Spend Money On Keeping A High-Miler On The Road, Or...?

[Clan]

Originally Posted by TurnipSpeed

I believe( rightly or wrongly!) that the blue badge denoted when Ford started to supply parts for Volvos after the merger?
I had a V70 diesel for a few weeks, but I hated it!
Flimsy plastics, too complicated(compared to my 940!).
I did buy an 850 2.5 20v, and loved the driving experience( handling, economy, engine note!).
This had 200,000 on the clock, and going strong, but again what put me off was complexity( dodgy lcd dash, tailgate struts, suspension).
It was well-built, though, and my head was turned only by another 940gle for £480!
I'm in love again.
This time it's for keeps.

Ford parts and cost cutting filtered in around 2005 model year , we are still lumered with them now of course but on the way out in the next year or so .

The ble badge signified network wiring systems , not sure if that is what it was meant to signify !

[IThompson]

I was once told that it takes more energy to make a car from scratch than that car uses in its life-time.
I have a low mileage 960 (82,000mls) that is 22 years old. I see no reason why it can't still be on the road in another 10 or more years.
My Wife says it's old, it's big and it's thirsty; I say it sounds just like me!
Love driving it, more like a sofa on wheels.

[Phaedrus68]

So from a self-serving perspective, would a late 2000 2.5TD Audi-engined V70 P2 be objectively considered a durable Volvo, worthy of investment in high-mile ownership? Or would it be considered a new, plasticy, over-complicated cash-trap?

Is there a snobbery among Volvo owners? Like Land Rover Series owners and Defender owners? Or Ninety/One-Ten 200TDi owners and Evoque owners?

[brickman]

I think most folk who buy into the Volvo brand are of the persuasion that mileage and years passed since build date are low on the priorities.

They are not cars that will last forever, but they are cars that have a very long service life, and the cost of that life/mileage once it starts getting highmiles (above 150k in normal folks eyes) is low compared to others (i.e. you don't need to rebuild bottom end of engine, gearbox, wheel bearings)

I used to be into newer fancier cars but doing lots of miles I once went over the limit on a company car (A3 1.4TFSI sportback) by quite a lot, cost me nearly £3k all told in fines + extra service items to get it 'up to book', and was constantly worried about car parks etc. really CBA with any of that anymore.

[RichT4]

Being one that has spent a few grand including the cost of the car in getting mine up to scratch, I almost got rid a week or so back when the lock assembly went.

Like already said, better the devil you know! I know what's left to replace on the car, and provided it keeps passing it's MOT's without major rot then I will keep it on the road.

[Darth Vol]

....as long as you realise the rarity of things...or those cars that are yet to become rare.....

I've pumped over €12,000 into my 1996 Volvo 855 AWD and will continue to do so to perfect it. only 114k on the replacement engine (137k on the body)

That saying I've just finished off the Sierra rebuild and that's over €7000 since March when it arrived in the country. only 107k mileages from genuine (2 owner - 1 family car)

The Golf GTi?
I totally rebuilt it with new engine, gearbox, subframe, wiring, respray etc only 43k on the clock (190k on the chassis but 43k on the bumpers/doors/bonnet/boot/suspension/Wiring looms (replaced everything bar the two quarter panel windows with new parts)) however....I stopped counting after €46,254.21c


The S70 T5 -
It's coming in cheaper to date €4,900 and only 69k on the clock with a re-spray and full stage zero service and dry stored rather than used.

All in all, if you are happy to spend €€€€'s to keep cars you know will become collectors items and can, when finances allow, get them fixed up and back to perfect condition then it means potential future return investment.

Then again cars are addictive.... and best to get the upgrades/rebuilds/re-paints etc done before the kids arrive on the scene as that means no cash for toys so my idea is to spend the cash now and have it all done before the blighters arrive to bleed new parents dry......

[clarkey1984]

I got my 99 v40 2.0i about a year ago, it came with 6 months MOT and tax, to be fair I wasn't really fussed about what car I got, I just needed something that was within sensible commuting / get a lift distance, was available to drive away there and then, preferably an estate, with a budget of around £500, at £550 haggled down to £495 this ticked all the boxes.

The slave cylinder then decided to wave goodbye 3 weeks before Christmas, around 2 weeks shy of the MOT due date, so rather than bugger around having to get another car (I had a gig 2 days later that I absolutely couldn't miss) I opted to pay the 400 odd for the cylinder and MOT work in order to get me back on the road as quickly as possible, it then decided to wait 8 days after that before shredding it's aux belt due to a wrecked tensioner and the idler was also noisy, and that came to just shy of 200 quid, so it cost me not only more than I paid for the car, it also cost more than the market value (I would imagine) of the car.

Was it the most cost effective option? No. Was it the most viable for me at the time? Yes. Do I regret doing it? A little bit. Was it really worth it? Yes, I love this car.

[The Thong]

My 50 is doing my crust at the moment. Mot next month and a service at the same time. However, it's got an oil leaks and I'm losing washer fluid too. Kinda wishing I hadn't bought it now. Last month, new condenser and ABS valve too but I can't afford to change it either without going in to debt. Rock and hard place time..... The motors great to drive but Maaaaaan it's being a pain. Oh yeah, gotta get the windscreen done too. Watch out Piggy Bank, bashing time again 😁

TT

[Sasha94]

Lot of newer Volvo bashing going on here, yet I've had a 2000 C70 convertible, a 2004 'new' S40 and a 2008 C30, all Ford era and the 2 I still have are based on the Focus platform and made in Belgium. The C70 and mk2 replacement were built in Uddevalla, Sweden.

All 3 were cheapo bottom of the price bracket cars but bought back up to standard in my ownership. The C70 was the biggest hassle, had a few age and lack of use niggles with it, felt like every other week it would give me grief but nothing major. Only sold it as my fiancée and I were buying a house together and there was no room for it. Cost me £980 with 12 months MoT (which had no advisories!), car had 112k on it at the time. Roof didn't leak and worked perfectly every time. Spent about £250 on it in about 4 months and sold it at the end of the summer for £1200 with 115k so nothing lost really. Would have kept it but I had the diesel S40 for everyday use (30k plus a year) so couldn't justify keeping the C70 for that as the 5 cylinder 2.0T drank premium unleaded at around 23 mpg(!)

The S40 has just had a strop at 100-110k miles but it's all small stuff fixed by me and one of them (boot not opening) was rectifying a dodgy previous owner bodge but it has been an amazing car, so well made and comfortable and very premium in its nature and appearance. If it weren't for the manual gearbox I'd keep it for a long time to come but my back is really letting me down and my tremor that goes with it is making the clutch pedal hard work so an auto is on the cards. I'm thinking XC90 Need a Mum tank with my little boy these days ya know, all the baby gear, couldn't possibly fit it in a smaller car

The most reliable of the 3 is the C30, regulars in the P1 section wouldn't even know I had one if it weren't in my signature, I never mention it because it doesn't need mentioning. It literally hasn't cost us a penny since September and the 5k miles it's done with us (94-99k) Ok, Laura drove it into a bin and dented the door (silly woman!) and the windscreen has a mahoosive crack in it now but not maintenance issues really.

All of the cars have more previous owners than you'd like (C30 had 7, S40 has 6 and C30 has 3) none have full comprehensive service history but most had the basics proved (cambelts etc) but my attitude is if you can't prove it, get it done! The S40 had the belt done at 81k but not by Volvo. They haven't been the best examples of the breed maybe, but by sorting that neglect and spending a few quid I think I've made decent cars out of them. The S40 in particular I find hard to imagine is 11 years old as it doesn't look or feel it, particularly inside where it is immaculate, as are all my cars as I like to make them that way.

The XC90 which is likely to replace my S40 I hope to be even better as its a P2 platform car and they do seem to go on forever and the D5 engine is the strong point. When I put my hand in my pocket I don't intend to sell it until I see at least 200k on the clock!

[warlord0]

I only ended up over on the Swedish side because I had a long running French car that was written off recently. Ironically by another same make and model when he left his handbrake off in the car park

I rolled over 200,000 miles in that and loved it, still do. I invested way more than it's worth in pro-active maintenance and modifications. Over it's time with me I replaced all of the suspension, and even had a few engines (long story).

But if you love the car, you keep it. You spend what it takes to keep it on the road. Even with everything I spent on it the car remained very cost effective. Sadly at the time of the incident the body work was what let it down. So getting the panels for the knock and tidying up the rest was just going to prove too much.

Still drivable, and still using it until the V50 gets collected. It's now worth far more breaking for parts than as a car.

So I'd say investing in a high miler isn't a bad decision - but it depends on the base you're building on.