I really wanted a Defender (Volvo 850 content).
Discussion
For the last couple of months my daily driver has been a scruffy but much-loved 205GTI. Saved from the scrapyard after an eight year lay-up (thread elsewhere on here), the car will never be sold. There's little of value I can add to the millions of words already written about Peugeot's class-defining masterpiece, an enthusiastic puppy of a car the likes of which will never be seen again. But a fragile French hatchback has its limitations. It was never designed to cope with the rock-strewn moonscape our local council deems adequate as a high street, and its cramped interior has proved no match for the four-legged engine of destruction we naively found in a rescue home a while ago, back when I foolishly assumed the food on my plate to be my own.
A tough dog car was needed, and so the search began. From gloriously restored Series 1s with canvas stretched tightly across their backs to military-looking crew cabs, all gun metal paint and in-your-face snorkels, every second car around here seems to be some sort of Defender. Perfect, I thought, reaching for the classifieds; who doesn't love a Land Rover? The answer, apparently, is my bank manger. As the seemingly irreversible impecuniosity with which I'm afflicted reared its unwelcome head once more, the harsh reality dawned: there would be no Defender.
The search was widened. Big, durable and cheap were necessities, different was a preference. The latter ruled out the myriad Mondeos, Lagunas, Vectras and nasty Audis available. I'm aware that SAAB estates are often considered the PH choice when it comes to these things, however I once owned a 9-3 Convertible and found it to be a hateful potato of a car, so the products of the ludicrously-named Swedish Aeroplane Company were swiftly ruled out.
I began to consider Subaru. The Legacy looked rather smart and Foresters seemed to be very popular with the red-nosed, Crieff-capped 'Gerorfff my laaand' brigade. As a group, they aren't known for free-spending largesse (unless, of course, we're talking about subsidies) so perhaps, I thought, they were on to something. Could I find one? Not with my budget. Not one without Battlestar Galactica mileage at any rate.
It was beginning to look like a Mondeo would be the order of the day. Not, I add, that there's anything wrong with Ford's long-standing load lugger. It's just that they're a bit, well, you know. And then it happened. Sitting at a traffic light queue an apparently driverless car pulled up alongside. It took a comedy double-take on my part for me to realise that there was, in fact, someone at the wheel. With careful examination it was just possible to make out an old biddy, all of four feet two, peering over the dashboard. The car was white, a J-plate and in absolutely pristine condition. It was some sort of Volvo Estate (240?) and it set me thinking.
I picked this up on Saturday. As you can see, it's red. Very red. I'm not struck on the brutalist looks and the bumpers are a little too North America for my liking but it seems to do the job perfectly. My journey back to England's prettiest county (Cheshire, obv.) took in ninety or so miles of cross-country driving, across the Derbyshire Dales and Staffordshire Moorlands – an ideal opportunity for the aforementioned French funball to stretch its legs but sadly not really great Volvo territory. That said, it did its thing well enough. It's slow and heavy (and going to be thirsty) but hopefully reliable. It's certainly been well cared for and is in remarkable condition for a 23 year old car, having covered – wait for it – 73000 miles. It came with 10 months MOT, a spare set of alloy wheels and a folder full of receipts that would put the average MP to shame.
People seem to fall in love with these things. I don't think I ever will on account of it being just a bit too Volvoey but hopefully we'll get on okay. Until such time as I manage to develop a marketable skill it'll have to do. For the meantime I can always dream about Defenders.
1993 Volvo 850 GLT
A tough dog car was needed, and so the search began. From gloriously restored Series 1s with canvas stretched tightly across their backs to military-looking crew cabs, all gun metal paint and in-your-face snorkels, every second car around here seems to be some sort of Defender. Perfect, I thought, reaching for the classifieds; who doesn't love a Land Rover? The answer, apparently, is my bank manger. As the seemingly irreversible impecuniosity with which I'm afflicted reared its unwelcome head once more, the harsh reality dawned: there would be no Defender.
The search was widened. Big, durable and cheap were necessities, different was a preference. The latter ruled out the myriad Mondeos, Lagunas, Vectras and nasty Audis available. I'm aware that SAAB estates are often considered the PH choice when it comes to these things, however I once owned a 9-3 Convertible and found it to be a hateful potato of a car, so the products of the ludicrously-named Swedish Aeroplane Company were swiftly ruled out.
I began to consider Subaru. The Legacy looked rather smart and Foresters seemed to be very popular with the red-nosed, Crieff-capped 'Gerorfff my laaand' brigade. As a group, they aren't known for free-spending largesse (unless, of course, we're talking about subsidies) so perhaps, I thought, they were on to something. Could I find one? Not with my budget. Not one without Battlestar Galactica mileage at any rate.
It was beginning to look like a Mondeo would be the order of the day. Not, I add, that there's anything wrong with Ford's long-standing load lugger. It's just that they're a bit, well, you know. And then it happened. Sitting at a traffic light queue an apparently driverless car pulled up alongside. It took a comedy double-take on my part for me to realise that there was, in fact, someone at the wheel. With careful examination it was just possible to make out an old biddy, all of four feet two, peering over the dashboard. The car was white, a J-plate and in absolutely pristine condition. It was some sort of Volvo Estate (240?) and it set me thinking.
I picked this up on Saturday. As you can see, it's red. Very red. I'm not struck on the brutalist looks and the bumpers are a little too North America for my liking but it seems to do the job perfectly. My journey back to England's prettiest county (Cheshire, obv.) took in ninety or so miles of cross-country driving, across the Derbyshire Dales and Staffordshire Moorlands – an ideal opportunity for the aforementioned French funball to stretch its legs but sadly not really great Volvo territory. That said, it did its thing well enough. It's slow and heavy (and going to be thirsty) but hopefully reliable. It's certainly been well cared for and is in remarkable condition for a 23 year old car, having covered – wait for it – 73000 miles. It came with 10 months MOT, a spare set of alloy wheels and a folder full of receipts that would put the average MP to shame.
People seem to fall in love with these things. I don't think I ever will on account of it being just a bit too Volvoey but hopefully we'll get on okay. Until such time as I manage to develop a marketable skill it'll have to do. For the meantime I can always dream about Defenders.
1993 Volvo 850 GLT
Edited by Roy Lime on Monday 29th February 14:41
Nice looking example. That'll go on forever.
Volvos get under your skin. As a kid I remember riding around in various models that my dad owned.
At various times he had a 144,145, 240, 340, 360 and a 740 estate.
Fast forward 25 years and what do I have on my driveway a Volvo, albeit a C30 T5.
Volvos get under your skin. As a kid I remember riding around in various models that my dad owned.
At various times he had a 144,145, 240, 340, 360 and a 740 estate.
Fast forward 25 years and what do I have on my driveway a Volvo, albeit a C30 T5.
I loved my 850 20valve and my 850 T5...I would have another tbh.Six(ish) months on.
Well I never thought I'd fall for a bloody Volvo. I've put about 3000 miles on the car (1500 of which were mooching around Brittany).
A couple of problems: there's an occasional scraping sound which seems to come from the front wheels. A trawl through the forums suggests it's probably a dust guard behind the brakes and nothing to particularly worry about. It has also, for no apparent reason, completely cut out a handful of times. When this happens it seems to need a few seconds to sort itself out before I can restart it. It's been into a local Volvo specialist who, for just fifty of your English pounds, plugged it into a diagnostic checker thing and found no fault at all. I took it to a slightly less local specialist and he did something to the fuel pump relay, but the fault, albeit very occasional, remains. The plan is to get it back into the less local specialist again and leave it with them for a couple of days to see if they can replicate the problem.
Other than that it's been great. I've become best mates with the guys at the local tip (since word has got around that I've bought a massive old estate hardly a weekend goes by without somebody wanting to dispose of something gigantic) and I'm getting regular mailshots from the Caravan Club.
To be continued.
Here it is in Honfleur (I know, I know, Honfleur is in Normandy)
Well I never thought I'd fall for a bloody Volvo. I've put about 3000 miles on the car (1500 of which were mooching around Brittany).
A couple of problems: there's an occasional scraping sound which seems to come from the front wheels. A trawl through the forums suggests it's probably a dust guard behind the brakes and nothing to particularly worry about. It has also, for no apparent reason, completely cut out a handful of times. When this happens it seems to need a few seconds to sort itself out before I can restart it. It's been into a local Volvo specialist who, for just fifty of your English pounds, plugged it into a diagnostic checker thing and found no fault at all. I took it to a slightly less local specialist and he did something to the fuel pump relay, but the fault, albeit very occasional, remains. The plan is to get it back into the less local specialist again and leave it with them for a couple of days to see if they can replicate the problem.
Other than that it's been great. I've become best mates with the guys at the local tip (since word has got around that I've bought a massive old estate hardly a weekend goes by without somebody wanting to dispose of something gigantic) and I'm getting regular mailshots from the Caravan Club.
To be continued.
Here it is in Honfleur (I know, I know, Honfleur is in Normandy)
Edited by Roy Lime on Monday 26th September 09:36
Roy Lime said:
Agree with the first part but don't understand your comment about the tailgate?
Roy Lime said:
Well it nearly made two months unscathed. Some dribbling knuckledragger of a truck-driving t
t has just put down the one-handed reading material for long enough to reverse into it while it was parked. New grille needed.
bks.
From a glass half full perspective an inattentive driver breaking your grille is better than them driving into your tailgate and denting that. It could've been worse.t has just put down the one-handed reading material for long enough to reverse into it while it was parked. New grille needed. b
ks.An update. With the odometer reading 80001, I face the classic shed dilemma.
Two days before Christmas the 850 demostrated impeccable comic timing by breaking down hopelessly on the drive. The aforementioned failure raised its head and the car had to be recovered to a local garage, where it languished over the holiday, much to the chagrin of the dog.
When, eventually, the mechanics had had their fill of mince pies and sherry, the fault was diagnosed and found to be a failing relay which was duly replaced (I think it was something to do with the fuel injection). The car slunk home, where it sat for a couple of hours with its tail between its legs, considering what further trouble it could cause.
It didn't take long to come up with an idea; the tailgate latch jammed closed the very next day.
And so we come, somewhat laboriously, to my dilemma. With due respect to Mr Strummer et al, should it stay, or should it go?
I've made a list of its faults. Some are trivial, some not so:
Broken tailgate latch.
Broken tailgate gas rams.
Inoperative sidelights.
Broken (and thoroughly annoying) driver' side door strap.
Worn anti-roll bar bushes (apparently a royal pain in the arse to repair).
The radio works when it feels like it.
Inoperative passenger heated seat (its failure was preceded by a faint burning smell).
And, after all that, it needs a tyre.
The car is MOTd until, I think, November 2017. Shed rules suggest it's time to go. Does anyone have an opinion?
Two days before Christmas the 850 demostrated impeccable comic timing by breaking down hopelessly on the drive. The aforementioned failure raised its head and the car had to be recovered to a local garage, where it languished over the holiday, much to the chagrin of the dog.
When, eventually, the mechanics had had their fill of mince pies and sherry, the fault was diagnosed and found to be a failing relay which was duly replaced (I think it was something to do with the fuel injection). The car slunk home, where it sat for a couple of hours with its tail between its legs, considering what further trouble it could cause.
It didn't take long to come up with an idea; the tailgate latch jammed closed the very next day.
And so we come, somewhat laboriously, to my dilemma. With due respect to Mr Strummer et al, should it stay, or should it go?
I've made a list of its faults. Some are trivial, some not so:
Broken tailgate latch.
Broken tailgate gas rams.
Inoperative sidelights.
Broken (and thoroughly annoying) driver' side door strap.
Worn anti-roll bar bushes (apparently a royal pain in the arse to repair).
The radio works when it feels like it.
Inoperative passenger heated seat (its failure was preceded by a faint burning smell).
And, after all that, it needs a tyre.
The car is MOTd until, I think, November 2017. Shed rules suggest it's time to go. Does anyone have an opinion?
Shed rules suggest all those problems bar the sidelights and tyre are perfectly ignorable! None of them are actually major, and the dog can use a rear door instead of the boot, right?
Sort the sidelights, buy a tyre, go for MOT in November and see what it fails on. If anything's too expensive then bin it off. You've got 11 months more cheap motoring to do yet. Keep driving!
Sort the sidelights, buy a tyre, go for MOT in November and see what it fails on. If anything's too expensive then bin it off. You've got 11 months more cheap motoring to do yet. Keep driving!
Decent choice. I have owned 17 different ones over the last four years. I still have a couple of fun ones, now.
My neighbour fell in love with them, too (and the turbos) and owns four of my previous cars whilst his 19 year old Daughter now drives my old 850 20v manual saloon and is very much loving it (not a spot of rust on it at 156k miles on a P plate) All of her friends love it, too! Apparently it's the coolest car in her circle!
Just keep using it as suggested.
Rather annoyingly, I could have sent you some of those parts required for free. We just scrapped a relatively decent T5 850 estate but only kept a few bits and bobs before she went
My neighbour fell in love with them, too (and the turbos) and owns four of my previous cars whilst his 19 year old Daughter now drives my old 850 20v manual saloon and is very much loving it (not a spot of rust on it at 156k miles on a P plate) All of her friends love it, too! Apparently it's the coolest car in her circle!
Just keep using it as suggested.
Rather annoyingly, I could have sent you some of those parts required for free. We just scrapped a relatively decent T5 850 estate but only kept a few bits and bobs before she went
I bit the bullet.
The car was serviced, had the cambelt changed and a new tyre. The heated seat decided to start working again of its own accord. Whatever was wrong with the suspension, it wasn't the anti-roll bar bushes. It just needed "something tightening up". The tailgate latch was replaced with a second hand unit and the gas rams weren't too dear.
Here it is on a short trip to Dinan last week. Mileage is now just over 82000.
The story continues...
The car was serviced, had the cambelt changed and a new tyre. The heated seat decided to start working again of its own accord. Whatever was wrong with the suspension, it wasn't the anti-roll bar bushes. It just needed "something tightening up". The tailgate latch was replaced with a second hand unit and the gas rams weren't too dear.
Here it is on a short trip to Dinan last week. Mileage is now just over 82000.
The story continues...
An update. We've just had another run over to Brittany, a faultless 1500 miles or so.
Here it is by the same field as before.
As an earlier poster mentioned, the car is noticeably smaller than many others on the road these days. Although it doesn't feel like a twenty-four year old car from the driver's seat, the reality is that it comes from a different age and is now something of a tiddler, even alongside 'small' cars.
Very sadly, I realised it is starting to show its years in other ways while cleaning it the other day. The first rust is just starting to bubble up on the OS wing.
Mileage is now reading 87242.
Here it is by the same field as before.
As an earlier poster mentioned, the car is noticeably smaller than many others on the road these days. Although it doesn't feel like a twenty-four year old car from the driver's seat, the reality is that it comes from a different age and is now something of a tiddler, even alongside 'small' cars.
Very sadly, I realised it is starting to show its years in other ways while cleaning it the other day. The first rust is just starting to bubble up on the OS wing.
Mileage is now reading 87242.
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