Good News... MoT pass with advisories
 

I've owned my 1999 T5 V70 for 9 years. It had 96,000 miles in 2012, cost £1,850, and now has 176,500 miles. So far I've spent £13,500 excluding tyres (another £2,000) on repairs and maintenance, which is £1,500 p.a. which isn't bad considering any newer car will be losing much more than this every year in depreciation alone. A lot of bits have been replaced so everything that should work, does work properly.

Up until yesterday, it has failed its MoT seven times and passed just once in 2015 without a previous fail.

Yesterday surprisingly it passed with a long list of advisories... it always has passes after the bit that failed is fixed, along with advisories. Due to low usage and standing in the open this year, the brake discs are "worn, pitted or scored but not seriously weakened". Other stuff is just old age - suspension arm bushes worn, rear bumper a bit loose and springs slightly corroded.

It'll soldier on until its next service in the summer. I was expecting another fail, because last year's advisories haven't been fixed (worn suspension arm bushes). Oddly enough the oil leak advisory mentioned from 2015 to 2019 has disappeared without any work being done to address this alleged problem!

Hi,
In the nicest way, how are you spending £1500 every year (on average) and still failing so many MOTs? That’s a huge amount of money and your car should be in exceptional condition for that.

The major costs were when I bought the car... It's had new brake discs front and back, some new brake lines, new alternator, two air con compressors and a new condenser, numerous replacement bushes to steering and suspension, new silencer exhaust, a lot of investigation as to why the ETM light wouldn't go out with download of replacement software for ECU from Volvo Sweden (2013 they won't do that anymore), driveshaft seals, cambelt replaced twice, along with water pump, new headlight units, new headlamp washer motors both sides, new window motors on two doors, new pedal sensors, resoldering of ABS unit, replacement wheel bearings on both front wheels. Plus usual service items: filters, oil changes (10x) ,brake fluid&coolant changes (3x), spark plugs (2x).

All this done at Volvo dealer so that I could get Volvo Assist thrown in for overseas trips every year.

I bought my 1996 850 TDI estate 12 years ago when it was 12 years old, so it was almost a banger then!

I have spent around £1000 in 12 years, including all service items just maintaining what is needed to keep it on the road. :)

Sounds like you've definitely invested in the car & she's served you well, considering she's now 22 years old.

I'd be inclined to slowly work through the list of advisories, if you plan on keeping the car & fix the ones that you feel are most important. We all know there's advisories for small trivial things, but some advisories are important to be addressed.

Worn suspension bushes for example is something that I wouldn't leave, as that affects the steering response/feel. The worn bushings may last for a long time, depending on the use the car gets. Then again, they can start splitting etc even more over time & then it'll be a fail at some point anyway.

By leaving the list of advisories, you're only delaying the inevitable in my opinion (a failure). You may have been lucky this time, but next time, it could cost a fortune!

I understand that you want to keep Volvo assist for your overseas trips, so bring the car to Volvo for the oil changes. With regards to fixing suspension bushings & other advisories, you could find an independent Volvo garage or another garage that you trust to do the work at a fraction of the price.

I've done some calculations: replacement parts and service items alone cost £7,931 and labour £5,950 = £13,881 divided by 9 years = £1,542 p.a.

With respect, I cannot see how you could have spent so little in parts and fluids over 12 years as 12 oil changes (£25 oil and £25 filter) would cost you £600, which leaves not a lot for anything else. Brake discs are £120/pair, pads £50, and you must go through these twice in 12 years = £340... that leaves £60 for everything else!!


I accept that I'm paying over the odds for labour, but a lot of bits have had to be replaced just because they fail due to old age/wear & tear.

I bought the car with 140000 miles. It has done around 230000 miles now. That is 90000 miles. I paid £1100 for it. It is now worth around £1500.

I have replaced the discs and pads once myself. That cost around £300.

I have replaced the tyres a few times, once i bought a complete set of wheels and tyres off ebay and weighed mine in for scrap. That worked out to be free tyres!. I only put budget tyres on when i cannot find good second hand items. The last time i put a set of new tyres on it cost me £160 a set!

I only service the car every other year, as I don't do high mileage. in fact i remember leaving it about three years once, when i thought i was driving it into the ground. I always change the oil, oil filter and fuel filter and do the job myself. I buy oil in 20 litre drums. That will do nearly four changes. The air filter can usually be blown out with an air line. The fuel and oil filters are less than £30 for both.

I have replaced the rear Nivomat dampers once about 5 years ago. They were a good second hand pair that are still going strong and cost £100 a pair.

I have changed two or three bottom arms,, usually around £30 each.

A couple of track rod ends and tie rods. Around £10 each.

replaced a CV joint. £20 delivered would you believe.

I have replaced both top strut mounts. Around £20 i believe!

I replaced the turbo front flexi hose. Around £25

Replacement Wing sprayed with aerosol cans. £30

I have never bought a new battery.

The exhaust is still the original.

About two years ago I bought another 850 for £370 and stripped it of parts, my idea was to use some parts and sell some parts to get my money back. I used the drivers wing as mine was falling apart. I sprayed it myself with aerosol cans and lacquer used various parts like the head lining, leather seats, all interior trim (as mine was light grey and the new one was dark grey) The complete dashboard swapped, as the new one had a wood look to it. I took mine off the road for a few Months and swapped everything over. I even managed to use the rear bumper brackets.

I kept some spares but sold on the rest, including what was left of the scrap car to a guy on here as he wanted the auto box. I made nearly £1000 from the sale of everything, so i had the cam belt done and a new clutch out of the money i made as a precaution.

I am sure i have forgotten some things but you should get the gist of it. It can be done on the cheap if you so wish, and a bit of luck along the way.

The car took us to the south of France about four years ago without any issues, but it is just my car that i use for work and back now, so is heading for its run down!

Well if you bought another car for bits for £370 and don't follow service guidelines (every 10,000 miles or yearly) and you've been very fortunate in not needing a new alternator, compressor, battery, sets of discs, wheel bearings, and numerous other bits, one can only assume your banger 12 years ago was no such thing if it had had a lot of work already done to make very few items then already 12-13 years old but which are now 25 years old needing to be replaced.

I think we're comparing apples with pears. I want a car that never breaks down and can take me to Spain, Italy, Austria and France on 1,500 to 2,000 miles round trips every year in comfort and without any need for a box full of tools and bits; and without having any anxiety that I won't be able to get to the places I've booked and get home on the ferry I've booked for the return trip.

I have never broke down and did get me to the south of France! I have never felt anxious taking it anywhere. It was in very good condition when i bought it, but a car that is 12 years old is normally near the end of its life. That's why i said it was a banger!

The air conditioning did stop working several years ago, but to be honest, repairing these things often doesn't last long anyway,and i don't really need it. The alternator has never given me any trouble or anything else for that matter, otherwise it would have been replaced. I have replaced a wheel bearing so thanks for reminding me. I think that was £30 or so.

The car runs as it should and has never been driven hard, I am confident i can drive anywhere in it and would not think twice about any long journey. The only things that don't work are the air conditioning and the drivers heated seat that only packed up about six months ago. I have also replaced the small cog in the instrument cluster, that was £14

I know i have been lucky, I am not bragging how cheap it is to service a car, it is just that this car has been incredibly reliable and now is about as rare as hens teeth, so i am trying to nurture it to see if it will last a few more years before it becomes too expensive to keep on the road.

This does seem to go against the ethos of running an old Volvo, where part of the joy is helping them to survive into old age and enjoying what is an inherently strong design with cheap parts and plentiful and enthusiastic expertise in non-main dealer repair shops.

If peace of mind, ultimate reliability and predictable running costs are the goal, getting a new car on a lease would give you the consolation of knowing everything on it — tyres, brakes, everything — is brand new and under warranty.

Nevertheless, it speaks of your enthusiasm for the car that you're happy to pay main dealers to keep it on the road and value their contribution to its upkeep. Though, given this approach, it seems odd to not extend it to avoiding a laundry list of advisories every time it gets an MOT