Wanted Tell Me About: Volvo 740

[Ghosty]

I'm pretty much set on getting a 740 estate now. It's just an ideal car for me in terms of wants and needs, and seems to be a good follow on from the Rover.

 

I'm going to be seriously looking as soon as the A4 sells, so it seems the right time to ask - what should and shouldn't I be looking for?

[jonathan_dyane]

Best look for a better job to pay for all the petrol

[Felly Magic]

Didn't David Fowler manage 40 to the gallon out of his 740 estate badermatic recently? Speak to any of the SVM heavy industries about these for unbiased*advice

[Ghosty]

Aye, we were at the Lakes meetup and he said it'd done about 39mpg iirc. His doesn't have the viscous fan in place though.

Rover is a bit shit on fuel so that doesn't concern me too much.

Our other cars are an old V6 Audi and an automatic Cooper S and they both manage 30+ mpg so there's no reason a Volvo wouldn't.

[eddyramrod]

Dan's yer man, have a look at his thread about the freebie he rescued.  Also, yes, consult the SVM, these guys are Volvo-blooded.  One thing I would say is, avoid manual at all costs.  Auto is so much nicer.

[RichardK]

Look for rust on inner wings and suspension mountings.

Look for high idle.

Look for vibration and sticking calipers.

Look for broken trim if you care.

Look for 8v.

Look for Scottish Provenance.

 

Don't look for turbo if you want it to do lots of miles.

Don't look for refinement.

Don't look for good ventilation except the awesome footwell vents.

Don't expect the sunroof to work.

Don't worry about clunks.

Don't fret if the speedo is broken.

 

Do enjoy the handling.

Do have fun with driving a brick.

Do remember timing belts are cheap and easy and non-interference, and the injection is dead easy to work on.

 

34mpg down to low 20s if doing lots of urban crawl - autobox.

[Ghosty]

I have no intention of getting a manual. Auto, estate, prefacelift, and preferably GLE.

Leather is optional, any colour interior except beige, and any exterior colour except gold so people don't think I'm CMS.

[Ghosty]

That's great Richard, excactly the sort of advice I'm looking for. Didn't want a turbo anyway and I bet I'd be looking for ages. 

 

Sounds like exactly my kind of car

[RichardK]

Leather is best purely because 30-something year old

Volvo cloth is often minging.

[stripped fred]

They do have a certain charm.

[Uncle Jimmy]

.

[danthecapriman]

They are excellent cars! Nows a good time to get one too as their values are starting to go up and they are also getting noticeably rarer.

 

They are well known as tough and reliable cars and the reputation is well deserved too. Engine wise, the choice is a VW diesel which is a good engine but they seem harder to find now. Petrols, are a 2.0 or 2.3 'redblock' engine. Of these the 2.3 is the one to have if you can, there isn't much sizewise between the two but the 2.3 can handle the cars weight and size much better so go for the 2.3 if you can. 2.0 is fine but extra grunt is never bad.

There's various versions of these engines ranging from a carb fed version, to Bosch injection systems, turbos, and theres also a rare 16 valve variant if you can find one.

The redblock engines are very very good and easy to work on (almost Pinto engine easy!). Lots of bits still available too.

Gearboxes are all good. Manuals are strong (choice of 4, 4+overdrive and 5 speeds) and auto (choice of ZF and AW) both are fine, all mine have been ZF autos and it's a great box, I've never had trouble even towing with them.

 

Body's, are saloon (744) or estate (745) I've had both and they're great in their own ways but the estate is just unbeatable as a useful tool! Loads of room in the back, especially with the seats down.

The trim levels range from basic to really quite nice and well specced. There's even a 'sporty' one, although we're talking about Volvo's here!

Trim is cloth, velour or leather in various colours so plenty of different types and colours available depending on preference.

The seats in these are brilliant. Very comfortable. You can drive them all day long and get out without back ache etc, they are really good!

 

 

Things to look out for:

They can rust! These things are getting old now and though they are way better protected than most contemporaries check for rot in/around the front jacking points and floor pans.

 

On the redblock engines they are belt drive (48k change intervals) so check that (easy job to do yourself).

Also check the breather system. They often get ignored and this blocks them up allowing over pressurising which creates oil leaks etc. The breather element is a diy change but can be a fiddly twat to get to.

 

Fuel pumps. There's two, one under floor and one in tank. Make sure they are working!

 

Interior trim. This is not that great, especially now it's getting old! It can be brittle and plastics break easily. Door pockets are often smashed as people hit them getting in and out.

Also, the headlining goes baggy. The glue dries out and is quickly affected by damp too. The fabric then separates from the back board and droops down. It's an annoying problem!

 

Water leaks. Check sunroof drains are clear and the footwell vents are sealed properly. These cars have very thick carpets and underfelt too, check the carpets are all dry, though if you can feel it's wet then there's likely lots of water in the car beneath the underfelt already. This means it can sit in there for ages before it's noticed which rots the floors out.

 

Radiators. Critical on the auto as the engine radiator and auto box oil cooler are combined. With age the separation between them fails letting ATF and coolant mix. This will quickly kill the auto box so check the ATF is clean and free of signs of water contamination.

 

Brakes. They don't like sitting around and they seize up. New slider kits are available but calipers are a bit pricey.

 

Electrics. Can be temperamental. Fuel gauges often don't work. The old electronics suffer now and they just start picking and choosing if/when they want to work. The gauges get worse by people hitting the dash binnacle to try to get it working again which just breaks them even more!

 

If I were to recommend one of these, get an estate, 2.3 engine with auto transmission and get a GLE spec as they are the luxury spec and are very nice places to be.

Here's my thread on my free one that I got back on the road http://autoshite.com/topic/26653-operation-pig-iron-volvo-740-on-the-road-pg-8/

Might be useful or just interesting!?

 

If you can't tell, I love these cars! They look good and drive great. They are an old interesting car that you can easily use daily all year round without worry. If I had to pick one car to use for the rest of my life it'd be one of these!

[Ghosty]

If I were to recommend one of these, get an estate, 2.3 engine with auto transmission and get a GLE spec as they are the luxury spec and are very nice places to be.

 

 

 Auto, estate, prefacelift, and preferably GLE.

.

 

[danthecapriman]

Indeed!

Prefacelift 'flatfront' ones are great looking things. And it also means you can give them US market front ends if your into such things! Suits me!

[Uncle Jimmy]

They're good motors, vastly superior to their contemporaries; with the exception of a 405 estate and the W124 Benz. Cavernous interior, big enough to take a 6' 3" x 2' 6" door. Plus you will look like Lovejoy. Or look out for a 240 BLT, not quite as cavernous but better built and even easier to spanner.

[danthecapriman]

Everyone loves pics...

 

My current one.

 

IMG_0434 by Dan Clark, on Flickr

 

IMG_0433 by Dan Clark, on Flickr

 

IMG_0406 by Dan Clark, on Flickr

[Ghosty]

Yours is a nice one Dan, that blue is a great colour. Caramac really isn't for me though!

[danthecapriman]

Oh, one more thing.

 

Some of these had self levelling suspension. It's good if it works but is a pain in the arse if not.

Mine has Monroe air system, I wish it didn't though as it leaks and needs pumping up every few weeks! Some have Nivomat levellers, which are great but expensive if you need to replace them.

 

I'm going to rip mine out and fit standard springs and shocks eventually.

If the car has any levelling system fitted and you want to replace it for standard then bear in mind you'll have to replace both the springs and shocks as they are different between systems. The levelling systems used a soft spring combined with the special levelling dampers, and if you try reusing the old soft springs with new non levelling dampers you'll end up with a very soft bouncy ride!

[danthecapriman]

Yours is a nice one Dan, that blue is a great colour. Caramac really isn't for me though!

My old saloon was metallic gold paint with the same leather interior but in black and when it was clean and all polished up it looked stunning!

 

I can also recommend the green velour... lovely!

[Ghosty]

I've seen a few pictures of that and I'd really quite like it tbh.

A few years ago I saw one with orange cloth seats, that looked pretty good too. Rare option I bet though, reminded me of Mango on the P6.

[hairnet]

 when you go to scotland to reimport one - bring a sctsch with you to go aye/naw at the one you look at

[eddyramrod]

They're good motors, vastly superior to their contemporaries; with the exception of a 405 estate and the W124 Benz.

Totally RONG.  Without going to the US market, there is no car superior to a good 740 GLE auto estate.  And even on the US market you have to choose carefully.

These words are said by an American-auto addict who doesn't own a Volvo at present but is delighted with his current fleet, so trust me, it's the truth.

[Ghosty]

I don't quite like Benzes and while the 405 is Junkman approved, it lacks a certain something. It's a bit too normal to be special. (Which is sort of how I feel about R8s now).

[Ghosty]

Oh, and are the boot seats standard fit on wagons or an option? Have no need for them I just think they're a cool feature

 

edit: the GLE on eBay locally has advisories on the MOT (done last month) for floorpan rot. Keep looking maybe...

[vulgalour]

Best thing about the 740 is that it feels a lot bigger and a lot wider than it really is.  They also still have reasonable road presence because of the styling, which is always a bonus these days.  It will make the Rover feel flimsy and small and slow.

 

Cloth interiors shouldn't be dismissed too readily, they're much nicer in summer and winter than the leather which can be far too hot and far too cold, respectively.  The cloth interiors tend to be hard wearing and do clean up very nicely, they look very stylish in that minimalist-brutalist Swedish way.  The leather can sometimes look a bit cheap because of the design of the seats, particularly in black.  If you can find one with an orange interior you'll be doing well, they really do look amazing.

 

Driving wise they're quite nice things.  Everything is sensibly and predictably laid out and the seating position is more upright than the Rover.  The seats do seem to promote good posture, which is probably part of the reason they're so comfortable, they don't encourage slouching at all.  Factory sound system is quite good, in part because the cars are very well soundproofed, and substantial enough that upgrades to more modern kit is fairly easy if that's your bag.  Paint is usually amazing, Volvo got that aspect of these cars particularly right.  Headlinings have a habit of going saggy, but can be removed and retrimmed without too much difficulty.  Indicator-sidelight units can crack and fade/yellow, replacements are available and you generally get what you pay for.  Rear lights for the estate end to be cracked and chipped because of it being an estate car prone to that sort of thing, replacements are usually easy to get hold of, just beware that Volvo did a few facelifts so some units that look alike aren't always.

 

Engines are, from memory, on an incline being lower at the bulkhead, this can make some more involved jobs awkward, hopefully you shan't need to worry about that.  Auto gearbox is adequate, nothing special, and I didn't think it was as well matched to the engine as the combination your Rover has.  It does make it an easy car to bimble around town in, where a manual can make it feel a bit fussy.  They're a car that encourages you to take your time, they're also a car that will bomb around far too fast if you want it to.

 

Overall, they're a good, solid, sensible car that's definitely in the 'appreciating classic' bracket.  Generally it's £1,000-2,000 for a nice one, I'd advise against going for a sub-£500 example unless you get very lucky and find a gem.  Estates have usually either had a really brutal life and no maintenance or have been pampered, there's rarely middle ground with them.  If you can find one that's had a small number of owners, a good amount of receipts for work done, reasonable MoT history and has been in regular use up to the point of sale you should do okay.  Don't worry about mileage too much, 100k is not uncommon and they're generally still really solid and together at well above that.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

Oh, and are the boot seats standard fit on wagons or an option? Have no need for them I just think they're a cool feature

 

edit: the GLE on eBay locally has advisories on the MOT (done last month) for floorpan rot. Keep looking maybe...

The boot seats were optional and I managed to buy two different 740 Estates without them. Even though at the time I had 4 kids under 10. Both times I intended to find a boot seat from a scrappy ( pre eBay !) but never did, the manual Turbo was too thirsty so had to go and the GLE auto decided to mix coolant and tranny fluid so went to auction a bit rapidly.

The day I bought the GLE my oldest daughter managed to drive it into the front door of our house- quite hard- no damage to the Volvo but the electric meter door frame is held together with gaffer tape to this day.

[danthecapriman]

Oh, and are the boot seats standard fit on wagons or an option? Have no need for them I just think they're a cool feature

 

edit: the GLE on eBay locally has advisories on the MOT (done last month) for floorpan rot. Keep looking maybe...

As said above, boot seats were optional. They are very desirable now used though so you may have to spend a bit to get a set.

 

Rot to the floor isn't really a big deal. At the cars age it's likely most of them will be suffering from it to a degree. It's easily fixable but if you can weld yourself that obviously makes it cheaper and easier. I wouldn't worry about that too much though unless you look first and it's exceptionally bad.

 

 

I'd say these outclass the Mercedes. The Volvo isn't such a classy car or badge but build quality I'd say is better and I like the drive much more. Plus, Mercs rust like fuck!

The 405 isn't comparable really. It's a lower class car, probably more in the class of a Cavelier or Sierra. Plus it's front drive so not a contender!

[Sigmund Fraud]

They're amazing cars - if you buy a good one and look after it, it can literally last a lifetime !

 

Mine was a neglected heap of shite with over 200K on the odometer that I had bought for £175 :

 

 

I kept it for two years, during which it was used for commuting, trips to the continent and collecting various parts for my other heaps of shite from all over the country. It never failed to proceed, and required little other than routine maintenance.

 

I've been a big fan of boxy Volvos ever since !

 

 

Do remember timing belts are cheap and easy and non-interference

 

[pedant] True about the B230, but the B200 is an interference design. [/pedant]

[Lacquer Peel]

I haven't experienced the 740 directly but I've owned a couple of 940s, which is a pretty similar car. Y no 940? I think you'd find a better 940 for the same money, the styling is only slightly rounded off.

They're really easy to place on the road and not that big really, the turning circle is amazing - ideal for terrifying people in parked cars.

I can't see a 740 auto estate being much less fuel efficient than a Rover 216 automatic.

Probably anathema to you but I love the diesel ones, it's a crap engine by modern standards but it makes a great noise if you like that kind of thing.

[Jim Bell]

I got mid teens from my saloon. Mind you the kickdown was fucked and stuck on so it did most of its work kicking the shit out of itself.

 

Kwality cars though. Would have another.