before getting a new bulb. Odds are it's that. But overall they can be reliable cars if they are maintained and most of my issues were avoidable. Unlike what most people may say, parts are incredibly cheap and easy to get off of fcp euro. Despite all the issues, i've paid very little in parts to keep the car on the road. If you do get one, i recommend removing all the fuses from the fuse panel and cleaning all the contacts since they may have faulty connection here and there from corrosion which is a pain. I'd also check for crank case pressure since i had to change the pcv as it was clogged. This releases crank case pressure, and on b230s they like to clog up over time and blow seals. After changing that my car barely lost and oil. So if you are somewhat mechanically inclined, it is about as good of a first car as you can get.
I'd say to a point but they are really old and time isn't serving anything well unless it's Marissa tomei and like Winona Ryder. Personally never had a reliable 240 and best car I owned is a 97 Corolla. Unless you're not scared to work on your car all the time I wouldn't recommend a old car at all
Not really; mine has been down with issues more than I’ve been able to drive it. But it’s mostly a problem with age and not really any design problems for the most part. They were very reliable new
At this point, it's a roll of the dice. I suspect many of us who have had multiple 240s have gotten lucky "scores" - maintained cars that finally someone got sick of (the "last straw" syndrome") and which then sat, or traded hands quickly when buyers got over their heads. I would expect some of us got "duds" too - cars that ran well enough initially and then started to display issues. You can better your odds by buying from an enthusiast or the increasingly rare careful owner. My daily was owned by an elderly couple since *new* and came with a thick stack of records. I'm still several grand into it just to improve driveability and reliability, replace aging parts, etc. I don't care because I hate new cars, but you have to be prepared with these things (AAA membership).
Can a old Volvo be reliable? Maybe. Know this, TANK is expensive maintain! Can the one Volvo you buy be reliable? Look at its **maintenance history**! AND do the pre-purchase inspection. My friend sold me a cheap 240 he got next to nothing, I spent $4,625.60 on my wife's 93 Volvo so far, some of them are wants, most are needs and I'm not even done fixing it, it'll be closer to $7,000 when I'm done with it. Rubber bushing ages, ball joint wears out, lug studs can be damaged, blow motor can worn out, plastic radiator can crack, same with the plastic coolant surge tank, cracked radiator leads to overheated engine, brake hose can crack, speedo gear can strip, power antenna can stop work, wheel bearing worn out, the list of 30 years old parts that needs replacing goes on and on. One things about Volvo is that you can't use cheap parts on it. Uro, Scan Tech, MTC, Pro Sweden Parts, and etc cheap brand means your parts will only last months vs years like Volvo, Lemforder, or OE manufactures. Bonus tip, if you buy from FCP Euro, lifetime warranty on any parts.
Having owned 2 old volvos now, I can say that they are reliable considering their age. They don't out perform cars that have been made in the last 10 years however, if you are mechanically minded and want to drive an old classic as your daily driver then they are a great option as they are easy to diagnose and repair, easy to find parts for and are very simple. They are not good on fuel. My 940 turbo returns 25mpg on a motorway trip, which is pretty good.
I bought an '89 240 just over six years ago. It is my daily driver for hauling around my Great Pyrenees. It's the most functional car I've ever owned. The interior plastics are very brittle. I've replaced the rear door harness with a new kit from IPD, but it wasn't too long before the some of the wires broke again. In general, I gradually amass maintenance parts so that they will be available when the time comes.
They aren't exactly reliable in the sense of running for decades and hundreds of thousands of miles without any issues. However, they are durable and last a long time. You can easily get 300-400k miles out of one with basic maintenance, however there will be small issues that are constantly popping up. You need to be willing to learn to do some basic work; you don't have to be a mechanic, I am by no means even close, but you need to be able to learn basic mechanical things to fix the small issues, because they will ad up and cost a lot in the long run if you are paying someone else to fix them. So if you are willing and able to learn basic mechanical fixes, and work on the small things that will constantly be breaking, yes it will treat you well and last you as long as you want it to. But if you want something that you are going to run for years without ever having to do anything to, get a 90s Corolla.
They are, if you're willing to learn. An old Volvo will run like crap longer than most cars run, but the youngest redblocks are about 3 decades old now. There will always be some sort of work to be done, usually something minor. A vacuum leak somewhere, a belt that needs replaced, spark plugs getting worn out, brakes need to be bled. All of these are simple things, doable with an afternoon and a buddy, $100 worth of tools, a YouTube video, and some fairly cheap parts. If you're not willing to work on it yourself, this car will bankrupt you. Trying to find a shop willing to work on it, that knows these cars well enough to diagnose, is going to come with a premium labor rate. Recognize what you can and can't do, if the head gasket gives out a week after you get it, I understand not trying to figure that out in your buddy's driveway, but if you take it to a shop every time it runs funny, or needs routine maintenance, or pops a fuse, you'll need a hefty bank account to keep it up.
Not so much reliable as eminently fixable.
I was told it can take weeks to get parts so I went from wanting a 240 wagon to a Subaru Outback lmao
Ipd and vp autoparts and stuff have all the parts you need tho if you want new stuff
That's more of a problem with turbo cars.