340 Advice? (Looking to buy).

**TommyMardon** · Thursday 8th January 2015, 14:14

Can any body here help me on a Volvo 340? Reliabilty, economy, etc? Ideally looking for a 1.4 for running costs. It is my girlfriend who wants one and wants one for her first car. Very cheap for her to insure but I don't want her to be over runned with a ton of problems to deal with! Having 0 no claims and being 19, she can't insure my T5 (Don't think I could trust her anyway with that?!).

P.S. She is looking at one to use ideally for weekends/social (No drifiting!) as we have my banged up Peugeot daily for work.

**Doingitsideways** · Thursday 8th January 2015, 14:39

RUST!

Done.

**Doingitsideways** · Thursday 8th January 2015, 14:41

Only joking!

I love 340s, well anything old-skool really.

Your best bet though, is to head over to 300mania and have a good butcher's around.

Plenty of knowledgeable lads on there to help you out, maybe even find one for sale

**TommyMardon** · Thursday 8th January 2015, 15:49

Originally Posted by Doingitsideways

Only joking!

I love 340s, well anything old-skool really.

Your best bet though, is to head over to 300mania and have a good butcher's around.

Plenty of knowledgeable lads on there to help you out, maybe even find one for sale

Cheers mate! Have noticed some do suffer from rust which is a shame. Not really looking for a cheap one but don't want too expensive either if you know what I mean?! Thanks for the heads up though, I'll go check it out over there.

**Doingitsideways** · Thursday 8th January 2015, 15:59

No worries.

The 1.4 Renault engines are bullet proof and an exercise in simplicity.
The gearbox is mounted at the back, with the diff on the back axle, giving them pretty good weight distribution - hence why they make good budget drift cars!

I nearly bought a 360 (340 with Volvo's own Redblock) a couple of years ago. Part of me wishes I did, but I ended up with a 460 Turbo instead.

Good luck, and remember to get it up on here when you get one. I'm loving seeing a bit of old-skool on here lately

**TommyMardon** · Friday 9th January 2015, 13:48

Originally Posted by Doingitsideways

No worries.

The 1.4 Renault engines are bullet proof and an exercise in simplicity.
The gearbox is mounted at the back, with the diff on the back axle, giving them pretty good weight distribution - hence why they make good budget drift cars!

I nearly bought a 360 (340 with Volvo's own Redblock) a couple of years ago. Part of me wishes I did, but I ended up with a 460 Turbo instead.

Good luck, and remember to get it up on here when you get one. I'm loving seeing a bit of old-skool on here lately

Thank you mate! I am tempted to sell my T5 (S70 T5 manual in green if anyone's interested) and get something a bit older. Like I say, my girlfriend doesn't want it for drifting where as me...

I do like the 400 series personally, there is a nice 1.7 turbo for sale that has caught my eye!

**evo230** · Friday 9th January 2015, 15:57

I have a real soft spot for the 340's. My parents had two of them when I was a kid - one saved my life in what could have been a very nasty car accident if we hadn't been in a Volvo.
They are pretty bomb proof - apart from the rust!

**wiganer31** · Thursday 15th January 2015, 02:21

340's are pretty reliable imo. the other day i pulled my 1.4 out of the garage after being sat for 3 years only to find that the roof had been leaking and the garage was pretty flooded, took a few attempts to fire up but with some fresh fuel and a drop of juice in the carb and it fired up and ran fine, brakes were free etc. had a quick look over it to make sure there was nothing obvious and drove it to mot station, it failed on head light alignment, handbrake efficiency slightly low and a rusty brake pipe, adjusted he lights and hand brake and replaced the brake pipe and all is good.

i did 50 miles to a tenner of fuel but there is a slight split in the fuel pipe so i need to replace that due to the leak, and i havnt serviced it yet, will be doing a service and replacing the fuel lines next week so will let you know what its like on fuel

cheers

**TommyMardon** · Monday 19th January 2015, 16:20

Hey guys, thanks for the replies!

Picked up this gem for my girlfriend. Volvo 340 1.4 DL in grey, 3 door, 50,000 miles with a 12 month MOT with no advisories. Can't spot any rust and the 3 owners who have owned it all lived down the same street! Has a new exhaust on it I believe and the engine looks very clean... Starts up well and drives a treat!