Best smoker barges 1-5 large [vol8]

[bmthnick1981]

kapiteinlangzaam said:

Ive priced up Ferodo/Brembo pads and discs all round for that CL55. About €500 +/-. So paying £2k+ is essentially pissing your money away for nothing. Cant see why you would do it on a mass-produced 10+ year old car.

Exactly.

[RobinBanks]

em177 said:

I was listening to the radio earlier which proclaimed some bloke called Joey Essex just flew his hairdresser out to Ibiza because he wanted a mid holiday trim. Moral of the story... Some people have more money than they care about

Bono once had a hat flown out to Italy for him.
He insisted that the hat travel first class on BA.

[CharlesdeGaulle]

RobinBanks said:

Bono once had a hat flown out to Italy for him.
He insisted that the hat travel first class on BA.

That proves what I've long suspected. Bono is a tt.

[cat220]

kapiteinlangzaam said:

bmthnick1981 said:

Patrick Bateman said:

How can someone willingly pay that for discs and pads?

As I said on the last page or so looked at an e66 750 last week chap had front and rear discs and pads done at main dealer for something like £1500-1600. I looked at the invoice then back at the seller in bewilderment. This is after all a bargain barge not in warranty etc. I'd get the bits from euros and stick them on myself or if I'm feeling particularly lazy get the local mobile mechanic chap to come round and fit them for cash.

Its mental and you'd be certifiable to pay those prices. The MINI dealer recently had the cheek to ask me for €300+ to replace the front pads on our Cooper. Changed them myself at home for €75 and 1hr work.


Ive priced up Ferodo/Brembo pads and discs all round for that CL55. About €500 +/-. So paying £2k+ is essentially pissing your money away for nothing. Cant see why you would do it on a mass-produced 10+ year old car.

Indeed, seems crazy. In the past year I replaced the front and rear disks and pads on my e55. Parts all sourced from my local MB dealer, total cost £356. Dealer was excellent to deal with and happy to give me a discount. Even the price fitted was'nt eye watering.

[Patrick Bateman]

em177 said:

I was listening to the radio earlier which proclaimed some bloke called Joey Essex just flew his hairdresser out to Ibiza because he wanted a mid holiday trim. Moral of the story... Some people have more money than they care about

This is true but then I wouldn't expect that sort of person to be owning an old AMG Merc.

[BigBen]

kapiteinlangzaam said:

Ive priced up Ferodo/Brembo pads and discs all round for that CL55. About €500 +/-. So paying £2k+ is essentially pissing your money away for nothing. Cant see why you would do it on a mass-produced 10+ year old car.

I think I paid about £300 for discs and pads all round on my SL55 and that has two sets of pads on each calliper at the front (possibly so does the CL55).

[Challo]

kapiteinlangzaam said:

Challo said:

kapiteinlangzaam said:

CharlesdeGaulle said:

Buy the best you can find of either. Kapitanlongzit or whatever his name is is

Which engine and which model year are you looking at?

I can then try and offer some pointed advice.

Probaly the T5, 2.4T or 2.0T depends what I can find for the budget. Ideally auto if possible. Just want something comfy, auto and can jump in and drive on a budget. Will be doing as much DIY maintenance as possible.

Coming from a R53 Mini £1500 seems to be better spent on a small barge and something swedish then the german alternatives, and im fed up small cars.

Righto.

If you are dead set on having an auto, this limits your choice somewhat and also ups the 'risk' factor.

Early autos are a bit of a disaster, although well cared for ones (i.e. oil changed every 50k miles) will go on forever. The problem is that Volvo labelled them sealed for life, and they are anything but

I honestly couldnt recommend buying a pre-2005 auto, unless it had extensive history for being cared for. With your budget, I dont think thats going to happen.

Engine wise:

2.3T5 is awesome and hilarious. It will eat the auto boxes faster than the rest. Economy is laughable.
2.4T is a really nice engine
2.0T is a bit of 'no mans land'. No real MPG or simplicity benefits over the 2.4T, but less BHP. Having said that, they can often be picked up quite cheaply, so could be a go-er.

All cars received a big electrical/mechanical upgrade in 2003 (externally signified by the door mirrors being hinged at the bottom, rather than the full length of the mirror). Again I would have to stress very strongly only to buy a car > this electro-mechanical upgrade. Earlier 2000-2003 cars can be very flakey indeed.

There was a subsequent mechanical/visual update in 2004, signified by new interior and exterior touches. They are much nicer (IMO) than the earlier cars, but again with your budget the options will be limited.

My favourite is the 2.5T engine. Plenty of power but not stressed. Keep a look out for those.

Rear brake discs/hand brake and lower front arms are something to watch on all models.

Some examples worth considering:

2004 facelift 2.0 auto with low miles:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2004-Volvo-S60-2-0-SE-4d...

2.5T

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Volvo-S60-2-5-2005MY-T-S...

Higher miles facelift 2.5T, but with work done and approaching budget:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Volvo-S60-2-5-2005MY-T-S...


I cant find a car on eBay within your budget id honestly recommend at face value. At £2.5k theres loads of options, at £1500 you might have to wait a while for the right car to pop up.





I ran a £1000 V70 T5. It was a hoot but it only lasted 5k miles before things started to go very wrong and I bailed whilst it was still moving under its own power. It had 150k miles on the clock and was on its 3rd gearbox! Id view anything (particularly a T5) in the £1000-1500 price bracket as a serious gamble.

Thanks for all the inputs, looks like I will need to be very careful and do lots of checks. Ideally 1500 is the budget but I might need to up it slightly. Does the gearbox issue suffer on the C70 as well?

[RobinBanks]

CharlesdeGaulle said:

RobinBanks said:

Bono once had a hat flown out to Italy for him.
He insisted that the hat travel first class on BA.

That proves what I've long suspected. Bono is a tt.

As evidence I present this article from the Telegraph.

Articles four and five should reveal all, your honour.

[cat220]

Challo said:

Thanks for all the inputs, looks like I will need to be very careful and do lots of checks. Ideally 1500 is the budget but I might need to up it slightly. Does the gearbox issue suffer on the C70 as well?

At that money don't discount the earlier p1 v70's. I've ran my '98 v70 awd now for 6 years, it's been a great car, has the 2.4lpt with a manual box.

[grantone]

Daimler Super V8 LWB
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

I would still feel rather special being ferried round in the back of this, I think it looks fantastic in this colour with the pinstripe down the side.

Shame about the service gap.

[Krikkit]

Ah yes, the extremely rare twin-supercharged Super 8... Nice colours though.

[CharlesdeGaulle]

grantone said:

Daimler Super V8 LWB
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

Lovely. The tragic rear screen aerial would have to go though.

[CharlesdeGaulle]

kapiteinlangzaam said:

cat220 said:

At that money don't discount the earlier p1 v70's. I've ran my '98 v70 awd now for 6 years, it's been a great car, has the 2.4lpt with a manual box.

I prefer the late(r) P1 V70s to the early P2 cars.

The Classic shaped V70 is a lovely thing. I had two or three, and the same number of the later P2 cars, and rather preferred the former.

A 2.5T 20V is the one I liked (which I think was actually a 2.4 170).

[cat220]

CharlesdeGaulle said:

kapiteinlangzaam said:

cat220 said:

At that money don't discount the earlier p1 v70's. I've ran my '98 v70 awd now for 6 years, it's been a great car, has the 2.4lpt with a manual box.

I prefer the late(r) P1 V70s to the early P2 cars.

The Classic shaped V70 is a lovely thing. I had two or three, and the same number of the later P2 cars, and rather preferred the former.

A 2.5T 20V is the one I liked (which I think was actually a 2.4 170).

This is over the £1,500 budget but has a lot of recent work done, also getting rare in this condition...

http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=233...

[MJK 24]

harrykul said:

Got the Pioneer DAB head unit fitted to the barge. Works well and doesn't look too far out of place:

Amber/yellow illumination. Very important.

[0a]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/JAGUAR-XJS-4-0-AUTO-1993...

Are these wheels so very wrong? I know the answer is yes, but I did have a long look at the pictures.

[Challo]

CharlesdeGaulle said:

kapiteinlangzaam said:

cat220 said:

At that money don't discount the earlier p1 v70's. I've ran my '98 v70 awd now for 6 years, it's been a great car, has the 2.4lpt with a manual box.

I prefer the late(r) P1 V70s to the early P2 cars.

The Classic shaped V70 is a lovely thing. I had two or three, and the same number of the later P2 cars, and rather preferred the former.

A 2.5T 20V is the one I liked (which I think was actually a 2.4 170).

Not keen on the V70 and I don't need an estate. Browsing the classifieds and there doesn't seem to be much quick, comfy, 4 seats and around the £1500 budget jumping out at me.

May have to do some man maths and increase the budget.

[MJK 24]

Easternlight said:

181k miles! Just about run in then


How can a drivers seat still look that good at those miles?

My Touareg is coming up to 160k miles and has that interior, but only half the engine! Literally!

The interiors wear remarkably well. My drivers seat looks the same. Hand on heart I'm not 100% sure the 'leather' was ever part of a cow in a field.

Mine has been virtually faultless in reliability terms too. Lovely quiet, refined and economical motorway mile muncher.

[MJK 24]

0a said:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/JAGUAR-XJS-4-0-AUTO-1993...

Are these wheels so very wrong? I know the answer is yes, but I did have a long look at the pictures.

Are they DB7 wheels?

[dbdb]

0a said:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/JAGUAR-XJS-4-0-AUTO-1993...

Are these wheels so very wrong? I know the answer is yes, but I did have a long look at the pictures.

They are Aston Martin DB7 wheels - and worth quite a lot of money. I don't think I have never seen a set for less than £500. They are a bit to big for my taste. The paint and body along the sides worry me slightly on this car - and why is the chromed cover for the exhaust manifold missing? - Work on the engine?