Hey guys,

I'm new to the forum having finally signed up and logged in after a few days lurking. Last month my girlfriend and I moved to Leduc, all the way from Northern Ireland. The last couple of weeks have been trying to settle in, and we're still finding our feet.

I was devastated when I trawled through Kijiji and AutoTrader to see the price of Volvos, most of which were all 850s and newer!! I was a member of the Volvo Owners Club UK back home and along with another Irish guy ran the bi-monthly Irish Volvo meets all over the country. I owned two awesome condition Volvos, both of which I had to sell to come here ( ), and both of which I sold for very, very little compared to how much they'd fetch this side of the pond! My daily driver was '96 850 TDI (2.5 5 cylinder, 140bhp, 45+mpg, manual, 155k) and my classic was a '79 245 DL (2.1 B21A, auto, 60k) with accessories (pictures below!!).

Anyway, I resort and bought a '94 Jeep Grand Cherokee for a nice price, but it's just not a Volvo! The high-ride of a Jeep isn't all it's cracked up to be and there's no bloody storage! There are so few Volvos on the road here that it's charming to see one out and about. I would love an old 245 to run around and have always wanted a nice loaded 744 (lovely, lovely shape). I know my missus would rather a phase one XC70 though.... (!)

If you guys allow us in the Jeep I wouldn't mind coming along to the meetings (?) for pictures and banter and maybe when we have some funds together I might look into buying another Volvo. How do you guys source the elders or are you bringing them in from the US?

(click for larger image)

Me personally have found all of my 240's (4 of them) in red deer.

I think once spring hits, and people get the itch to buy newer (albeit sporty) cars, a few will begin to pop up. (we will all post them as we spot them for whoever may be interested)

welcome to Canada, and welcome to the Forum. you will find this to be a fairly tight knit and supportive community. ive only been here for a short while (havent met many of you guys) but the ones I did meet I liked alot. Everyone is willing to give you a helping hand.

speaking of 740's

here is one for sale here
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1669

if woodenshoes and I miraculously kill each other in our pistol match tomorrow for it, I wont see anything standing in your way...

have a great stay

Welcome to the club, always glad to have new people. The meetings are few and far between because everyone is very busy but its a good time when they happen. Ill ask around work and see if there is anything selling for cheap. I know theres a guy who has an 850 auto wagon (n/a) for sale. I seem to remember him wanting 2k for it or something though.

you bastard

pistols???? nah you bring your buddies civic, i'll bring my ram i'll have the trailer so i can haul the wreakage away.

oh, darren welcome to canada and the club, as you can see we only get excited about old beaters here. if your interested i may have a 2002 V70 AWD for sale shortly, stay tuned to the marketplace.

Hey man, you dont need the student beater mobile.... 2002 c70

c70?? i wish. i may not be a student but i gots 2 at home that want cars, although probably not this one

Back on topic gent's

Welcome to Canada and Alberta Darren and by all means you are very welcome to any and all events.
No Volvo is required, just an appreciation for cars We are always lookin for someone to organize events also.

There are 2 challenges with Volvo's in this region, finding a good one where the rust has not become a problem, and then finding this good one at an affordable or reasonable price. We have a fairly good network and will keep our eyes open for you. As an alternative you can bring one up from the USA, this is an option that you could consider and we have the "expertise" in our group to provide any assistance you need.

Looking forward to meeting with you.

Welcome Darren,

I'm sure we'll have you in a nice 240 in no time!

-Athal

Welcome darlin! I don't even know if we have anything plotted yet...but don't worry! you'll know when we plot some gatherings!

First, welcome, and that is a nice looking not rusty early 240 you had there. My first boss was from Northern Ireland.

Go to Portland, Oregon. Trip over about 10,000 rust free 240s that need a lot of mechanical/interior/hippie-exorcism attention. They won't be rusty for the most part, though windshield leaks plague them and there are no vehicle inspections whatever in northern WA or much of OR, so nasty windshields are fairly common.

Despite this, you can usually find one with a good body ( a lot harder if it is a 2-door) and decent not-faded/salvagable paint. Or fork over about 3-4K for a mint 91-93 245 that is completely nice all around for the most part. I'd like a black 92-93 245...if I get a volvo again. A lot of Oregon or SF bay area cars are going to have a ton of miles on them, and you are going to have to spend (usually) to get one with a good interior that hasn't been neglected. My 92 245GL had 335K miles on it when I got it and was a cali car to give you an idea, but it needed a lot of interior work and some mechanical (mechanical on a 240 is no big deal to me). Used cars are often cheap in the bay area due to smog, people's egos and desire to have a new car, volvo A/C (yea, right), and the fact that a lot are driven real real hard and beat to hell with 400 million zillion miles. If we weren't so far away geographically, we'd combine euro/canada mechanicals and interiors with cali/OR bodies.


You won't miss RHD and a 240 and you can get a 240 turbo in north america. I'd refuse to work on a UK rusty RHD 240 unless someone forked over a ton of dough. You won't get cool cheap euro spec 240s though, and you won't find a lot of late model RWD cars with a 5-speed manual in the states. Fat laziness trumps shifting gears and driving sideways.

Welcome...... Nobody could possibly be a worse forum lurker than me! My typing skills are terrible,usually a page expires by the time I get my point across... so therefore I dont post much, Well thats my story and I'm sticking to it. I spent 13 years in Ireland,that was awhile ago though,have been her 25 years now. There are always good car deals around (usually just after you just bought one....) I got my 245 in Sherwood Park,AB.

Thanks for the warm welcome guys!!

To be honest, it's going to be a couple of months before we get enough funds together before seriously thinking about buying a Volvo, and even then our budget isn't going to be out of this world! The Jeep was a quick buy as I've always fancied a Cherokee (any I looked at though where rotten!), car rental was costing me a fortune and the Grand came up at a nice price and was in really clean condition with an inspection!

An 850 would be a nice girlfriend approved daily driver, although it would have to be a late 20v model (did you get the 10v models here?), fully loaded wagon with a nice color combo for me to buy another FWD Volvo. As much as we like XC models the more I read about possible AWD problems and repair bills for possible problems the more I'm put-off, although I'm yet to read someones experiences with having any problems to begin with!

I'd much prefer something a little older anyway - a 80s 700 sedan would be awesome, especially a Turbo. Ah, I wish! I see the odd 740 in Edmonton, and the odd beat-up 240. We did see a really mint 944 on the highway one day driven by a young guy, it looked like he drove it right out of the show room! I love big bumper 200s and would love a 242. The only problem with a 200 is I'd have to be persuaded to buy an automatic again; I used to hate driving my '79 on the highway as the 3-speed was waaay too loud. A 200 would be nice as I researched a lot on accessories so know what I like etc. I have loads of old brochures and accessories literature I've collected over the last couple of years, mainly early 200 stuff.

It's just shocking how much I've taken buying a Volvo for granted in the UK... there's plenty of stock 200/700/900 in nice condition that sell for around $800, and half of them are manual!! I come to Canada and the same cars are few and far between, five times the price and all autos!

Look forward to meeting some of you guys in the near future anyway - anyone I can look out for in Edmonton?

Oh, just for the record, it was the 480 that got me into Volvos when I needed to buy a 'sensible' daily driver in order to take my rusty old Mini off the road! You guys were meant to get the 480, but it looks like you did one better with the 780 which we never seen sight of!

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Mid to late eighties 700 Series volvos are available all over alberta, in running shape (needing tlc, sure, but not a pile of shit by any means) - in the range of 100 to 500 dollars CAD.

Not a fortune to most.

Apparently we got the 10v models in '93 850s, but I've never seen one in anything later than that.

We didn't get THAT many 780s - after the US took their 5500, there wasn't much left of the 9500 build run. They were never built in RHD models, so you're not alone in never getting one.

If you'd like to see one up close, come on down to Calgary one day. Though mine isn't a shining example, it's still not bad.

Welcome aboard and to add my 2-bits to the conversation, you don't need to go to Oregon to get a decent Volvo...Lethbridge comes up with relatively rust free examples all the time.

Craig