760 turbo estate for sale

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by slowprop

Do you guys think that prices for decent 700 and 900s are on the up a bit ?

On the whole, yes. I think the 7xx prices are a bit higher than the equivalent later 9xx but the 9xx will catch up soon if all the other cars that have followed a similar pattern are anything to go by.
Obviously any car is only worth what someone is willing to pay but most cars are now commanding better prices than they were.

[griston64]

Originally Posted by slowprop

Do you guys think that prices for decent 700 and 900s are on the up a bit ?

I would say they are but you still get bargains. You also get ridiculous prices as well

A really nice spec 940 ( B230ft 130k with leather etc ) sold not long ago for 2.5k which I would say is pretty fair. These 5-7k cars are grossly overpriced

[Roderick Plinge]

Nothing like a bit of pessimism....and I thought I was the Victor Meldrew of this forum? I disagree entirely with the comments made by the honourable gentleman regarding the retiree and his attention to the maintenance of his vehicle; I have found from vast experience that that particular generation valued the proceeds of their hard work and tended to look after whatever they spent their money on. Unfortunately successive generations can’t really afford the cars they like to ponce around in and certainly can’t afford to maintain them. I would wager they don’t know their dipstick from their drop-link. If the car feels right buy it. If not, no matter how well it looks, walk away.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Roderick Plinge

Nothing like a bit of pessimism....and I thought I was the Victor Meldrew of this forum? I disagree entirely with the comments made by the honourable gentleman regarding the retiree and his attention to the maintenance of his vehicle; I have found from vast experience that that particular generation valued the proceeds of their hard work and tended to look after whatever they spent their money on. Unfortunately successive generations can’t really afford the cars they like to ponce around in and certainly can’t afford to maintain them. I would wager they don’t know their dipstick from their drop-link. If the car feels right buy it. If not, no matter how well it looks, walk away.

That's a very valid argument but experience has taught me Bournemouth is a bit of an exception to it. The general mentality after running cars on a shoestring for decades and never even lifting the bonnet is that when they buy a new car, they don't even need to know about the bonnet. Also because they are used to strange noises, squeaks, rattles and so on, any that do appear tend to be ignored.

Not pessimism, just realism brought on by purchasing cars with optimism from that area. Feel free to return the crown of the forums Victor Meldrew to your own head!

[john.wigley]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

That's a very valid argument but experience has taught me Bournemouth is a bit of an exception to it. The general mentality after running cars on a shoestring for decades and never even lifting the bonnet is that when they buy a new car, they don't even need to know about the bonnet. Also because they are used to strange noises, squeaks, rattles and so on, any that do appear tend to be ignored.

Not pessimism, just realism brought on by purchasing cars with optimism from that area. Feel free to return the crown of the forums Victor Meldrew to your own head!

I think that you may be being unfair to the good burghers of Bournemouth, 'L.S.'. I'm inclined to the view that the mentality to which you allude may be more widespread than you think.

I knew someone living in the Leicester area who bought a new Montego 1.6L (his first new car) in 1986. It was his boast that he ran it for 30,000 miles over three years without service, or even lifting the bonnet, before 'chopping it in' (his phrase) for another new car. I would not have wished to be the second owner of that particular Montego!

Regards, John.

[smithysbarge]

Flippin' neck they've gone up. 8 years ago I had a 740 turbo in vastly superior condition to this and could only sell it for scrap One of the best cars I've had

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by john.wigley

I think that you may be being unfair to the good burghers of Bournemouth, 'L.S.'. I'm inclined to the view that the mentality to which you allude may be more widespread than you think.

I knew someone living in the Leicester area who bought a new Montego 1.6L (his first new car) in 1986. It was his boast that he ran it for 30,000 miles over three years without service, or even lifting the bonnet, before 'chopping it in' (his phrase) for another new car. I would not have wished to be the second owner of that particular Montego!

Regards, John.

Not really John, it's well known "dahn sarf" that you shouldn't buy a used car from Bournemouth and to quote someone who PM'd me about this thread (and other things), the whole "Jurassic Coast" area.

Quite often a "rogue" car from somewhere further afield would be sent to Bournemouth or similar to be "punted out" knowing the likelihood would be that a retiree would buy it and although it looked nice (because it had been kept polished etc) on top, underneath the engine was shot and the chassis rotten.

By the time said victim found out, the car would be out of the used car warranty.

As for your friend with the Montego, my dad was like that. In 1976 he got a brand new Cavalier 1.6GL as a company car, did 36k miles in it before handing it back a year later for his new one. He did get a keel-hauling for not having it serviced as the car was owned by the transport division of the company he worked for so they had to resell it with no service history at a bigger loss than normal for a 1 year old ex-company car with full service history. After that he did get them serviced as and when they should have been.

It does prove the point that a lot of people don't even bother lifting the bonnet though!

[john.wigley]

While not a 'company' car, 'L.S.', the Montego was also used extensively on business by it's owner, a manager at a company that I once worked for. I think at that time the mileage rate was 25p/mile, so it was quite profitable for him to do so.

Co-incidentally, we bought our first ever Volvo while on holiday in Bournemouth in 1984. It was a 1972 145E with 120K up and cost us £650.

All went well until we got back to Derby (L's parents) whereupon a failure to restart was accompanied by a worrying smell of burning. The car was recovered by the AA to Yeates of Loughborough (now defunct), who replaced some relays and associated wiring, recharging the cost to the supplying garage in Bournemouth.

That Yeates treated us no differently to someone who might have bought a new Volvo for 10 times the price, instead of the car we had, is not insignificant in our continued love affair with Volvo.

Co-incidence, or further evidencing your contention?

Regards, John.

[Laird Scooby]

Difficult to form an opinion on your 145E John, especially without knowing more of the history of the car.

It could well have been as i suggested, a minor fault ignored by a person who retired in 1972 had grown to the point where it failed, he traded it in against something else and the dealer put it out to the trade whereupon it was bodged for long enough to get it through the warranty period (as they would have thought, expecting to sell it no doubt to a local who would only do that many miles in a year that you did in a day or so).

Alternatively it could have been just bad luck. Do you remember the registration of it by any chance? Might give an indication of whether it was a local car or not.

As for your experience with your local Volvo dealer, i'm lucky enough to have a similar one round here. Granted i've only bought parts from there, certainly not in a position these days to consider a new car (unless Camelot smile benevolently on me!) and the last time i could consider a new car, i was looking at a Jag S-Type 3.0V6 - life got in the way of living though and it didn't happen!

All that aside, the sort of Volvo dealer you describe are now sadly a dieing breed. I suspect it's partly the throwaway society we live in these days.

[john.wigley]

I'm pretty sure it was XWV 654 K, 'L.S.', but I'm not in a position to check just now. If it's anything else, I'll let you know.
Regards,. John.