1982 Volvo 245 Wagon 4 Door 4 spd

Vehicle Description

1982 Volvo 245 Wagon.

B21F 4cyl

M46 4 speed manual transmission with electronic overdrive

A few years back, I downcycled my Toyota to my oldest child – right when used car prices had grown stupid and new car prices were even stupider. So I went on a quest for of my younger-man dream cars, a manual shift Volvo wagon. I somehow found it on Craigslist (still exists?) in Maryland even though I live in Ohio.

We went and got it, brought her home, spruced her up a bit and got to driving. Never let me down once in all this time.

Car starts, shifts, drives, stops. This car is a driver. Not a show car. So if you are eyeing “Best Swedish Survivor Car: Middle Ohio Car Thing, October 2025 ”, keep shopping. This girl won’t be the one to land you that gold-plating.

But all that said? She looks pretty good. A few spots of rust and bubbles in the paint job. Some door dings, chips and the like. But overall? Gets lots of compliments and thumbs ups as we drive around. We added a usb charging port and a Dual brand CarPlay / Android radio, plus some door speakers.

Why am I selling? See, on the one hand, I love this car dearly and it has treated me so well. But also, on the other hand I have too many fucking cars, I just bought another one and I value my marriage.

Below I am going to be as honest as possible about the car’s condition. The attached photos were taken yesterday, so zoom in to see what it looks like.

Maintenance things:

- Regular oil / filter changes

- New alternator and voltage converter - 3 yrs

- New in-tank fuel pump - 3 yrs

- IPD Rear Overload Springs - 3 yr

- New water pump - 2 yrs

- Plugs - 1 yr

- Cap + rotor - 1 yr

- Oil trap just replaced

- New tires - 1 yr

- Entire exhaust front to back - 2 yrs

- New carpet - 3 yr

- New front seat upholstery - 3 yr

- New rear hatch door seal / weatherstripping - 3 yr

- Dual round headlights w/ LED fixtures (also include conventional fixtures)

- DUAL brand CarPlay radio + pioneer door speakers

Known issues:

- True mileage is unknown - the odometer works only when it wants to. I’d put it in the 200’s? Previous owner said the timing chain was replaced.

- Dash lights are LED swapped, and sometimes flicker. I think the dimmer dial is a little flaky.

- Clutch shifts smooth, but engages pretty close to the floor. I bet it needs work in a year or two.

- Chugs on first start, but then is fine. Guessing the inline pump or fuel filter. (Inline pump replacement included)

- The rear door hatch seal was leaking when I got it. I replaced the wether stripping, but there’s some rust inside the door as a result. Plus the door card for the back hatch was mush. I always intended to replace it, but never did.

- Heater fan switch is a little flaky on the second position sometimes

- Rear wiper switch is flaky sometimes, doesn’t always work and will click the relay in the dash randomly

- The A/C blows room almost temperature in 85 degree weather. Probably needs a charge

Extras:

Previous owner loaded the car up with extra parts and junk yard finds. Light sockets and maybe a distributor cap? I couldn’t tell you all that’s in there. I have also accumulated a few project parts that I never got to. One is the inline fuel pump that I think is the cause of the first start chugs. Might be some suspension bushings and things like that as well. And there’s a 5th silver matching wheel. It all goes with the car.

I’d love to see the car go on to someone who will get use out of it, and keep her on the road.