Are you happy with your w123 wagon?
 

I already drive 3 cars and have a chance to pick up another for cheap. It is an 85 300td wagon (totally rust free-everything works except the a/c). The price is enough to get me in the Cheap Wagon Club.

I will probably let the trusty Volvo 240 wagon go. I have some questions about the wagon--

1. do the rear seats fold flat?
2. what mileage do you get around town?
3. Are you generally happy with it?

The Volvo 240 is pretty solid and tank-like but very very 'soul less'.

The 190 and the 560 have a lot of 'soul', I am wondering if a w123 does too. I have not owned a w123 before.

We love ours, though it is a harder car to maintain than my little 240D

The rear seat folds flat and the seat backs pop out really easily to provide a huge cargo area. (I replaced a Nissan hardbody truck with my 240D, and the wagon gives us the same cargo space - less height of course, but we do stick things out the sun roof!)

Adding roof racks has also been a good thing as far as the cargo capacity. Pretty great to see the looks on the guys faces at Lowe's when we pull off with enough lumber to build a deck on top of the wagon.

We get 23-28 mpg, depending on time of year (winter fuel and AC drag mpg down) and type of driving. I'd say average is about 26 around town.

Make sure the suspension is operational for sure -
It is definitely harder to find parts for them than for the sedans in the junkyards down here.

good luck! They really are amazing vehicles. Ours has the rear seats which has been really handy when the in laws come to town! :b

wow, rust free 85 NEAR ME? cool.
be sure and look in the rear cargo areas top and bottom for signs of water and rust.
the 85 is the peppiest of the bunch, and yes the rear seats fold down. as does the front passenger seat!
85 should get 26-30 average depending on habits. SLS is great, and hey, you're near me!
pics?

heh, need a few riding honda lawnmowers or cub cadets? how about troybuilt tillers and a few oldie mowers?

I very much liked the volvo 240 series before I had a 123. Prone to wiring headaches tho. Don't have a 123 wagon, but happy w/ the trunk space in the sedan.

W123>>Volvo 240

Drives better, plows less.

Nothing I have driven has ever had a heater like a 240 series.

The last volvo 240 wagon I had, a 91 or 92 had pretty good power, and right away with the NA B230F. Expect less immediate power with even a late 300D, power will fill in as the turbo spools.

We love ours. Key is checking the rear Self Leveling Suspension system.
Bring one or two people with you.
Have them sit off the rear with the hatch open.
Start the car. Watch to see if the SLS corrects for the added weight.
If it doesn't work, it's not necessarily a deal breaker, but something that needs to be attended to and possibly parts gotten.

Do what you can to make sure the engine is original, as the head has an SLS component that wouldn't be there if they switched out the engine with a non-wagon 300D.

The car is always a pleasure to drive, always a head turner compared to the volvo wagons, but those are rarer these days too.
The car is our family truckster, always able to haul amazing things.
Best of luck, and post pics if you can, even if you don't buy.
We may be able to help more with photos posted.
Believe me, if you can post photos, we'll happily help determine if this is a good buy for you, or if you should just tell the selling party to forget it and give us the number and location.:D

26-30!!!!??? In a wagon??

Wow, I know I have some issues to address... but I never thought I'd be missing 5-9mpg!!!

And yes, I love my wagon. I miss the '84 because it was in better shape. But I'm slowing getting the '85 up to snuff.

26-30 in an 85 wagon, yes. the key part of that sentence is "85" I got 24 all day long in my 79, still farting with my 87 to see what it can get... gotta fix quite a few failings, but still getting around 26 I want to see 30 in it. my 83 got around 26 driving carefully.

Judging by the vehicles in your signature.. the w123 wagon will be like driving the flintstone's mobile. I, personally, do NOT like the w123 wagon. I sure have hauled a lot of stuff with it, but it sure is ugly, uncomfortable, sucky a/c(with R12!), crappy mpg's(I get 18 in town), locks freeze in the winter, loud engine, uncomfortable(did I mention that?).

It get's attention from people, if you like that sort of thing. It's dead reliable(except mine in inop right now), you can haul a lot of stuff, nothing has ever stopped me in winter with my studded snow tires. Some people love w123's, you might be one of those people. There is always a market for them if you learn to not like it.

I get 18/22 mpg's, and I drive like an old lady.

What? A face only a mother could love?... :(

Well, I do drive it like I stole it... Compression is great on this engine, but I don't now about injector health yet. And as you know, I have some bad axles, so hopefully some of your rebooted ones will help out.

We were happy with our '81 300TD, but were happier with the '90 300TE :D

Had my 85 wagon for about 6 yrs. Love it. No way 30mpg. 23-25mpg max for me.

Yes I do love my 85 Euro wagon;) , nice cruiser :P

Keep in mind he's coming from a Volvo 240. Compared to a 240, the inside of a W123 is an anechoic chamber. ;)

If you're talking about how loud the engine is *outside* the car, that's different...although a B230 with its solid lifter clatter is not a quiet beast either.

The cars actually have a lot in common; both are basically semi-luxury cargo haulers. Both are fairly primitive in engine and suspension design compared to modern cars. Neither is really meant to be driven briskly. A 240 is a bit cheaper to feed, I think -- it's a less complex car, and while it gets about the same fuel economy as a W123 diesel, it does it with gasoline instead of more expensive diesel fuel.

From a handling standpoint you'll probably find the W123's independent rear end is a little less hair-raising on rough corners than a Volvo 240's live axle, assuming everything is correct with the SLS system (which is a big assumption.) The Volvo 240's rack-and-pinion steering is much tighter than the W123's pitman arm system, though. There's a certain amount of designed-in on-center slop in pitman arm steering.