The life of a Volvo

[sheerwater]

Hi,
Years ago the average life of a Volvo was 20+ years. What is the expected life of a new Volvo? I have no doubt that they will last as long but has society moved on to throw away mentality. Look at prices of decent Volvos on ebay and some are going for the price of 2 new tyres!!! I realise that mileages have increased considerably with regard to any given vehicle and if we are not going to measure expectancy in age will we measure it in miles before it is scrapped? Maybe a competition for the highest miles per year by any member. I know of one car which did 120,000 in 15 months and I personally bought a 940 which had covered 1000 miles a week for three years. Cheers Nige

[levensnevel]

Just check outt the 'high mileage club' section on this website and all will be revealed ;)

levensnevel

a smile every mile

[andykem]

Who wants to be seen in a perfectly good but 'ordinary' old car? Also, realistic repair/renovation costs make it uneconomic to keep an old car. Even if Volvo are still very good on spares supplies for old uns.

So, unless you are an enthusiast, it's just so much easier to spend five grand on a whole more modern car than to have the engine of the 15yr old Volvo fully overhauled. But, it's not just the engine that kills them. A whole lot of ancilliary parts, transmission and running gear (say, brakes & steering!), and probably some body rust too.

Most of the Volvo 200's I see in the scrapyards these days are C,D,E & F reg's. It seems not a moment ago that they were all old style V,W,X and the occasional 'Y' were the norm!

So, I reckon the 19+yr life was mainly to do with the older types of Volvo (Amazons & 140/164's) from a time about 30 years or so ago when annual mileages were often less anyway.

Andy
(262C = age: 23years old!)

[sheerwater]

Hi,
I agree Andy but in reply to the website on high mileages this does not give a true indication of use. My car did 1000 miles a week constantly for 3 years but this fell dramatically when I took over. On the other hand averaging 15000 a year does not give a true picture of how my cars are hammered. I bought a new car and put 2000 miles on it in the first week but then it dropped to 20 miles per day for the next couple of weeks. The best story I ever heard was a Volvo which started in London, went to Norfolk, up to Carlisle and home and it did this twice a day!!!
When did they service it!!!!! Cheers Nige

[markas]

Hi all,

Well I have owned to cars so far with which I have put high mileage on.

My 460 G plate 1990 covered 188006 (don't for get the six) miles before I traded her against my present baby an 850. I used to do Birmingham -> Plymouth -> Poole > Portsmouth - Plymouth or bham - Glasgow or Dundee in a day quite often. I used to commute bham -> Swindon and oxford for over 3 years too. I must admit my bodywork looked knackered but the engine, which I serviced, and interior were excellent. The only problem I paid 13k for her and only got 1k on the part-ex.

My present baby as 194k and if nine years old, I am trying to keep the mileage down but she did the bham - oxford run and when I moved up to Leeds, bham -> Leeds everyday as my mother was in hospital. This was then followed Leeds -> Sunderland for 9months which was a 1000 a few too.

My clutch failed last year unfortunately on my Birthday, most upset but it had 173k miles.

As for the decision to buy, new I thought it was cheaper in the long run to keep mine going than let the bank screw me for interest etc.

Just my thought, but I am an enthusiast who doesn't have a garage and uses her and shows her.

Mark.

[sheerwater]

Hi,
Fairly long runs Mark!!!! I have knowlege of a 1990 740 2 litre. It was bought years ago with 93k on the clock but the odometer wasnt working and still isnt!!! My friend clocked over 100k in it based on the same job in the same town for 4 years. This had worn out a Fiat on the same run in 4 years. It was then sold to another friend 3 years + ago and since then clocks a minimum of 100 miles a day. For a three month period it did Northampton-Sheffield every day and often did Northampton-Sheffield-Littlehampton. Currently it is on the Northampton - centre of London run. Original engine except for a headgasket 4 years ago which blew abroad but did no further damage. Apart from clutch and bushes the car is indestructable and believe me it is often used with loads down to the bump stops. His V70 sits on the driveway as the 740 is his preferred drive. Cheers Nige