Quote:
Originally Posted by heckflosse
I worked on loads of them back when they were new. A bit quirky, easy to work on, pretty well made when compared to normal cars but not as "solid" as the traditional Swedish Volvos.Think of a 340 more as a well made European car. I've owned several, and sat waiting for ages for the AA with a car full of kids due to the rubbish 1.7 Carburettor air leak as a result. Best one to go for is a 1.4 in my opinion. CVT is an acquired taste, drive one and you.ll understand. Manual boxes are nice.Rot will be the deciding thing though, I remember some rotted out at the front when a few years old.
They are characterful and useful things- I collected a Small Block Chevy in the back of mine once without problems.
Happy hunting!
|
Maybe the 1.4 that we road tested was 'off-colour', 'heckflosse', but it felt distinctly under-powered to me; I would go for the 2.0 Volvo motor every time. Although Linda and I both prefer automatics, neither of us got on with the CVT, so agree that it probably is 'an acquired taste', as you say.
As for breakdowns, both my 360 and 340 let me down only the once. The 360 blew a blanking plate on the motor which resulted in me spraying oil all over a length of the M42, and requiring recovery by the AA. The 340 disgraced itself in Sweden, when the throttle cable snapped. Suffice to say that we were exceedingly glad of our AA 5* travel insurance on that occasion!
Regards, John.