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C70 Convertible Auto for sale - not breaking!

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Old Jul 11th, 2018, 17:20   #1
christheancient
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Default C70 Convertible Auto for sale - not breaking!

Just the car for the summer! (if we have one).

This car will not be advertised on ebay.

Throughout, I will be as honest and as ‘up front’ as possible.

You might need a cup of tea or coffee to help you through the length of this ‘advert’!

Vehicle attributes

Current MoT which expires 21/04/19. Last test was a ‘clean sweep’ with no advisories.

2.3 litre engine with turbo – engine type B5234T9. I have been told, but not checked, that this would make the car GT spec?

Gearbox – 5-speed auto with “W mode” availability. Very smooth!

Current mileage – 84734 (will increase a little).

Marine Blue Pearl bodywork with Dark Blue convertible roof.

Interior 2-tone (hearing aid) beige leather. Heated front seats. Superb sound system.

A fully detailed “Vehicle Attributes” printout was made, by my local indy Volvo guy, when I brought the car home and will be passed on to the purchaser.

Comes with absolutely loads and loads of paperwork which I’ll quite happily pass on. I don’t think any PO threw anything away. The original wallet of books etc. is there in the glove box.

Two working keys and fobs (no service key, though). Let’s face it: even having two keys and two working fobs is a bit of a rarity with a Volvo of this age!

Brief Vehicle History

Initially, the vehicle was bought by a lady driver from Littlehampton as a (seemingly no expense spared) deal. Lots of ‘twiddly bits’ done.

Changes made to the original spec.

Strut brace added!!! I would hate to drive a C70 ragtop without one. The driver can still feel a bit of scuttle shake when one is fitted.

The initial CD ROM nav system was ‘done away with’! But, it its place, a top of the range (for its time) 3-CD SC-901 system (with its many speakers) was installed – including removing the pop-up nav display and fitting a centre speaker in its place. A teeny weeny “however”! The original Nav System CD-ROM player was left installed in the bottom of the glove box and it is still there… complete with CD in it. It’s the only clue to the fact that there ever was a sat-nav. Anyway, it’s a talking point.

‘Special’ floor mats (with the original owner’s name embroidered); but I kept them in place in the car as a tribute to her good taste in cars.

Somewhere along the line, somebody invested in a draught excluder screen. It just clips in the back (turning the car into a 2-seater) and can fold up to keep a draught off the back of the neck when driving with the roof down. Useful, though - if you can find the squeak!

A whole pile of original paperwork since day #1 exists. Generally speaking it looks as though it has spent a lot of time as a “high days and holidays” car. Certainly the owner before me used it more as a weekend/leisure car! (His other car was a bigger, newer Volvo and he used that for nearly everything.) And reading all the very comprehensive paperwork bundle seems to show that if something ever needed doing, it was done.

A tour of the outside:

In the sunshine, the bodywork glints and gleams! And no areas of rust. However, one does need to remember that the car is 15 years old – so don’t expect miracles and/or perfection! And, at the moment, the local incy-wincy spiders keep finding different places to live and build a web. I keep trying to get rid of as many as possible; but it does tend to be a losing battle at this time of the year.

Start at the front:
The car has an ‘egg-crate’ grille and very good condition ‘crystal’ headlights and indicators (though they aren’t quite as good). There are headlight wipers (which work) fitted – but the wiper arms could do with replacing/refurbing as they are a bit rusty.
As can be expected, there are stone chips and some minor marks on and around the front bumper.
The bonnet, as can be expected at its age, also has some chips and minor scratches. The worst bit is that, in the past, and before I owned it, some bird with the bowel capacity of an elephant ‘marked its territory’ and there are two ‘etched engravings of the bird’s aiming accuracy’! The sun made the splats permanent. If I were to be keeping the car, I would get a pro to sort them. I’ve been meaning to for ages!
Under the bonnet
Guess what. An engine. The details as described above. It’s not a ‘show area’, it’s an area with lots of dirty/oily/greasy ‘things’… mechanical gubbins that other people understand a lot better than I do.
There is a sticker showing that says the belt was changed at 62175 miles on 4/10/12.
Drivers’ side
Generally speaking, it’s all in quite good nick. The ‘worst’ bit is just on the very underside of the rear bumper quarter (hardly visible without crouching). Some prat with a low slung car bumper managed to put a slight scrape on it one day when I was at the supermarket. I just hope it did more damage to his car than mine. However the scrape could easily be touched up. My knees just won’t let me get down there!
Rear end/boot
Has the appropriate style lights to go with the front ones – rather than the ‘old style’.
Nothing else of any real note here. Just a 15-year-old boot.
Ooh! But look! Reversing sensors in the bumper – which do work.
Pop the boot open and have a shufti. It’s a boot. End of. But not quite. Not the easiest to load into as the ‘roof storage bin’ intrudes into the space. And the carpet is bit stained (like that when I got it) And, under the carpet? A spare wheel etc. (boring). The little grab handle in the lid to close the boot is a bit of a pain in the proverbial. However you use/hold it when you close the boot, it wants to break your fingers!
Within the boot there are also the requirements for continental touring (triangle and spare bulbs) and the usual spare wheel and jack in the boot. As I don’t need them, I’ll pass on the ‘super-brace’ for the wheel nuts and an electric tyre inflator thingy.
Also there, is a ‘go bag’ for emergencies containing a very warm weatherproof coat, hi-vis waistcoats, bottles of water and goodness knows what else. I haven't looked in it in a veeeeeery long time
Passengers’ side
Pretty much the same sort of condition as the driver’s side – but without the scrape. The door does stick, on opening, occasionally. Usually when it hasn’t been used for a while.
The roof
Does what it says on the tin. It goes up and down at the push of a button. However… it ain’t pristine. Its age and use tells a bit about it. There are some ‘wear points’ in the usual places; but it does what it’s meant to do (keep the cold, wind and the wet out) when it’s up. I’ve seen better… but I’ve also seen a lot worse! There is one of the two manual tools (the twirly one) in the glove box in case of emergency; however, I haven’t found the other one (the lock release one) anywhere yet. I believe an ordinary screwdriver might do the job; but I dunno. Never needed to.
The wheels
BBS Propus alloys all round with more than legal tyres on them. When I first got the car, the wheels were a bit shabby, so I took the car to a local ‘expert’ to refurbish them. What a rip-off merchant! It was not a very good spray job done there. If I were to keep the car, I would invest in a proper and professional powder coat job coz Propus wheels do look good on a C70. One wheel has got a very slight bit of ‘kerb rash’ thanks to a 40 tonne truck playing “might is right”… barsteward.

A tour of the inside:

Open the driver’s door and two things leap out at you. OMG! It’s hearing aid beige in there! And... the colours on that driver's seat look weird in the photo. That's coz it's reflecting the inner headlining which is a very dark navy blue! Some people would hate hearing aid beige; but I actually find it quite restful! And you don’t see that much of it when you are looking at that road disappearing off over the horizon – and coming at you quite quickly anyway! And apart from odds and ends following, it ain’t in too bad nick. In true Volvo tradition, the bolster on the drivers’ side seat, as can been seen in the photo, is quite worn and could do with the fine touch of trimmer. And while it’s being recoloured, the passengers’ seat (no damage there) could be done as well… not that it’s that bad.

Plonk your bum in the seat (both front seats have working heaters) and look around. It’s just like a Volvo C70 convertible! All the switches, dials, doobreyfrobs and cruise control in front of you do what they should, when they should… and the sound system could scramble your internal organs. And even the special clip on the windscreen for your parking ticket is still there. The door/window switches are in surprisingly good nick for a car of its age and all do their thing the way they should.

As with the usual Volvo Climate Control System… brilliant. I can’t remember the last time I had to actually adjust anything on it. It just ‘does its thing’.

One down side… like so many of these cars, the two shells of the steering column shroud do have a bad habit of letting go of each other. When I had a V70, I just used a bit of glue. But haven’t on this car… yet.

One other niggle (again a common one). Some ham-fisted bugger (not me, I hasten to add coz I know better) along the line pushed a sat nav power plug into the cigarette lighter socket on the centre console too hard and its clips broke and the socket disappeared down into the tunnel… as I found when I went to plug mine in and drive the car away form the previous vendor. Luckily my hands are slim enough to get past a removed coin tray/heated seats switches panel and wiggle it back up. But I got fed up of that and bought a usb adaptor for my sat nav and hold onto that when I plug good ol’ TomTom in. It stops the socket disappearing. When I sell the car, I’ll leave that in for the new owner. If you need a ‘proper’ cigarette lighter socket, there’s one at the back of the centre arm rest. In that, there is a thingy to give two sockets you can use.

Apart from the ‘problems’ with the leatherwork on the seats, the interior is in good nick – and a comfortable place to be… apart from that big panel that covers the big 4th-dimensional hole that the roof folds into. In the past, somebody had not kept the catches that hold the back of the roof down when it’s up (if you see what I mean) properly lubricated. One day, while putting the roof down, I didn’t notice the catch didn’t spring out into position properly and it was trying to dig a hole in the ‘lid’… and it’s left a bit of a gouge. Somebody who can do vinyl repairs would find repairing that a doddle. And I’ll let you have the tube of lithium grease that I bought to prevent further occurrences.

Reason for sale

Mostly a case of my age (well, you’ve seen my username!) and galloping arthritis in my lower limbs is making it such that getting in and out of a car ain’t as easy as it used to be. So, the car isn’t really getting that much use at the moment… just a weekly run to the supermarket about 10 miles away and the (very) occasional run to one or two other places. Although the local main road is officially an ‘A Class’ road, it’s twisty and winding and not deserving of being deemed an ‘A Class’ road. There are very numerous pot holes that are ‘waiting to be repaired’ and have been for months… therefore, there is no fun in opening the taps up a bit. So I’ll be a grumpy ol’ git and get a free bus pass, which won’t get a lot of use, and then do my shopping locally. But I will miss the car.

Viewings/Test drive?

You need to come here and I’ll take you out as the car is insured “owner only driving” because the insurance company classify it as a “Classic Car”; and I’ll happily take you out to see some lovely Mendips/Somerset scenery. My location, as noted in the panel to the left of the page, says it all. PM me with a phone number and we’ll arrange a time that is mutually agreeable.

I can email you details on how to find me as some sat-navs don’t know where I am!

Price

Bet you thought you’d never get this far! Simple. Fixed and non-negotiable price of £1600 in Bank of England treasury notes only. This may seem low; but as I’m not really very mobile (bodily) these days, it is a shame to have the car sitting there outside my front door not getting driven. I would sooner a true Volvo lover has the pleasure of such a prestige car. On sale, I would, of course, SORN the vehicle and leave it up to you to sort out the legal bits needed for you to drive it away (Post Office is about 200 yards up the road or you can borrow my internet).

Collection after purchase

Easiest way (?)... if you can’t get someone to drive you here. The nearest railway station is Weston-super-Mud… sorry, Weston-super-Mare… and I would quite happily pick you up there, drive you to my place, take your money, do the paperwork and let you go on your way. And I’ll even throw in a box with all the various polishes, lotions and potions that I keep in my cupboard for doing weird and wonderful things to keep the car looking smart. You might even get a cup of coffee out of me!

Questions?

Feel free to PM me and ask. I’ll get back asap. Silly offers on the price will be ignored, put in the trash and not even thought about – or even replied to. It’s a fixed price. But sensible questions are welcomed.
Attached Images
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File Type: jpg C70 008 - copy.jpg (245.5 KB, 64 views)
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Old Jul 11th, 2018, 22:00   #2
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Awesomely precise write up, well done Chris.
GLWTS.
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Old Jul 12th, 2018, 10:15   #3
christheancient
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Now I just need an awesome customer!

Hmmm... difficult typing with fingers crossed!
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Old Jul 12th, 2018, 12:00   #4
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One of the best write-ups to sell a truly desirable car that I've read in a very long time - thank you Chris.

Had I not bought a powder blue one last year I would be first in the queue to buy it at the asking price.

Good luck with the sale.
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Old Jul 13th, 2018, 13:27   #5
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Me too! I know it doesn't help, 'CTA', but I would also have gone for this like a shot had we not bought our Saab 9 - 3 ragtop. Why weren't you selling it last backend. Yours is one car that shouldn't hang around, especially at this time of the year. All the best with the sale.

Regards. John.
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Old Jul 13th, 2018, 13:37   #6
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Love the sales blurb, just trying to convince the wife it would look good on the drive. Not holding my breath though.... Good luck with the sale, some lucky sod is in for a bargain.
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Old Jul 13th, 2018, 22:35   #7
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What a wonderful advert, good luck with sale. My only caveat would be if a prospective buyer has fully comprehensive insurance, he should be allowed a test drive. I, personally, would never buy a car I had not driven.
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Old Jul 14th, 2018, 19:16   #8
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'CTA' would need to be very sure that any prospective purchaser was insured before agreeing to a test drive, 'biggbn'. Not all comprehensive policies cover driving cars not owned by the policy holder, and if they do it is highly likely that they would be covered for third party risks only. Insurance can be a mine-field to the uninitiated.

Any takers yet, 'CTA'?

Regards, John.
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Old Jul 14th, 2018, 19:50   #9
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Could you pop up some interior shots so we can see the HAB interior in all its glory? I ask as Mrs BFB has expressed interest in the car, so you never know!
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Old Jul 15th, 2018, 00:51   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by john.wigley View Post
'CTA' would need to be very sure that any prospective purchaser was insured before agreeing to a test drive, 'biggbn'. Not all comprehensive policies cover driving cars not owned by the policy holder, and if they do it is highly likely that they would be covered for third party risks only. Insurance can be a mine-field to the uninitiated.

Any takers yet, 'CTA'?

Regards, John.
Agreed.. But I would certainly never buy a car I had not driven, and i suspect I am not alone in that respect...
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