are they expensive to maintain?

Hello, As the owner of a Volvo, I can tell you, yes, Volvo maintenance is pretty ridiculous. For an older car like this, it would probably cost even more than mine (a 1997 850), as the parts would be more difficult to find. Every time I go to a mechanic, I can expect to spend at least $300 for the simplest repair. My $.02, CarGrrl

ummm, i've owned 6 240's, and to compare them in mainenance to a 97 850 is not acurate. I realize this post is a little late, but may help some others out there. If the motor has been taken care of, never run out of oil, etc., you can easily expect to get 300,000+ miles on it, with just regular maintenance. And maintenance on a 240 is easy to do yourself, or find a reasonable mechanic with experience in them as there are certain "idiosynchrasies" and they usually charge less, because they know the tricks to doing the work quickly. There were a ton of these cars made ,and many of the parts are interchangeable between years. Basically, these are the most reliable, and least expensive cars i've ever owned, but you should always have a knowledgable person check it out, as any car may have been abused, neglected, or wrecked for that matter, and that makes a huge difference.

Hell no they aren't. Being that it's a 1981 it should have the k-jet fuel system. I am not sure how to tune them as I have the lh2.2 fuel injection. Check out www.k-jet.org

as the guy who owned 6 240's said, they really are relyable, you do need to watch out for things that WILL wear tires fanbelts the such. a fan belt you can change yourself and tires well they simply wear out. just take good care of the volvo and it will take care of you. iv only had one problem with my 240 and that was with the fan belt. even then the belt only cost $30.