Volvo: Reliability of a high km 1980 240gl., radiator fluid, smooth acceleration

Question
I was thinking about purchasing a 1980 volvo 240gl, it has really high KM 450000, but seems to run well, it was quick and responsive during the test drive, allingment seemed good as well as the brakes, it seemed alright but I'm not sure given that I have a very tight budget and if the thing goes I can't exactly afford to repair it. How easy is this car to repair myself? Is it a relatively complicated engine or is it a little simpler, and lastly, given the high KM is purchasing worth it? any info would be greatly appreciated, thanks. Oh, and it's been family owned since it's purchase and they have records going back quite a while. And it's 830 dollars.

Answer
If everything seemed good during the test drive, I would say that was 75% of the testing.  A few other things to consider.  Check the wire harness, because on that year, the wires were known to go bad and begin to crumble away causing electrical shorts.  Check through all the wires under the hood, especially the ones going through the injection manifold, and check for flaking insulation.  If it looks bad, consider that a replacement is several hundred dollars.  I have a 1980 that had the same problem, and I drove it 2 years without replacing it without problems, but you take a risk.  Also, if you want to check the core of the engine, have a simple compression check done.  If the PSI in the cylinders are all around 150 psi, that is a great sign, meaning the core of the engine is in good shape.  If the car seemed to have good power and was repsonsive with smooth acceleration and smooth idle, you probably have good compression.  Also, check for oil in the radiator fluid (light brown goo).  Check for water in the oil, and check for bubble in the overflow resevoir while the engine is running.  All of these checks will tell you if there is some kind of break in the head gasket, the other thing to go on these cars.  I had to replace it on mine because the car had been sitting for so long.  Again, if the car has been taken care of, it is probably find, and if you are in luck, they already replaced it.

For 830, I would say you can't go wrong. My 1980 has been a great car despite the things I had to do to it, and that was only because I didn't have any history on the car when I bought it.  They are very durable cars that are easy to work on and have cheap parts availible.  I've definetly fallen in love with mine.  Good luck!

Jason