Is ANY 300 really worth this?

[940Graeme]

Spotted this on e-bay this evening,

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1986-VOLVO...item336acc744c

Now, ok, it does look stunning, and it is an increasingly rare CVT.......but £2500??? Even with that mileage? In some ways, I hope so-, but will be interesting to see what it goes for, if it ever sells.

If anyone is interested, I am in Stoke very close to the seller, so would be happy to go and have a look and give you an honest report. Send me a PM on here.

Graeme

[Clan]

Remember he's a trader and making £1000 + i would say ..It depends how fond you are of the 300 series , for that price i would expect the 1980 model in that condition .
If i bought it i would strip it to the bodyshell remove the front wings and make 100% sure there was no rust in it , knowing every inch of its construction and where they rust and treat any surface rust and give all the box sections a complete dinitrol treatment .
I'd block the gap between the top rear edge of the front wing and the A pillar as water runs down behind the tops of the wings fit the wings properly and seal the edges where they fit to the shell , take out the front and rear windows and check for corrosion and reseal as this is a major cause of the floors rotting .
doors would come off be stripped down and be treated ..

I would do a few subtle modifications such as a B18E if i could find one .. ( yes , add a clutch pedal and use the manual clutch on the CVT Transmission ) so just use the clutch for starting off and when coming to a rest .

But i really wish this was a 1980 model .
I would have a great car which would last indefinitly ..

The price is worth it if you want a really nice 300 series , they are rapidly fading away now .. they give a nice ride, are probably more reliable than current ones and actualy have room in the back seats unlike a lot of modern cars ..
i saw a 1988 1.7 last week which was bought for £900 it had 29000 miles it was in excellent condition but had been off the road for a number of years and there was surface rust all over the front and rear suspension and both doors were damaged .
so yes £2500 is worth it ...That transmission will need some attention though it wont be working as intended after all this time ..

[940Graeme]

Absolutely agree with everything you say Clan. What worries me, in some ways, is that a car like this could be bought by someone with more ££ than sense........We all know that without proper maintenance the CVT will fail sooner rather than later and so there is another disgruntled "300 owner" saying how unreliable they are, and what a terrible car.....etc etc.

If it was £700-900 I'd snap it up tbh, (well with permission for him indoors of course.....), but then I know how to run a CVT properly.

On the other hand........perhaps it is good to see a rare, well built really good car like this being advertised what what it should be worth?

Interesting one isn't it.

Graeme

[SonyVaio]

If only it was the 360 GLT with the B200E engine? Now I might have paid the asking price then. For nostalgic reasons of course, mine was a great car in it's day. Not so sure the 1.4 Renault engine was ever any good but horses for courses and all.

I'm sure someone else will be just as nostalgic about it and buy. The asking price is a little on the high side i think.

Watching with interest.

[940Graeme]

I should say, I had a 1.4 CVT (1983) with 32,000 verified miles on the clock, main dealer SH from new, all the books etc etc. It was one of the best cars I have ever owned.......SUCH FUN! Like a little go-cart! Terrible fuel economy and the tin worm had got to it badly, so well beyond economic repair. I sold it last year to a guy who promised he would eventually repair and restore, (ok, we'll see) for £200. And before you ask, yes I did advertise it on here for the same money, and no one wanted it.......

Hence, I ask, in the current market..........is a 340 CVT really worth this money?

Graeme

[940_Turbo]

If someone pays it its worth it, if they don't it isn't.

[macplaxton]

I bought a 1982 343DL with 14267 miles on the clock and it cost me £335 in 2009.

Asking £1800-£2000 might be nearer the mark for a trader. £1000 to £1200 for a private. Both in the case of being prepared to sit it out for a sale.

Regardless of what I think it's worth, it always boils down to "it's worth what someone else is prepared to pay".

If I had £2500 burning a hole in my pocket, I'd get this instead http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/250842531220 for 500 quid less*, and save 1300 quid over the next ten years in VED.

*it did start out at £2995 a while ago, dropped to £2495 and is now at the current price.

Originally Posted by Clan

I would do a few subtle modifications such as a B18E if i could find one .. ( yes , add a clutch pedal and use the manual clutch on the CVT Transmission ) so just use the clutch for starting off and when coming to a rest .

Subtle? Sheer vandalism!

[Clan]

Originally Posted by SonyVaio

If only it was the 360 GLT with the B200E engine? Now I might have paid the asking price then. For nostalgic reasons of course, mine was a great car in it's day. Not so sure the 1.4 Renault engine was ever any good but horses for courses and all.

I'm sure someone else will be just as nostalgic about it and buy. The asking price is a little on the high side i think.

Watching with interest.

I also had a 1982 GLT it was sad to see the rust go out of control , but had 180000 miles out of it . the GLT s ok for straight line work but really the extra power is sapped by the extra weight , an early B18E is the same horse power and considerably lighter , as much as i love volvo engines , the B18E would be my way in the 300 .

Yes the B14 is a nice trouble free engine and was adequate , Volvo modified it early on with better quality valves , pistons and crankshaft hardness , which renault later bought back ! My 343 has done 250000 miles on its original B14 and it is still as good as new .
The B14's advantage was in the handling it gave the car with almost 50-50 weight distribution , again you could get GLT power out of the B14 with renault turbo parts ... In fact i have converted a B14 into a Gordini version with 93 bhp as standard and a lot more to come if wanted .

[Clan]

Originally Posted by macplaxton

I bought a 1982 343DL with 14267 miles on the clock and it cost me £335 in 2009.

Asking £1800-£2000 might be nearer the mark for a trader. £1000 to £1200 for a private. Both in the case of being prepared to sit it out for a sale.

Regardless of what I think it's worth, it always boils down to "it's worth what someone else is prepared to pay".

If I had £2500 burning a hole in my pocket, I'd get this instead http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/250842531220 for 500 quid less*, and save 1300 quid over the next ten years in VED.

*it did start out at £2995 a while ago, dropped to £2495 and is now at the current price.



Subtle? Sheer vandalism!

well it is all about developing and improving , the CVT Clutch is small and has a hard life as it is not directly under your control so potentialy has a short life , even today the new citroens with their robotised manual gearbox has a conventional clutch and the computer controls that , they CAN have a life of 5000 miles if not driven properly ..

Lovely 66 there , happy memories , the number of times i had engines out of those to change clutches i cant remember !
again if i had one of those it would end up with a 1.7 engine with manual clutch :-)

[940Graeme]

Originally Posted by macplaxton

If I had £2500 burning a hole in my pocket, I'd get this instead http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/250842531220 for 500 quid less*, and save 1300 quid over the next ten years in VED.

Me Too! But then, that is sort of my point. £2500 is "proper classic" money - Daimler/Jag, Wolseley 1500, Amazon, 164.......

Much as I loved my 340 CVT there are sooo many better cars for this sort of cash.

Still, worth keeping an eye on, if 340's can really fetch this money...........

Graeme