jamesinc;114750 wroteI think 240s are much older than what OP had in mind.
True. They are just so charismatic!
Having owned two early 2000s Volvos I will say that the maintenance schedule is quite a bit more involved than a similar aged Japanese car. I do all my own work at home and even with me doing the work the cost of ownership was still a fair bit higher than the Japanese cars I own now.
Apart from the blandness compared to an earlier 240 the newer Volvo stuff is fine. Electrical problems may become the bane of your existence and if you arent doing the work yourself can become expensive and overwhelming.
If you are going to get anything newish then get a T5. The noise and power a T5 makes more than makes up for the bland exterior its housed in.
The general rule I apply to buying any car is the purchase price + ~$1500 to get it "right". With a Volvo I would make that figure +~$2500 to get everything right.
Mike's recommendation of something non-Volvo is perfectly valid too as if you are doing this as a money saving exercise then it may be a better idea to consider something more mainstream that wont cost as much to keep on the road. Volvo's arent bad cars but they do have their faults just like anything else. The difference is that if your RAV4 breaks tomorrow you can drive it into the shop and in about 2 days be back on the road. With your V50 the parts may need to be shipped from interstate or internationally.
I loved my V70 but I wouldn't own another one as a regular daily because everytime something broke I either needed to go second hand or import from the US to avoid the massive Australia Tax on parts. That being said when it worked it was a fantastic car.
