Project Volvo Wagon: Let's Buy Two More

story by Tom Suddard

There's a special kind of insanity that leads one to late-model Volvo wagon ownership, and the bug had clearly bitten us hard. We'd scored a nearly free Volvo and spent a few weeks using it as our daily driver, but it needed a few fixes. The interior wasn't perfect, the tires needed replacement, and it had …

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I have calculated through observation that Volvo wagons are like kittens.  You get one, soon you have fourteen of them.

Ive always wanted to get into 5cyl Volvos and that white wagon...is like exactly what I would have wanted

Wait, the punchline is "abandon ship"?

(sigh)

I'm on my third one too...over the course of 22 years.

There are an awful lot of them consistently on DC cl. Looking pretty clean too. Just sorta non-operable most of the time. 

In reply to bludroptop : We’re not abandoning ship, just handing the wheel to a new sailor. Expect the next update in a few days  

We had two 240 wagons with 5-speeds that we loved but the 2002 S60 was bad enough to make us never want to buy another one.

Knurled. said:

I have calculated through observation that Volvo wagons are like kittens.  You get one, soon you have fourteen of them.

I don’t think it’s fair to base this solely on Evan

See I told you. Once you have one you quickly end up with a yard full. Then parts cars become DDs.

Patrick said:

Knurled. said:

I have calculated through observation that Volvo wagons are like kittens.  You get one, soon you have fourteen of them.

I don’t think it’s fair to base this solely on Evan

Well not all of mine are wagons...

In reply to chinman :

You are outlining the basics of smart Volvo ownership: the older, the better.

Early December I picked up a well-used but too-cheap-to-ignore '95 850 Turbo wagon from a guy that had two other Volvo wagons.  

After a month of doing maintenance, livability upgrades, and cathartic tinkering, I drove it from Cincinnati, to Chicago, to the top of Michigan, where it got to enjoy -20 degree mornings and unplowed roads for a couple days of chasing around rally cars. Piled on 1500+ miles in 4 or so days and it didn't bat an eye. 

I now get why people collect these things. 

There y'go, Tom: now you can tell the newest Mrs. S. that you're doing "cathartic tinkering."

Play at home edition :

https://norfolk.craigslist.org/cto/d/portsmouth-volvo-cc-70/6819564580.html