BEAUTIFUL 1988 Volvo 240, 1-owner California car, daily-driver, EVERYTHING works

1988 Volvo 240 DL Description

If video fails to appear above, please click here:Overview of 'Gustav', the 1988 Volvo 240
Meet the car my kids have lovingly named 'Gustav'.
Gustav is a 1988 Volvo 240 DL from the San Diego, California area (Spring Valley). Gustav's original owners, Bruce & Marlene, lived in the Mount Miguel retirement village outside of San Diego from 1988 until 2013. In 2012, Marlene passed away, which lead Bruce to relocate to Cambridge, MD in late 2013 to live with his daughter. After a successful cross-country journey to Maryland, Gustav was put away in a (heated) garage, driven periodically, usually only on weekends. Bruce, a noble Swede and an avid Volvo enthusiast, always cared for the car and made sure it was dealer-serviced, but as a man in his 80s, wasn't really allowed to drive anymore. In mid-2016, with Bruce at the age of 82, his kids decided it was time to give Gustav a new home.
Repeat, this California car has NEVER been driven in snow, or on salted roads, which is quite evident given that the entire top and bottom side of this vehicle are 100% rust-free.
I purchased Gustav last month in Maryland with 91,000 miles, and drove him all the way back to Illinois without a single hiccup, averaging approximately 26MPG. I've since put almost 3,000 miles on him as my daily driver, and he hasn't skipped a beat... I actually LOVE driving this car! I've purchased a few Volvo 240s for restoration, and this one is by far one of the best examples I've seen in some time.
It merits noting, you're looking at a car that literally needs nothing done to it. Ordinarily, these cars are loud, rusted, uncomfortable, and teeming with electrical faults... but not Gustav. Aesthetically, on a scale of one to five with five being perfect, Gustav is easily a 4.5. Freshly waxed, his paint is pretty damn near perfect, with one barely noticeable pea-sized blemish on the hood. Freshly steam-cleaned, his interior is also a 4.5, with carpets that look new, and a little fading on the rear parcel shelf above the back seat. Mind you, whether inside or out, there's nothing broken, nothing looks ratty, nothing is rusty, nothing is brittle, the dashboard isn't all cracked & split; EVERYTHING works, and EVERYTHING looks great, even the power antenna and power central door locks, which have been completely refurbished.
Let's get down to the details...
Lighting: Everything works, even the under-hood lightHeat & A/C: Everything worksElectrical components: Everything worksInterior: All there, nothing broken or missing, cleaned up perfectly, light fading on top of back seatGlass: All glass is in perfect condition, with new OE windshield featuring latest gasket design for reduced wind noiseExterior: Beautiful paint, nothing broken or missingDocumentation: I have all original booklets & manuals, as well as receiptsEngine: Quiet, leak-free, smooth & efficient 2.2 litre B230FTransmission:Quiet & smooth AW70Tires: Smooth, quiet, evenly worn, 9k miles on themBrakes: Stop better than most new vehicles (no joke!), smooth & quiet
Audio: Radio has been upgraded to one with integrated bluetooth (original radio included), power antenna works perfectly
Gustav's odometer currently (11/23/16 @ 9:45pm) reads 93,442 miles. I'm going to keep driving him every day, so long as it doesn't snow here, and/or they don't start putting salt down on the roads, because I refuse to be the one to ruin this car. Side note, I drove Gustav 100 miles out to my parent's house last night so we could spend Thanksgiving with them, and as usual, the road manners of this vehicle on the highway were impeccable and the powertrain nible, even with a full trunk payload of Thanksgiving cargo and four passengers.
The following service has been recently performed on Gustav:
-4 Michelin Defender XT tires at ~82,000-Interstate battery at ~82,000-Radiator hoses at ~85,000-Transmission fluid change at ~87,000-Front brakes at ~87,000-Bosch spark plugs, wires, distributor cap/rotor at ~91,950-Oil changed at 93,000-Throttle position sensor at ~93,000-All rubber vacuum lines replaced at ~93,000-Intake manifold gasket & throttle body gasket at ~93,000-Throttle body cleaned at ~93,000-Oil separator breather box at ~93,000-Flame trap & breather hose kit at ~93,000-Front struts & mounts at 93,210-Front wheel bearings at 93,210-Alignment at 93,210-All new door glass weatherstrip seals at ~93,250-New power antenna mast at ~93,250-New central power door lock actuator switch at ~93,250-Custom molded Rensi front & rear floormats-Thermostat & gasket, coolant flush at 93,365-Timing belt, tensioner, fan studs & water pump at 93,369-Camshaft, layshaft & oil cap seals at 93,369
So in all, a spectacular car that this overly critical anal-retentive seller is absolutely in love with. My kids LOVE this car too (surprisingly, since it doesn't have a USB port in the back seat), but I bought it to sell it, and I don't have a place to store it over the winter... although I'm tempted to ask my neighbor if I can keep Gustav in their garage so I can enjoy the car next Spring/Summer.
If you have ANY questions, please feel free to ask! This is a spectacular vehicle, and I would NOT hesitate to go out and drive it cross-country right now if the need presented itself. If you would like to see the vehicle in-person or take it for a spin, drop me a line! Bid with confidence!