Volvo 740/760 opinions?

[freebird]

Seen a few of these around, very cheap for what they appear to be.

Anybody have any experience with these?

Ive seen a 760 GLE which, im assuming, once was the competitor of Granadas, Senators and the like.

Are they a bargain luxury barge or a potential headache?

Advice and opinions appreciated.

[dollywobbler]

A crap one can be really crap, but still good fun and surprisingly economical (for their size). Saloons don't seem very desirable, estates command a slight premium. Interior plastics can be laughably woeful. Headlinings fall out and need comedy replacements. My 740GLE estate was about as refined as kicking out time at a nightclub, but there was a lot to like. Super comfy, super relaxed on the motorway and surprisingly nimble when it came to sliding the back end out.

[Rocket88]

Tough as old boots, but prone to comedy electrics and Bedouin tent headlinings, and some of the interior plastics are a tad Eastern European.

[Spiny Norman]

Think I'd go for the 4 pot over the V6. The bigger V6 is barely any faster than the 2.3 petrol and quite a bit more expensive to operate. The 4 pot is a development of the same engine Volvo have been using since Noah was a lad and they seem to last pretty much indefinitely given basic maintenance.

You can get a turbo version too, which is entertainingly quick for such an incongruous bus.

Think the auto boxes can get a bit leaky but the manuals (sometimes with an overdrive button!) are tough.

 

The fact that the newest ones are over 20 years old yet there are still lots of them about says it all I think, I'd have another one quite happily.

The Volvo owners forum is a mine of useful information too. http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/

[Vinylseats]

My dad had an automatic V6 760GLE saloon in the early 90s and a 740GLE estate straight after. The 760 was a beautiful car, as children we slid across the black leather seats in the back and burnt our legs on the hot leather in the summer. The engine sounded lovely. He wanted an estate though so replaced it with a high milage 740 estate which really felt every one of its miles - and the step down from a 760 to a 740 was very noticeable - velour seats, sunroof with a windy handle etc. The aforementioned overdrive button failed and rarely went into 5th gear on the motorway and the gear knob even came off in my dad's hand at one point, exposing all the wires.

 

I'd love to have my own 760 saloon with all the trimmings.

[davidfowler2000]

I've got a 740GLE Estate 2.3 / ZF Automatic. It's the F'ing business! In fairness mines was a bit of a minter when I got it nearly a year ago and was well looked after in it's 180,000 mile life. It returns about 27mpg in general driving and up to 35 on the motorway or probably more if you drive about like a nun...with the pope in the back...being followed by the traffic cops. I've not heard anything about leaky automatics but I suppose it's something to be aware of. According to various Volvo communities on the web, the AW (Volvo) autobox is more sought after than the ZF one because the ZF box chews it's own clutch packs when you rev it past 2000 in neutral or drive. Other than that they are stupidly bulletproof with minimal maintenance and bits are cheap. Interior parts are a bit flimsy but easy to replace if you can find replacements - I done every single bulb behind the dashboard and intrument cluster in about 30 minutes.

 

The 760 is a bit more plush, yes but the interior is identical albeit with the 760 having a couple of extra buttons, air con and the like but as Mr hawk states, the bigger engine in the 760 is not that much faster than the 4 pot 2.3 and will be more costly to run and service.

 

Also being a small bus they do command attention and people will stay out of your way on the road

[Cavcraft]

Most people differ so don't listen to me: I much preferred the 2.0 to the 2.3. Neither was especially quick but the 2.3 wasn't much better in terms of power, drank more and always seemed to idle badly compared to the 2.0 in my experience with the things.

[Volksy]

I quite fancy one with the six pot diesel, which was sourced from the VW LT van.

 

In fact there's a 940 Derv for sale on here..

[Cavcraft]

Lenny Hatred is selling a 940 Volvo TD for £600 or something like that.

 

Here you go...

 

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=16650

[cms206]

I'm on my second 740GLE 2.3 auto with the ZF Millsomatic 'box. Killed the first one after 72 hours but in fairness it was the most poorly 740 I think I've ever seen and it had no floor. The current one is the ex Sam Glover/Scooters/Hillmanimp "Council Estate" multicoloured thing and after several thousand hard miles it's not yet died. It's the single most useful vehicle I own and I suspect I will own it for a very, very long time.

 

Fuel economy hurts a lot and apparantly the diesels aren't much better than a 2.3 petrol on fuel. I prefer the 2.0 myself but they're all fairly hard to kill.

 

[Spiny Norman]

Is this how you keep it running, by threateningly parking up beside a scrapyard like how we used to take uncle Frank to the cafe beside the old folks home to try and get him off the rum...

[cms206]

Is this how you keep it running, by threateningly parking up beside a scrapyard like how we used to take uncle Frank to the cafe beside the old folks home to try and get him off the rum...

 

 

Not at all! There was only one car in the yard older than the Volvo, a Rangey Classic which was the oldest in the yard by a good 20 years. The Council Estate just keeps going.

[purplebargeken]

Love 'em. The 740 is the one I would go for. Agreed about the common problem areas. Mine smelled of old person and digestive biscuits, odd but true.

 

Fabulous cars. Estates are truly vast. Saloons worth peanuts. Prices are starting to creep up slowly. Check the overdrive works.

[freebird]

There are a couple on the C&C website at the mo, ridiculously cheap, I mean, if they were wearing a Blue Oval badge you would be looking at prefixing the price with a 1 or maybe even a 2. I fancy the 760 GLE saloon, economy is neither here nor there as it wont be a daily driver, just something to enjoy.

Thanks for the opinions chaps, the consensus, to put it all into somesort of perspective, is that they are pretty decent/above the usual old toss cars and no more likely to explode in your face than anything else of its ilk.

Many thanks!

[willswitchengage]

P1020341 by willswitchengage, on Flickr

 

A friend of mine bought an estate on 150K for £500 a few years ago. 2.0L pez averaged 37mpg on mainly motorway, got to about 200k on the clock before it conveniently overheated and died near Dunkerque somewhere.

[Lacquer Peel]

37MPG is as good as the diesel.

 

I am half tempted to keep mine, it is amusingly rubbish.

 

I don't think there is another car available that sounds as offensive as this -

[danthecapriman]

Id say get one!

 

Ive got an 87 E reg 2.3 GLE saloon auto with air con, leather etc etc. Ive had it 8 years and got no complaints, never failed its mot and its a piece of piss to work on.

They can do mega miles with ease, mines pretty low for one of these at 180K but still feels fine.

They cruise well, and will sit on the motorway all day long but they arent the quickest things around. My Granada mk2 is bigger, older and on old worn out carb and will piss all over the volvo! But they arent built for speed!

 

Ive had a few 2/7/9 ovlovs and the 2.3 4 cylinder is my fav one. The V6 isnt that much more powerfull and the 2.0 is noticably a lot slower and seems to struggle a bit in such a big car. But if a really good one came up I really wouldnt care which engine it had. Condition is better than spec.

Both autos and manuals are fine, I prefer autos personally though!

Working on them is easy, especially on the 2.0 or 2.3 redblock engine, they really are as easy to work on as a pinto (almost!) and cheap and easy to get parts for too.

 

Things to look for:

Headlining - almost always sagging. Mines held up with drawing pins for that luxorious 'buttoned' effect! Only way to sort it is to replace it or bodge it as the foam lining dries out and disintegrates letting the cloth droop down. Glue doesnt stick or help much in my experience.

Autos - the box is fine, but the atf cooler is inside the engine coolant radiator and sometimes they fail inside allowing water and atf to mix. The auto box doesnt like this. Check on auto dip stick for watery oil. Only way to fix is new rad and atf flush + change.

Breathers on engine - these can become clogged and start allowing the engine to over pressurise itself. Mine popped its rocker gasket, oil filler cap O ring and blew its dip stick out when revved hard! Simple to fix by cleaning out the breathers and pipes. Change or remove flame traps aswell (new ones cost pence), as they get clogged solid over time.

Rust - these cars are way way better than most of this age at resisting it but it can still be there. Mine had started on the front floor near chassis legs/jack points, inner front arch near battery tray, and small bit under scuttle panel below windscreen. All easy to sort even if it rusts through if you can weld! Should be easy to find one without rust though.

I think later then 1988 they were galvanised.

Electrics - can be a bit tempremental. Gauges (especially fuel) sometimes dont work or only work when they feel like it. Its normal on these though as they were never great and old age hasnt helped either! I dont tend to worry too much about it!

 

I think these are very under rated at the moment, they are old enough to work on and keep running easily and cheaply but good enough to run every day all year round aswell. They also have road presence and really stand out from the crowd. I trust mine 100% to go anywhere and back again in comfort.

Most have probably been scrapped through simply being old and undesirable as apposed to being actually worn out or broken.

 

Get one while they are cheap and easy to find I say!

[hhhugues]

I had a 740 estate 2.0 auto for a while. I got rid because i'd blown the HG (radiator hose came loose, stupidest failure i've had on a car) and found the petrol bills crippling for my daily commute. In hinsight it was a huge mistake, as for the time I had it, it was mega reliable, really comfy, and actually not that thirsty on a run. And obviously they're VAST and really great as load luggers. I'd have one again.

[Cavcraft]

Just remembered I also briefly owned a 940 2.0 turbo that was f*ck*ng horrible to drive compared to a 740. It was incredibly slow and almost impossible to get the turbo to boot in when you wanted it. Most of the time you put your foot down, waited a couple of days for it to get ten miles per hour faster than you were already going at, then it would drink petrol at an alarming rate.

[Six-cylinder]

Having sold Volvo 740/760 new and owned several personally as older cars most of the points have been made but one. The 760GLE V6 engine had a face lift at the end of the 1987 for the 1988 model year both saloon and estate, the updated engine was much improved quicker, smoother and more economical. V6s used to eat camshafts but I guess this is sorted my now.

[rml2345]

What can I say? On my second 740 and considering their age and comedy electrics I've had very little bother with either.

Mechanicals are pretty much bombproof and the body's are fairly rust resistant. I'd say the 2.0 manual is more fun than the 2.3 auto I had but either is a pleasant thing to drive and they're far nimbler than people think. I reckon a 2.0 auto would be best avoided though.

Fuel wise I get high 20s round the doors and mid 30s on a run so not too bad for a big old thing.

Get one bought and join the Autoshite 740 MASSIV.

[mouseflakes]

If I ever get a space on my drive it'd pretty soon be filled by one of these in estate form I reckon. They seem to be great value.

[Shep Shepherd]

As a long-term (ten years this December) owner of a 740 estate, I concur with all of the above, but I wouldn't entertain a V6-engined 760 unless it was free, due to my long-held perception that the PRV V6 is a horrible boat anchor of an engine.

[eddyramrod]

I had a 740 GLE estate, 2.3 auto, for over three years. I think that says it all really. I'd very happily do it all over again, even if the car in question was a 1987 model, which is what I had (and it's now 7 years since I bought that...). I was twitching over an ebay listing a local dealer had put up, for a 1988 760 saloon, but managed not to buy it. I suspect Mrs R would have cut me a new arsehole, using the towbar!

Buy for body first, if it matters whether you have a saloon or estate (I did specifically want an estate when I bought mine); then condition, then luxury spec (I did those two the other way round but wasn't disappointed). I found mine to be ideal for just about everything I asked of it. 2.3, injected, automatic, 7 seats, plush interior, tough as old rigger boots and a right weapon in rush hour traffic. Nobody wanted to chance a kiss from it!

[oman5]

They are a great shiters car. pennies to buy and they last a long time. I had a 740 with the 6 pot diesel, its a great car. 44 mpg on a run was my best, and they are pretty pokey as well. cam belts are an arse of a job on them and they do need to be changed religiously. The 940 diesel uses the same engine, but with different fuel pump containing more electronics and also has an intercooler making slightly more power. diesel engines will not tolerate neglect like the volvo red block petrol engine.

Next was a 740 GLT 2.3 pez, being the 16v twin cam it was pretty quick but only ever got about 28 mpg.

Both of these were totally reliable.

The sort of car that tended to be bought new by wealthy old-money sort of people who took them to the dealer for every single job.

Ditto everyone else's comments on electrics, headlining etc. they all do it.

[Bren]

I would own a four cylinder car purely for the ease of changing the cambelt, then you can laugh at your mates in the pub when they cry into their beer having paid £500 to have theirs replaced on their own car.

[Shep Shepherd]

I would own a four cylinder car purely for the ease of changing the cambelt, then you can laugh at your mates in the pub when they cry into their beer having paid £500 to have theirs replaced on their own car.

 

I'm told that some people can change the cambelt on a 'red block' 740 in 20 minutes

[r.welfare]

What's the score with the instrument panels, is it only certain years that do it? My brother had two 740GLE's, an '85 and a '90, and it was only the later car that was affected. The only gauge that worked all the time was the tachometer - fuel gauge on strike throughout ownership, temp gauge was erratic, speedo would 'wake up' after 20 miles to bounce around for a bit then settle down to work properly after 50, etc.

 

Are the later 940's any better? I know they suffer their own (non-critical) faults like shrivelling door trims.

 

Otherwise I think these are belters and definitely like the 2.3 with the four-speed plus overdrive box.

[oman5]

What's the score with the instrument panels, is it only certain years that do it? My brother had two 740GLE's, an '85 and a '90, and it was only the later car that was affected. The only gauge that worked all the time was the tachometer - fuel gauge on strike throughout ownership, temp gauge was erratic, speedo would 'wake up' after 20 miles to bounce around for a bit then settle down to work properly after 50, etc.

 

Are the later 940's any better? I know they suffer their own (non-critical) faults like shrivelling door trims.

 

Otherwise I think these are belters and definitely like the 2.3 with the four-speed plus overdrive box.

 

The printed circuit on the rear of the instrument binnacle was the problem on both of my 740s. it tends to get burnt away where it makes contact. usually just wiggling the multiplug/bulbs will get it working again

[Pete-M]

I had an '89F 760 GLE IRS. Liked it.

 

It killed its gearbox with the ATF / Coolant problem. I spent about £400 putting it right, it was worth it. Thing was absolutely mint with under 90k on the clock.

 

The IRS ones handle quite well.