Today I saw a literal rust bucket
 

Few days ago a 244 popped up on facebook market, locally, like 3kms from my place. 2 pics and you could see it was very rusted on the bonnet. But it was so close to me I gave the guy a call.
Told me the engine had an overall 5 years ago, he did a classic car show with it and the car has been parked outside since then.
The car has only 63k km.

I went to see the car, which is parked in a body rapair and paint shop. After talking to an employee it gave me the impression that the owner brought the car there maybe to repaint but then never did it. He said 5 years ago the car was very good mechanically. I trust him, because when I first talked to him he refered to the car has "trash". So he clearly has no skin in the game.

The car is just rusted beoynd belief. It's a shame. It's not everyday you come across a car of this age with so little mileage.
Also, besides the cracked dash, the interior is prestine. The body is very straight too, despite all the rust.

https://i.postimg.cc/BZN6m0LY/IMG-20230605-142727.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/CL1KtQbF/IMG-20230605-142752.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/4xjnpQ7X/IMG-20230605-142957.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/MKFG8mY1/IMG-20230605-143005.jpg

It's a figurative rust bucket, not a literal one.

Although it is very much a rust bucket!

Don’t those louvred back window things make a lot of money?

For the feeble minded, obviously!

Are we still allowed to say feeble minded?🧐

360Beast was also telling me the louvre alone and the american sepc headlights were worth a pretty penny. I'm starting to wonder if fpr 1k€ the car is worth parting.

It sure ain't worth fixing.

How much does the louvre go for?

Quick google search shows prices anywhere from 350 to 1000€. what the hell.

Looks to me like a 260 grill and on Dutch plates!?

Supposedly it's an american or canadian import. Supposedly a 244 DL.

Makes sense!👍

Is it worth buying for about 1k to part or would I have to get it for half of that to be worth it?

They said the engine was revised 5 years ago. Car was working fine before being parked there. The glass is all fine. The panels I must assume all have some rust, even though the doors look alright. The seats looked awesome, from the outside looking in. Door cards are probably alright. Dash is cracked.
Lights all looked good besides the rear driver side, which had the white plastic cracked/missing.

Other than the bonnet are there any other rust issues?

Yes. I couldn't photograph very well because the car was low to the ground and there wasn't much space around, but this is what I did manage to shoot.

https://i.postimg.cc/zBMQbgQH/IMG-20230605-142824.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/MZC4z1Rh/IMG-20230605-142845.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/63TSp0MN/IMG-20230605-143053.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/Y2GZcd46/IMG-20230605-143055.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/L51bzsdC/IMG-20230605-143100.jpg

That is a super clean car! Amazing how the car is so good but the bonnet is totally rusted away

I've seen lots for sale (hoods) on this site for around 50 euro.
Motorhaube is the German for bonnet/hood btw.

https://www.kleinanzeigen.de/s-volvo-240-motorhaub/k0
Being on mainland Europe it should be easy enough to source one cheaply, even in the correct colour.

The fenders and the trunk are also rusted. Not to the same degree. But still.

You guys are making me reconsider buying this car. The 60k km is something very hard to pass on, but the rust scares me.

So. I went back to the car and this time I got to talk to the owner of the business where it is parked. He said the car has been parked well over 10 years, contradicting what the owner had told me (5 years). Also some story about the owner not paying the mechanic who worked on the car and keys being confiscated and whatever.

I managed to get into the car and pop the hood. No need to describe. Here are the pics:

The good:
https://i.postimg.cc/BQWSgVGv/The-good.jpg

The bad:
https://images2.imgbox.com/6c/18/hlp2uRY5_o.jpg

And the Ugly:
https://i.postimg.cc/BQxqwBqB/The-ugly.jpg

I have to reluctantly walk away. The 64k kms, the mint interior (besides the cracked dash) and the surprising lack of structural rust make me really want to buy this car.

But the fact that it has been parked for god knows how long and that almost all panels have some deep rust spots makes me not want to get into it.
I know I wouldn't lose money if I bought it for 1k. But I don't want to have to part a car just to recoup the money and make a few bucks.
But I know if something is wrong with the engine, it's enough to throw off my budget to build the car, since most of the money would have to go towards bodywork. I figure I would have to put at elast 2k in it to make it drivable, that is if the engine bay had no hidden surprises.

Damn, why didn't I find this car a few years ago... Just besides my house... What a bummer. :sad_smile:

Sometimes it's best to walk away, this is one of those times.

's not worth a k. £250 max. Wouldn't the garage owner pay you to take it away?

A car like that will sell for £1000 as a parts car and it is way better than that. It does need some small tricky repairs and would be a big project