Indeed, that's my point. Yesterday you couldn't give away a non runner 740 unless it was a Turbo. Today there's not a single one for sale and a non runner sold for 3K. I'm not suggesting these will be worth 60K in a few years, but the days of finding one that's not a wreck under 5K may be gone?
There's only one thing that's unknown, we don't know the sale price. It could have been $500. Or it could have been scrapped. Only the buyer and seller will know
As a matter of curiousity, are they that bad of a car? They fit the Radwood ideal that has been a growing trend, which is why I suppose they are heading up in price. A few cars that wouldn't nromally be worth anything seem to be appreciating in a similar way.
I'm looking for an older car to complement my C30, and I have spotted a few 740's near me, that look to be solid cars. One in particlular, however it has done close to 400,000kms, but it is tempting.
A 740 is as good a car as any other
400,000 is nothing
JMHC30As a matter of curiousity, are they that bad of a car? They fit the Radwood ideal that has been a growing trend, which is why I suppose they are heading up in price. A few cars that wouldn't nromally be worth anything seem to be appreciating in a similar way.
I'm looking for an older car to complement my C30, and I have spotted a few 740's near me, that look to be solid cars. One in particlular, however it has done close to 400,000kms, but it is tempting.
Bad? No. They are absolutely bloody brilliant. Great and comfortable highway cruisers that handle pretty well and cost almost nothing to run, easy to maintain. Essentially they are the same mechanically as a 240, which means they are similarly robust, but being like a 240 means they also suffer from the annoying age related electrical gremlins (fuel pump relays, wiring on pre 88's etc). On the other hand, the bodies were better built than a 240 and rarely ever rust. Interior plastics becoming brittle, especially on earlier cars, are an annoying problem on some.
The issue with the 740 was that the styling was underappreciated, sometimes even hated, and so many of them have been neglected and abused. Try and find a very well looked after 740 Turbo, that's one rare thing these days. The only Turbo 740's that seem to come up for sale have been abused or modified in a very unprofessional way. Sure there's some nicely modified ones in existence, but it's been a while since I've seen what appears to be a well looked after and carefully modified car offered for sale.
If you like the styling (as I do), soon as a good one comes up buy it quickly.
I've owned 2 x black 740Turbos, one a HP ,Id have another tommorow easy, but rare to find a well serviced one
ToomanyVolvoshttps://ozvolvo.org/discussion/comment/176005#Comment_176005
Bad? No. They are absolutely bloody brilliant. Great and comfortable highway cruisers that handle pretty well and cost almost nothing to run, easy to maintain. Essentially they are the same mechanically as a 240, which means they are similarly robust, but being like a 240 means they also suffer from the annoying age related electrical gremlins (fuel pump relays, wiring on pre 88's etc). On the other hand, the bodies were better built than a 240 and rarely ever rust. Interior plastics becoming brittle, especially on earlier cars, are an annoying problem on some.
The issue with the 740 was that the styling was underappreciated, sometimes even hated, and so many of them have been neglected and abused. Try and find a very well looked after 740 Turbo, that's one rare thing these days. The only Turbo 740's that seem to come up for sale have been abused or modified in a very unprofessional way. Sure there's some nicely modified ones in existence, but it's been a while since I've seen what appears to be a well looked after and carefully modified car offered for sale.
If you like the styling (as I do), soon as a good one comes up buy it quickly.
I think your point may be attributing to why these things are getting snatched up, and are going up in price.
The one I am looking at is an '88 GLE with I think the SOHC. Nothing special like the turbos, but I prefer bog standard.
Nothing wrong with the SOHC GLE, check for all the usual things on a 32YO car, oil and coolant servicing etc. Being an 88 the notorious rotten engine wiring was not an issue, and corrosion protection seemed to get better with each year. Make sure the owner has been willing to repair what's needed and not someone who thought it's funny to keep driving it without maintenance like so many 740/240 owners. Many little electrical gremlins can cause no start issues, so enquire about that. As mentioned, rust is rare, but under extreme abuse like many years under a tree or wet floors that aren't fixed they will eventually rust.
Rare , i wouldn't know but sounds like it's getting there . It seems like most things especially cars 70's, 80's even 90's people are holding on to them more than ever now . You get the flippers in any hoby trying to make a quick buck but it seems most are holding on to what they have ..
My main problems with my 90 745T:
Pretty much every part of the interior fell apart
Endless electrical issues. Yazaki gauge cluster was in and out about 10 times because various gauges died.
Had to convert the HVAC over to manual type, as the original one and replacement climate control units just didn't work.
Heater core leaked, RHD replacements only available from England from a seller who doesn't deal outside the UK.
I could never find front strut tops that would last, and the solid strut tops made the ride unbearably harsh over bumps even with 205/70R15 tyres.
The tailgate rattle drove me nuts, even after installing an "anti rattle kit"
Various exterior trim seems to randomly fly off and is difficult to find replacements.
It leaked rainwater into the footwell and nobody could ever diagnose it. It wasn't coming from the windscreen.
It did drive fairly well, except I could never really dial out the understeer. It was good for towing.
Eventually it frustrated me so much I got tired of fixing it.
DauntlessMy main problems with my 90 745T:
Pretty much every part of the interior fell apart
Endless electrical issues. Yazaki gauge cluster was in and out about 10 times because various gauges died.
Had to convert the HVAC over to manual type, as the original one and replacement climate control units just didn't work.
Heater core leaked, RHD replacements only available from England from a seller who doesn't deal outside the UK.
I could never find front strut tops that would last, and the solid strut tops made the ride unbearably harsh over bumps even with 205/70R15 tyres.
The tailgate rattle drove me nuts, even after installing an "anti rattle kit"
Various exterior trim seems to randomly fly off and is difficult to find replacements.
It leaked rainwater into the footwell and nobody could ever diagnose it. It wasn't coming from the windscreen.
It did drive fairly well, except I could never really dial out the understeer. It was good for towing.
Eventually it frustrated me so much I got tired of fixing it.
Handy things to note.
Sorry to have highjacked this thread, however if I do get one of the 740's I'm looking at, it will be a weekend/hobby car.
ToomanyVolvosNothing wrong with the SOHC GLE, check for all the usual things on a 32YO car, oil and coolant servicing etc. Being an 88 the notorious rotten engine wiring was not an issue, and corrosion protection seemed to get better with each year. Make sure the owner has been willing to repair what's needed and not someone who thought it's funny to keep driving it without maintenance like so many 740/240 owners. Many little electrical gremlins can cause no start issues, so enquire about that. As mentioned, rust is rare, but under extreme abuse like many years under a tree or wet floors that aren't fixed they will eventually rust.
Handy things to note. I'll be taking a note pad with me when I inspect. Being a former service advisor and still working in the auto industry, I've got a fair amount of knowledge. I'm just one of those people that pay other people to do the work. I know the theory, but never studied the practical.
Carsales also isnt a good measure for how rare something is. Carsales used to be the premier car buy/sell platform but free services like Gumtree and FB Marketplace provide a free and in many cases a much wider audience to sellers and buyers. I rarely look on Carsales when buying as generally its a little harder to get in contact with the seller as FB is near instant and as is Gumtree. There are also less results on Carsales due to it no longer being the single best platform for selling cars.
However because of its smaller audience I find Carsales to be a more refined service and if I am selling I will always list there as the crowd there is generally more mature and motivated on buying the right car and less about the price of the car meaning you can skip the serial price whingers and bargain hunters.
SlowbrickCarsales also isnt a good measure for how rare something is. Carsales used to be the premier car buy/sell platform but free services like Gumtree and FB Marketplace provide a free and in many cases a much wider audience to sellers and buyers. I rarely look on Carsales when buying as generally its a little harder to get in contact with the seller as FB is near instant and as is Gumtree. There are also less results on Carsales due to it no longer being the single best platform for selling cars.
However because of its smaller audience I find Carsales to be a more refined service and if I am selling I will always list there as the crowd there is generally more mature and motivated on buying the right car and less about the price of the car meaning you can skip the serial price whingers and bargain hunters.
You are certainly bringing up some valid points.
Carsales seems to be skewed to newer cars, rather than older vehicles. To make an ad costs quite a lot, but that is becuase they have a lot of privacy measures in place. It's more of a 'premium' offering, rather than Marketplace or Gumtree.
When I searched I also checked gumtree and found nothing. Just two years ago you could always find 3-6 on Carsales and similar numbers on gumtree. Not a fan of Facebook, I've come across some real idiots using the marketplace.
This says body is stuffed ....
ToomanyVolvosWhen I searched I also checked gumtree and found nothing. Just two years ago you could always find 3-6 on Carsales and similar numbers on gumtree. Not a fan of Facebook, I've come across some real idiots using the marketplace.
That is a personal choice of yours to not use a platform. Your choice to not use a platform does not alter the truth that the cars are not rare and are just being advertised by different means. Marketplace is also diluted by all the individual fan groups on Facebook. Alot of cars dont even make it to Marketplace, Gumtree or Carsales etc because they are advertised and sold within a fan page/community group with no access to those "outside" the group.
Just to entertain the point I did my own search. There are 6 ads right now on Gumtree with 2 of those being wanted ads meaning there are 4 740s for sale right now.
There are 0 on Carsales. Also note that the ones on Gumtree are all sub 4k cars with most in the group being less than 2k and the 4k car being an outlier because its a turbo.
I was able to find 1 on FB marketplace but that is because i didnt want to spend more than 2 minutes on this exercise and FB marketplace is very locale oriented and you cannot just search "Australia" but instead actual towns.
They are around but now with such a dilution of the platforms it can make it a little harder to hone in on one source to search them all.
I don't really care for 740/940s in stock form but after fitting an m90 box, 16t, Bilsteins and swaybars to a mates 740 it's a pretty nice car to drive now. Still can't get past the uninspiring appearance though...
@Slowbrick "does not alter the truth that the cars are not rare"?
So you've found 4 on Facebook marketplace along with wanted ads, I'd still call that rare. Oftentimes wanted ads appear when the market is so thin the handful available cars are not suitable to the buyers. You generally don't see wanted ads for say a Volvo V50, which is still a statistically rare car.
I didn't say I don't use Facebook Marketplace, just that I'm not a fan, I avoid it. I've found most sellers using it to be immature, unprofessional, dishonest, and mostly but not always peddling garbage.... All Bar One or two transactions I've made on that platform have resulted in nothing but wasted time.
You can advertise for free on Carsales up to 5K, if you've got a car worth selling I can't understand why you wouldn't take advantage of that, maybe it's just me.
The whole point of my post was that assuming the originally mentioned (and only Carsales listed 740) sold as a non runner for about the asking price, then perhaps this model has entered a new phase.
Regardless how we define 'rare', there does seem to be fewer of them about, and the ads that do exist are asking for somewhat higher prices than before.
I suppose it's the old 30 year birthday present some cars get gifted.
I wrote one of my 740T's of in a massive rain storm, bonnet spun around and smashed passengers front window, wasn't a straight panel on it, I opened the door got out and walked away, then bought another one, it proved its safety and protected me.
Volvos passenger cell, although not the most attractive did its job.
