1978 Volvo 245 DL in Orange - anyone know it?

[Clough89]

Hi all,

Is this car known to the club? https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1319659. It looks like a lovely early round-headlight example, in a great period colour. It must be one of the last before the switch to square headlights. Would be keen to know peoples’ thoughts on value/price.

There’s also a beautiful suffix P-reg green 245 DL that I’ve seen in club pictures. I’d love to own one of these great cars in the not-so-distant future!

[knuckledragger]

That's lovely!!! £6.5k seems a bit heavy to me though, but then maybe I'm out of touch with 2021 prices

[john.wigley]

While I don't know this specific car, 'Clough89', I am familiar with the marque, having owned an almost identical car for three years in the early nineties. Mine was also a '78 (S), which I bought for £825 with 86K up, and selling for £300 with 110K.

I would have been very pleasantly surprised to discover that it would now be worth quite so much if I had decided to keep it. But to achieve that, I would also need to have preserved the car for almost 30 years - not simply park it up and forget about it!

Given that, and if I really wanted this car, I do not think the asking price unreasonable. But ... I would still hope to 'shake' at around £5K. I feel sure that, in anticipation, the seller will have incorporated some 'wiggle room' when deciding on his asking price.

If you do decide to buy, do bear in mind that - unless it has been modified - this car will be running with carburettor and points ignition. Unlike our earlier '75 (N) 244, I don't recall rust being a particular problem with this car, but as the steel is now well over 40 years old, that could still potentially be an issue in future. I don't imagine that you will be using the car for heavy load carrying, but I also found it advantageous in period to run 6-ply van tyres on the rear wheels.

Regards, John.

[Stephen Edwin]

Nice idea. "Classic example".

It would in my opinion need a very careful inspection, at that price.

I notice it is resprayed.

Stephen.



.

[Joseph Martin]

There's just something very alluring I find about these earlier 'round headlight' models, I love all 200 series but these just look so crisply styled.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by john.wigley

While I don't know this specific car, 'Clough89', I am familiar with the marque, having owned an almost identical car for three years in the early nineties. Mine was also a '78 (S), which I bought for £825 with 86K up, and selling for £300 with 110K.

I would have been very pleasantly surprised to discover that it would now be worth quite so much if I had decided to keep it. But to achieve that, I would also need to have preserved the car for almost 30 years - not simply park it up and forget about it!

Given that, and if I really wanted this car, I do not think the asking price unreasonable. But ... I would still hope to 'shake' at around £5K. I feel sure that, in anticipation, the seller will have incorporated some 'wiggle room' when deciding on his asking price.

If you do decide to buy, do bear in mind that - unless it has been modified - this car will be running with carburettor and points ignition. Unlike our earlier '75 (N) 244, I don't recall rust being a particular problem with this car, but as the steel is now well over 40 years old, that could still potentially be an issue in future. I don't imagine that you will be using the car for heavy load carrying, but I also found it advantageous in period to run 6-ply van tyres on the rear wheels.

Regards, John.

£5,000 - really John? All these overpriced cooking cars look like the 'Emperor's New Clothes' to me.

Perhaps I just can't understand :-)

[john.wigley]

Originally Posted by Othen

£5,000 - really John? All these overpriced cooking cars look like the 'Emperor's New Clothes' to me.

Perhaps I just can't understand :-)

I didn't say that it was necessarily worth that much, Alan, only that I might be prepared to pay that amount if 'I really wanted that car'. It is a matter of supply and demand and also - as I have said many times - any car is only 'worth' what someone is prepared to pay for it at the time.

That it is an estate gives it a definite edge, but I think you may be surprised by what someone might be prepared to pay for the RB should you ever decide to put it up for sale - especially if they had followed this thread!

Regards, John.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by john.wigley

I didn't say that it was necessarily worth that much, Alan, only that I might be prepared to pay that amount if 'I really wanted that car'. It is a matter of supply and demand and also - as I have said many times - any car is only 'worth' what someone is prepared to pay for it at the time.

That it is an estate gives it a definite edge, but I think you may be surprised by what someone might be prepared to pay for the RB should you ever decide to put it up for sale - especially if they had followed this thread!

Regards, John.

I see John. Sometimes I think I'm past understanding why folk might be prepared to pay two or three times what things are worth ;-)

I do tend to use the RB as my yardstick for whatever I think is a reasonable price for 240 motor cars. Bought for 2 grand (which I thought fair and reasonable a year ago) and I've spent £900 on the car (but that includes two new sets of tyres - the biggest single expense, I suppose I could sell the winter ones on their reconditioned Pholus wheels separately for perhaps £250). In my eyes that therefore makes the RB worth about £2750. That is for a solid car that needs no repairs with a good motor and gearbox, a good interior and some tasteful updates - and is MoT and tax exempt.

I don't suppose the RB will ever be for sale, but I dare say you are right in that if it was someone would be willing to pay considerably more for such a nice car (that doesn't mean I would understand why!).

[john.wigley]

I attempted to reply to your post above, Alan, but for some reason the system would not accept it. I have copied the gist of my reply into word and will try again in the hope that this way is more successful.

Regards, John.

[john.wigley]

Here goes ...

Agreed, Alan, but only if you exclude the intrinsic value of your time and very obvious talents that you have invested in bringing the RB up to it's present standard. You have clearly done those things for the pleasure and satisfaction that it brings you, but that, I suggest, is leading you to value the car purely in financial terms.

Let's say that I had purchased 'your' car for the 'fair and reasonable' (sic) figure of £2,000 instead, but, unlike you, I was unable or unwilling to do the work necessary bring it up to the standard that you have done. How much it would have cost me if I had to pay someone else to do that I hesitate to guess. How long have you spent on the car and how do you value your time? Let's assume a conservative 200 hours and a modest £10 per hour - that's two grand - plus what you have spent in parts and the purchase price.

I fully understand that the RB is not for sale, but if ever you were to offer it at £2,750 I think that you would also have seriously undervalued it. In it's present condition, I would have no hesitation at advertising it at £4,995 and be prepared to 'shake' on four 'G's. You would need to find the right buyer, but I do not think that is unrealistic.

If, like you with the RB, I was looking for a 244 for nostalgic reasons, I would certainly be prepared to spend that amount for yours. The car we are discussing here is so like my old 245 that it is uncanny - about the only difference is in the registration number. That is why I said that if I wanted that car I do not think that £5,000 would be too much to pay - where would I find another? That said, as Stephen suggested, I would also want the car professionally inspected prior to entering any serious negotiations - I'm not that green!

Cold logic may be fine when one is valuing a modern car that is 'in the book', but the purchase of a 'classic' car is more usually a matter of the heart and the value, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.

Long may you enjoy the fruits of your labours with the RB.

Regards, John