Looks like a nice motor!

[Zul]

Thought I'd post this on the forum in case someone is looking for a low milage V40. Found the ad on my local Gumtree.
http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-m...age/1072105625

[druid]

looks nice! and going by my recent experience about £300 to sort the paint out? Looks like a nice car for someone.

[skyship007]

Originally Posted by druid

looks nice! and going by my recent experience about £300 to sort the paint out? Looks like a nice car for someone.

I wonder if it left the London area very often, cos if it was just short tripping or getting stuck in traffic the engine and box could be well worn.

The Volvo service interval is too long for an inner city car!

[ijmorrison]

^^^ and it will need an oil change

[skyship007]

Originally Posted by ijmorrison

^^^ and it will need an oil change

When looking at a used car, new oil is not always a good sign, as folks trying to sell a failed HG have a nasty habit of using some temporary sealants then changing the oil to get rid of the coffee creamer traces.

Oil changes done by dodgy owners are only of use for helping to clean out the block, as they have a nasty habit of using the cheapest oil from a supermarket or Fleabay and then cleaning up the old oil filter rather than changing it. In a bad case it's worth checking for empty cans of STP thickner and stop leak in the nearest bins, as their use before sale used to be some kind of law for used car salesmen in the old days.

If you buy a V40 with an auto box, it's a real good idea to test drive it fully, as a box fault can be every bit as expensive as a major engine fault and some of them are a lot less obvious than a manual gearbox fault.

False service records are another issue, as I've seen oil change tags, cam belt stickers and blank log books for sale on Jerrybay, so 5 mins with an old Volvo invoice and a colour copier, plus a cheap stamp and the service record looks perfect.
When I got my V40, I went to the Ford dealer during the test drive to get a full receipt copy, just to check the stamp in the book was correct.

One odd thing in the advert, was the owner saying how the brake fluid had been changed, so I wonder if he also changed the discs and pads etc.

Dents are not an issue if you live in London and it's easy to guess at the work involved, but a bad auto box, HG or cam belt snap is not so funny. The seller did not say much in maintenance terms and the cam belt service was not done by Volvo, so the parts used by the Indy are of some interest, particularly as the brake service seems to have been a fluid change!

In engine and box terms, one mile in London wil probably result in twice the wear and tear of one mile on fast main roads or the motorway in particular. I remember looking at a company Ford Granada 2.8i once that had 200K on the clock as a friend was thinking of buying it. The service record was perfect as was the test drive, but the thing that swung the deal to a buy, was when I found out all the car did was airport trips of about 3 hours each way along a motorway.
The engine and box were in near new condition!