This $2,000 Volvo 240 Nearly Stranded Us 400 Miles From Home

Added: 2026-05-18

[00:00:02]We're going to see how far we could possibly drive it.

[00:00:08]We're a long ways from home. Not very helpful. They don't have any spark plug wires and a Napa.

[00:00:19]>> What the heck are we doing at PNA's truck stop, bud? Well, it's not picking up a pie.

[00:00:24]>> What are we doing today?

[00:00:25]>> Big road trip headed far far south out of New Hampshire. I wanted to get a 1988 Volvo 240. I guess when I thought about buying cars for the series, I wanted cars that either were like extremely unique or had like kind of a cult following was always my idea. And uh I think the Volvo 240 falls in the cult following uh category. I don't know what the intrigue is, but uh we're going to go find out. This thing is multiple states, so we're going all the way to New Jersey. We're going to try to drive it back, too, of course. See how far we make it. six hours each direction. We'll see.

[00:01:08]>> We are in Manhattan. Uh mistakenly, we had to go pick up a BMW engine uh for the drift fleet. Thought it was going to be a small detour, but of course uh yeah, I don't think anything in New York City is a small detour. Anyway, we have an engine and we're like maybe an hour away from going to get the Volvo. We got to cross over uh the Hudson and get into New Jersey and get on with our lives.

[00:01:36]So, >> 1.8 miles left.

[00:01:42]It's spitting out some >> mixed precipitation.

[00:01:45]>> Yep. Something.

[00:01:46]>> Finally like been pulling our hairs out getting out of New York City and it didn't get a whole lot better in New Jersey as far as traffic goes. Yeah.

[00:01:54]>> So, we're hoping we can get this thing and get back on the road cuz it's only halfway done today. We're still not even there.

[00:02:01]>> In 3/4 of a mile, you'll arrive. Your destination will be on your left.

[00:02:06]>> Okay.

[00:02:12]>> Stephen.

[00:02:12]>> Yep. Travis.

[00:02:13]>> Howdy.

[00:02:14]>> What's going on?

[00:02:15]>> How's it going?

[00:02:17]>> You're doing good. Yourself?

[00:02:18]>> Good. Where did you find it?

[00:02:20]>> Uh, I found it out in Missouri. Oh, did you have it shipped here or you have to live out there or >> I I flew out there. I met the guy over Facebook Marketplace as well.

[00:02:30]>> Yep.

[00:02:30]>> I flew out there. I looked at it and I was like, "All right, this looks good for me cuz I didn't care about the motor mounts or the the water pump."

[00:02:38]>> Yep.

[00:02:38]>> Cuz I was going to throw in a K in it.

[00:02:40]>> Oh, like a a a Honda K swap. Yeah.

[00:02:43]>> I was going to do all that, but then I got I uh what I started looking into it.

[00:02:47]I already bought the motor. I have the trans. I have everything. But then I started looking at the drive shaft for this.

[00:02:52]>> Okay.

[00:02:53]>> And uh depending on what transmission you got, you got different drive lengths.

[00:02:57]>> Y >> this one's too long. So then I would have to start cutting the interior. I didn't want to ruin the interior.

[00:03:02]>> Okay.

[00:03:02]>> So I was like, "Yeah, I'm just going to call it quick. Just just sell it." Uh cosmetically, I it has its its flaws.

[00:03:08]But interior, I was actually surprised on how clean the interior is.

[00:03:12]>> Yep.

[00:03:16]>> Yeah. It's amazing, huh? But yeah. Wow.

[00:03:18]Blue on blue. Blue on blue on blue.

[00:03:21]>> No sunroof, which is cool.

[00:03:24]>> Makes it easier for your rally.

[00:03:25]>> Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. No, it is nice.

[00:03:29]>> Uh what can you call it? So, the original owner was an old lady who bought it.

[00:03:34]>> Y >> then she passed away.

[00:03:36]>> Okay.

[00:03:37]>> Then her neighbor took it and that's a gentleman who I bought it off of.

[00:03:40]>> And these are older records from the dealership as well.

[00:03:45]>> I'm not sure if that's loose. Uh, and like I said, I brought us back and I started like doing all my measurements and I realized that was just too much.

[00:03:52]>> Last inspected in 2002 of February.

[00:03:57]>> I don't know what these Swedes want, but >> figure it out here.

[00:04:02]>> Uh, they got it.

[00:04:03]>> There you go.

[00:04:04]>> Wow.

[00:04:07]Cool. Uh I had to look it up because uh so when I bought it as well, the owner said that it runs not not hot, but like if you have like your temperature gauge like on, you know, it's like right in the middle. Uh he said it's just like a click up above that right there.

[00:04:25]>> She's seeping for sure.

[00:04:26]>> Yep. Other than that, there's no other drips, drains, or drops.

[00:04:29]>> Yep.

[00:04:31]>> Did you look inside have any record of like timing belts or anything like that?

[00:04:34]I didn't look into the records cuz like I said, I was just going to do a swap, but then >> didn't matter to you. Yeah, >> but then again, I didn't want to start cutting up the inside.

[00:04:42]>> She's clean. And even these the springs, >> it was garage kept.

[00:04:46]>> Yeah.

[00:04:48]>> Start it. Going to fire it up, you think?

[00:04:50]>> Yep.

[00:04:54]It has like a a vinyl uh headrest.

[00:05:03]It didn't have a mirror, so they had to buy a mirror.

[00:05:08]It's a aftermarket mirror. We're going to see how far we could possibly drive it. Uh, but if it gets warm or anything like that, we're probably just going to find a U-Haul.

[00:05:26]Yeah, it's right there. I saw it.

[00:05:29]All right.

[00:05:32]Oh, yeah. Maybe we might be making a trip to U-Haul before long.

[00:05:44]I'm happy though. It's great. It's just like you described it. Uh, >> I was trying to be as brutally honest.

[00:05:51]>> Yeah. No, you told me I shouldn't do it, so I That's I thought that was funny.

[00:05:55]>> You have the title.

[00:05:57]>> We got it. Got all the keys. Oh, I think there's three keys.

[00:06:02]>> I've got money.

[00:06:03]>> All right.

[00:06:04]>> $2,000.

[00:06:05]>> I'll accept it.

[00:06:06]>> You should count it, though, cuz I counted it pretty quickly.

[00:06:08]>> I wish you the best of luck on driving it.

[00:06:12]>> Will it rally?

[00:06:13]>> I think it will. I think it will.

[00:06:25]Got to remember to actually put coolant in it when it gets cold tonight.

[00:06:29]>> Cold tonight.

[00:06:36]I mean, it's not like pouring out of the water pump. It's just seeping.

[00:06:48]It's not snapping anymore. That'll like mess with that coil wire. So, maybe it's all right.

[00:06:55]Strut tops are cracked.

[00:06:58]But all in all, this thing is a be.

[00:07:00]Wipers are still wiping. Headlights are still lighting.

[00:07:06]I give it 50/50.

[00:07:11]Let's do it. Okay. Phone directions.

[00:07:18]Go.

[00:07:23]It's got a nice partial part par part parcel shelf.

[00:07:30]My English for that is not great. I would guess that the odometer doesn't work because it still says zero.

[00:07:44]Here we go.

[00:07:46]Oh my. It is uh soft to say the least. Brakes work.

[00:07:55]It's not very comfy. Probably need to get some fuel.

[00:08:03]Whoa.

[00:08:15]>> Radio engage. Clock.

[00:08:18]Hopefully, it's not F. Oh my goodness.

[00:08:20]The clock is right and it's a lot later than I thought it was going to be. It's almost 5:00 and we're just now hitting the road. That's got a shift indicator light. So, you don't need a tachometer when you got a clock and a shift indicator light. Somewhere I said that I heard that the Volvo seats, the 240 seats are the most comfortable of any seat ever. And I don't know, maybe I'm just too fat for this thing. But this hill is good to test uh to see if this thing overheats or not. So far so good on the temperatures.

[00:08:52]Thing still thinks I should upshift. I'm not buying it.

[00:09:02]This thing have a solid rear axle. I think feel it kind of dancing dancing around on these bumps.

[00:09:11]Kind of starved. Feel like I need to eat.

[00:09:21]This gas station pizza is gross. It's like they cooked it at 9:00 a.m.

[00:09:29]yesterday, but >> use the right lane. I'm hungry at the US22 West Ram.

[00:09:35]>> I'm going to eat it.

[00:09:37]It's under a big load. It kind of skips. I think it's that coil wire.

[00:09:45]It's 5:00.

[00:09:48]If we don't get a U-Haul, then I've got to find parts.

[00:09:54]At least that coil wire, I'm thinking.

[00:10:00]>> Yeah, of course. My phone sent us the wrong way.

[00:10:02]>> I was going to say, okay, I wasn't sure if you changed your changed your mind or >> No, I just followed my phone. I didn't think >> Okay. Yeah, this one's going to take us through Newark.

[00:10:12]Well, if we need a U-Haul, we might have a better chance going through the city than we will uh going north. But yeah, I don't know. I don't even know if I can redirect at this point in time. Maybe I'll uh pull over somewhere if I can.

[00:10:35]>> Got a little sparky. A little little sparkage issue.

[00:10:38]>> Stumbling.

[00:10:39]>> She's stumbling.

[00:10:40]>> Stumbling. It's just uh >> I don't know how long I'm going to make it. This place is only open for another 10 minutes.

[00:10:48]Not very helpful, >> right? Like they don't have any spark plug wires in a Napa. Not even, of course, for not a Volvo, but like a Chevy 350, Ford, F-150, it didn't matter. She didn't have it or she was not very willing to help me. Uh, so we're going to try to just clean this up a hair. I guess it's the It might actually be the coil. You know, the wire might be okay, but like just need to get this in here and like give it a twist.

[00:11:27]Yeah. I mean, I honestly would think it's kind of the the coils all like it should have a boot like this side and it should be it should seal it, but like at this point in time, it's might I don't know. The wire might be okay.

[00:11:43]>> She was more worried about going home because it's like 3 minutes till closing time than she was about helping me, unfortunately.

[00:11:53]And that makes me frustrated. Most people would be like, "Oh, you're not from here. Let me see how much I can help. Let's go dig around in the back."

[00:12:03]This lady, she was trying to push me out the door.

[00:12:08]See if she runs better now. We'll see.

[00:12:18]When it's stumbling, the whole engine is rocking.

[00:12:22]All right.

[00:12:24]I don't know what else we can do.

[00:12:28]All right, maybe it's running better.

[00:12:30]Maybe. Doubt it. How does a Napa not just have any old spark plug leads?

[00:12:37]Zero spark plug leads, zero coil leads, zero help. What kind of Nappa? Honestly, I bet you they had exactly what I needed in there, but that lady was so useless.

[00:12:49]Boon Boon Boon.

[00:12:52]Don't go to that Nappa. There's none of those in the whole state of New Jersey.

[00:12:56]She says, "Might as well have gone to AutoZone." What the? We're a long ways from home. 5 hours in this thing. Now, what could kill this car is a traffic jam. Loss of air flow over the radiator might be the kiss of death.

[00:13:28]We left at 8:00 a.m.

[00:13:30]We got back at midnight.

[00:13:33]Still have another 20 minutes to go home, but we're going to leave the Volvo here. Come back, get it tomorrow. Uh, I don't know how many miles it was, but uh, probably 400 miles or so.

[00:13:51]The thing stumbled the whole way. It overheated a little bit. It got hot, but never really overheated. Uh, but it made it. Um, it's a good car. We'll fix it.

[00:14:00]We'll make it right. It'll go fast, just not today.