Annual cost of maintenance

[RM955I]

Regarding 'fiddle factor'.....

I bought my 2005 (04 plate) V70 in March with 86k on the clock, 1 owner, FSH and 10 months MOT.

6 months later I have had to replace the exhaust hangers with bolt-on items as the existing ones had rotted (so 4 months after purchase), both top and bottom engine torque mounts are shot and the wishbone bushes are falling apart......this from a car that on the face of it had been well maintained. Had I not done my own servicing the engine mounts and wishbones could easily have gone un-noticed until MOT time in January.

I don't doubt that the car was looked after (it was a doctor's car) but I question whether a garage actually pays attention to a car in the way an owner cum DIY mechanic does.

Next weekend I'll be tackling getting the old bushes out and new ones into the wishbones.
I have also serviced it myself and drained and changed the frankly horrid, black transmission fluid that is 'good for life' as well as changing the brake fluid like golden syrup and peeling back the brake piston gaiters to clean and grease the pistons.

[mrc1501]

Originally Posted by RM955I

Had I not done my own servicing the engine mounts and wishbones could easily have gone un-noticed until MOT time in January.

It is often the MOT's highlights failures of components that you may not necessarily be aware of

[mrc1501]

Add another £20 to the list....just bought a cv hub kit

[RM955I]

£75 for Millermatic SPiii transmission oil,
£150, 2x rear tyre
£70, spark plugs, air filter, oil filter, oil
£40 engine top mount
£18 lower torque arm small bush
£15(?) stretch bolts for wishbone replacement
£55 Meyle HD wishbone kit (x4 bushes)
£20 Bolt-on exhaust hangers
£5 hub stretch bolts
£12 2 ton bottle jack for DIY bush press (!)
£18 4 lt Volvo antifreeze.....because my car would apparently fall apart and I will die if I use plain old Ethylene Glycol
(£90 cambelt change kit.....imminent)

£175 for 4x Almathea rims & £200 for 4 Hankook Icebear tyres (bought used in the summer, with 8.5mm tread all round) : not strictly necessary but nice to have in the garage 'just in case') + £40 fitting.

[mrc1501]

.....and now a pair of genuine ball joints. Cheapest I've seen

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Volvo-s60-...item53ef28fe88

[mrc1501]

.......and a pair of genuine Volvo rear disc pads......

[mrc1501]

Next cost will be for 4 wheel laser alignment after I have fitted the new ball joints. Reason is that over the past couple of months I have had the front and rear struts off/disconnected and even though I marked there positions prior to dismantling, there is no guarantee that my refit was 100% and also I do not know if the cambers were 100% before I started.

......and I will be needing a set of 4 tyres soon (running at 3mm tread depth...)

[mrc1501]

Add to my list a new DDM (ok a used one but new to me!) and a set of 4 tyres..........

[reggit]

Had mine since March, so far....

New MAF sensor £100
New LPG stepper motor £350
New (2nd hand) driveshaft £75
2nd Hand passenger airbag £55
all 3 rear seatbelts £60ish
4 new tyres (ok consumable item) - about £300
New front discs and carriers as ones on car are different sizes £85
Engine oil seals and pickup (as lost oil pressure) £85
Cheap oil and filter - £30
Mid range oil and filter - £60 (2 changes within 400 miles to flush engine)
Slam panel £50
Can I count electric drills that I bust trying to get the locking wheel nuts out?
Rear droplinks £35ish

That's just shy of £1200 in 9 months!

I've a feeling I've missed something as well ....

It turned out that the car hadn't been looked after very well in it's past life and had hidden accident damage.

Jobs lined up for spring: Cam belt change and autobox flush and whatever else breaks!

[dr90]

Obviously good and bad luck can play a part... How about this -

940 estate; petrol; we bought at auction at 2 years old for just under £10k; sold after 8 years and with over 400,000 miles on the 'clock' because autobox was playing up. Only service and 'wear and tear' items and exhaust replaced.

Now that's not bad!