What value/price for my 1997 S90 Luxury Edition??

[capt jack]

I LPG'd my old V70 back in 2005, and then went on to do 250,000 trouble free LPG miles in the car.

For most of that time I used the car for work and was able to claim the HMRC rate of 40p per mile.

When I added up all the income gained from using the car and deducted all the costs, including the £5000 I paid for the car from a local Volvo dealer, I actually made a small profit.

The car eventually reached 292,000 miles whilst I had it, and added another 40,000 after that.

In that time it was totally reliable and was without doubt the best car I ever owned. The only real mistake I made was selling it!

I now have a 1997 S90, which is a glorious thing to own and drive, but immensely thirsty. If I found myself needing to do a big mileage again then I'd very seriously consider LPG, although my other thought would be to buy a diesel car for the miles and keep the S90 pristine for weekend use, and as an investment.

It's not that long ago that you could find decent 240s for under £500. Now you'd be lucky to get one for ten times that.

740s are heading in that direction, and good 940s are commanding good prices.

The £5k 960 may be a year or two away as yet, but I won't be surprised if that does become the going price.

In 2007 I bought an 1800ES for £2,000. It was a non-runner but only needed light re-commissioning. It sold a couple of years later for more than three times the purchase price. An 1800ES would probably no command anything up to £15,000 or maybe more. You've only to watch some of the older episodes of Wheeler Dealers to see just how the prices of pre-millienium cars are now rocketing.

Jack

[Laney760]

Originally Posted by griston64

What sort of annual mileage do you do ? I'm not really bothered about the price of petrol and only do around 4.5k a year but I'm curious as to what mileage makes it worth your while for the £1400 cost of LPG installation.

Cheers

When I had it fitted in Aug 2014 I was working as a carer, expecting to clock up 30K per year. Left that job in Mar 2015, unemployed till Aug 2015, 10K per year since then in my current job. Although it's not as cheap as it used to be I am lucky, a garage directly on my work route sells it at 51.9p, still very cheap. I don't see it that cheap on my travels elsewhere. Sixty odd pence per litre in Reading.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Laney760

When I had it fitted in Aug 2014 I was working as a carer, expecting to clock up 30K per year. Left that job in Mar 2015, unemployed till Aug 2015, 10K per year since then in my current job. Although it's not as cheap as it used to be I am lucky, a garage directly on my work route sells it at 51.9p, still very cheap. I don't see it that cheap on my travels elsewhere. Sixty odd pence per litre in Reading.

I'm probably preaching to the converted here Ellie and apologies if so but are you aware of this site? It also has an app that will navigate to your selected LPG station if you're out of your known area :

https://www.filllpg.co.uk/index.php?page=home.php

I've used it several times when i've been further afield than my normal stomping grounds and often picked up a tankful much cheaper than i could locally.

[lynns hubby]

I now have a 1997 S90, which is a glorious thing to own and drive, but immensely thirsty. If I found myself needing to do a big mileage again then I'd very seriously consider LPG, although my other thought would be to buy a diesel car for the miles and keep the S90 pristine for weekend use, and as an investment.

We had a 940s for years, first one was the 2ltr Wentworth, had it 10years and put 150,000miles had 100,000miles on it when we bought it so had 250,000miles when we let it go, sadly replaced it with a slightly younger model 2.3 Ltr . Wife could not take to it like the old Wentworth. Had issues with the steering that I tried in vain to sort out. So let it go and bought a XC70 Diesel. Great car and economical but, modern diesels (well 2006 anyway) are so full of electronics, sensors and other gubbins its frightening if you get a light up. There is loads of info on this forum but you really do live in the hope that nothing will go wrong. Just the regular servicing required.
That and given that the world seems hell bent on scrapping diesel engines, I would not consider another one for everyday use.
LPG conversion is a good call but aint cheap if you are getting it done at a specialists so you need to be sure you are going to keep the car for long enough to get the return. They run so much cleaner as well. The oil never seems to get dirty as the soot produced during combustion is so different to petrol or diesel. Clean oil for longer helps put the intergalactic trouble free miles on them.

[XC90Mk1]

Regarding LPG what happens to the used values? I would not touch an LPG converted car with a barge pole....

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by XC90Mk1

Regarding LPG what happens to the used values? I would not touch an LPG converted car with a barge pole....

Values are generally the same, in some cases can be slightly higher but the sales are usually easier due to the attraction of cheaper, cleaner fuel. I wouldn't touch a diesel with your barge pole, never mind mine!

[lovejoy489]

WOW...when i posted up a pic of my old 960 estate "beast of a roofrack", in the for sale section the other day, i had to check what i sold that car for!!!

I advertised it for just £1295! it was in pretty good shape too, with a genuine 76 947 miles. I sold the car 2 years ago. A local guy offered me £1200, an i let him have it for that price.

The bonnet had some lacquer peel, 2 small patches of DIY paint on bonnet, an the tops of all 4 door cards had some DIY vinyl applied (done by the previous owner to me). Apart from that, it was a great 960 estate. Im thinking i may have undersold that beauty

A photo of it.

[capt jack]

Originally Posted by XC90Mk1

Regarding LPG what happens to the used values? I would not touch an LPG converted car with a barge pole....

If a car has been properly converted and has all the appropriate paperwork then buying an LPG conversion is no more a risk than any other used car.

You can check the LPG register and ask for the installer's certification.

As with any other car, if in doubt walk away.

Jack

[lovejoy489]

Check this link out on Fleabay - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VOLVO-960...53.m1438.l2649

I challenge anyone to read/get through all of the "bloated" advert !!! I read about 10% of the epic story, then gave up

I saw it on CarandClassic the other day too.

Looks nice though.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by lovejoy489

Check this link out on Fleabay - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VOLVO-960...53.m1438.l2649

I challenge anyone to read/get through all of the "bloated" advert !!! I read about 10% of the epic story, then gave up

I saw it on CarandClassic the other day too.

Looks nice though.

Challenge accepted and completed!

Shame about the grammar and smelling pistakes throughout the ad not to mention the repetition - did i also mention there's a lot of repetition?

The service history is incomplete, there should be a 600-1000 mile service, usually just an oil change and check-tightening of certain fasteners - this can have a huge effect on engine longevity though. Arguably one of the more important services as a result.

Could be a good/nice car but the surroundings it's pictured in suggest he runs a scrapyard or similar. Probably bought it cheap from someone who knew/thought it was going to cost a small fortune to keep on the road then found the history, gave it a wash and saw £ signs rolling round his eyeballs.