Annual cost of maintenance

[cookie]

Just had to cough up £2.50 labour for my 14 year old to do oil/filters etc on wife's D5

[Brendan W]

Originally Posted by cookie

Just had to cough up £2.50 labour for my 14 year old to do oil/filters etc on wife's D5

Bet you had to supply the tools, consumables and laundry service as well. Wouldn't worry about that one, sounds like they'll go a long way

[david philips]

this has been one of my more expensive years for the 940 almost £100.

little wonder when i read threads with expensive repairs as to why i like the 940s

this year , 2 back plates £60 appox , oil and filter £16 the oil i had bought in asda for £10 for 4 liters and another water pump at £20 and a few bulbs say another £2.

new cars great to drive but i will stay with the low running costs easy repairs and solid feel of the rwds.

[mixa]

We have had our V70SE Auto for just over 2 years now hasnt been that cheap to start off with
Full top end rebuild
New head bolts
Full head set
Cam belt kit
Head presure tested/skimmed
Full service
2 x new tyres
Resprayed all 4 courners of bumpers (previous owner could not tell width )
New wiper blades
All by myself apart from tyres £700

Above was all within 6 weeks of purchase

Then almost 2 years of no extra cost

But now
New radiator £89
Heater matrix £26
O rings £8
ABS Modual repair £95
Drop links front )
Front pads )
Rear pads ) £65

TOTAL £283

So best part of a grand but it walked last MOT should do this time when its back together with the price of the motor still under 2k ok its a dec 99 model body is mint pulls like a train full leather and 212,000 on the clock if driven hard 24ish on a run mid/high 30s driven properly 28around town and i love it only thing i intend to do is add a tow bar to pull my trike when not riding it and it has to be moved

[MickyG1982]

Just spent £500 on my £500 V70 on brake discs, pads & calipers plus a (desperately needed) fluid & filter service (including labor) to go on top of £140 of new tyre's & a new heater core & grille (the old one fell off). So that's £800 on a car I bought for £500 - roughly. On the plus side she is running sweet as a nut (well as sweetly as the 2.5tdi ever did run) and now feels like an infinitely better car.

There is a diamond in the rough under there somewhere!

[moorgate]

nice confessional thread. So far as the Rescue Dog is concerned, it's a 2003 D5 manual now on 157k I haven't really added everything up or necessarily remembered everything but:

Purchase: £1500
cambelt kit, water pump, service items & labour: £800
turbo rebuild, overhaul #1 injector: £616
poly ARB bushes and subframe bush inserts: £200
Bilstein B4s all round and front top mounts: £250
Leather Interior: £80
Top Mount: £60

Which brings me to a grand total of £3,506. That's quite a lot; If I had bought a 3 grand car and then put a grand in it I might - maybe - have had a better end result. Oh, I forgot the wheels & tyres. Put another £200 on top then.

Left to do are the brakes (all of them...) and the dash info display. It sounds like a lot, but the way I look at it, all these items will result in the next 3 years bills being £200 or less, and I will know the bloody thing absolutely backwards. That alone is worth at least 3k, in my estimation: Based on previous cars and my odd but quite consistent use pattern (3 to 5 2,000 mile trips to Switzerland and around Europe per year), I'm aiming to get this car to 200,000 miles probably around 2020.

Unless my ship comes in, in which case it's straight on eBay and I get an XKR!

[bournricha]

For parts (new)I usually use Mister Auto from Belgium (online ).They have their own brand Bolk which I have have found perfectly good .After all ,where do Volvo get parts from ,from the same manufacturers no doubt ,then double the price for having the privilege of them buying them first .It takes about 10 days delivery ,because Mister Auto has to nip out and buy them .But if you are not in a hurry they are MUCH cheaper eg front discs and pads about £40,for both sides .
Sometimes I use PARTS GATEWAY which obtains quotes from breakers which you can choose .Invariably the parts have been functionally good as new .There are many specialist Volvo breakers in the market and they will do you a good deal .I only use my local factor to get me parts from Volvo eg odd seals etc that I cant get online .As to tyres ,look up your local breaker .They now nearly all stock excellent secondhand tyres .Inspect them yourself .IT's not rocket science They are usually £20 plus £10 for fitting .You can do this for little money and help by recycling parts .
Bournricha

[Phaedrus68]

This is a great thread! Not least for hearing that there are others (other than me) out there who have "bad years"...

This has been a pretty bad year for me, but TBH, until this the only expenses were the standard stuff - tyres & service items.

Bought in Oct 2011 for €2600 (£1800 or so). It had 117,000m on it, and had full Volvo service history. I've added 62,000 miles since purchase.

LAST YEAR
Front right suspension upper mount & bearing - €130 IIRC (local garage labour + genuine parts)

SO FAR THIS YEAR
Air con compressor - €370 (local garage labour, used replacement part)
4 brake discs, new pads all round, new handbrake shoes & springs - €300 or so (labour myself, new spurious parts)
Diagnostic session at main dealer - €88

DUE THIS YEAR (Not NCT Fails, But I Know They Need Done)
Brake flexi hoses all round (labour probably myself, spurious parts)
Front LCAs (labour probably myself, spurious parts)
Timing Belt + whatever ancillary parts that get replaced during this job (local garage labour, undecided over genuine/spurious parts)

I think there is a difference between "preventative maintenance" and "fiddling". Fiddling is unnecessary & unimportant, and can cause problems; preventative maintenance is necessary & important, and (hopefully) catches problems before they happen/develop/lead to worse problems

This is all related to a separate poll I posted about running a high-miler vs replacing every 2/3/5/10 years.

I get so much grief from friends & family for running a 15 year-old 2.5 diesel. Road tax is €1080, fully comp ins is €440. No matter how many times or different ways I try to explain my reasons, opinions never budge - for so many people, the preferred option - by far - is to off-load a car once the cost of keeping it on the road is higher than replacing the car.

In my case (currently cars of €1000 - €1500 value), I'd much rather "keep pumping money" (let's say €1000-€1500 this year) into my known-to-me-for-the-last-62,000-miles car, rather than risk that €1000-€1500 on another car whose history is unknown to me and may or may not be as stated by the seller.

I did a calculation a while back, in a (failed) effort to convince my family of my logic & reasoning behind sticking with my car vs switching to a 1.6 petrol - taking everything into account (road tax, ins, typical maintenance costs, probable repair costs, fuel costs), once I do more than 9000 miles a year, the 2.5 diesel is cheaper to run than the 1.6 petrol. People can get fixated on the €1080 road tax, but hit a mental block regarding fuel economy. 62,000 miles over 4 years = average 15,500 miles a year...

Regarding costs outside routine (tyres/servicing/tax/insurance), what's to say that any other 15 year old €1000 car with 179,000 on it - diesel or petrol - will have any fewer issues with it than mine does?

Throw in the fact that I really like my car, and the logic/reason argument is either bolstered or diminished, depending on your perspective...

[Brendan W]

Originally Posted by Phaedrus68

I think there is a difference between "preventative maintenance" and "fiddling". Fiddling is unnecessary & unimportant, and can cause problems; preventative maintenance is necessary & important, and (hopefully) catches problems before they happen/develop/lead to worse problems

Now there is an interesting thread topic. Annual cost of fiddling

[4candles]

Originally Posted by Phaedrus68

Fiddling is unnecessary & unimportant

I agree, i much prefer to have a Xylophonist and a Bassoonist at my Celidh's....