What would you do?
Discussion
On Monday I bought a new car, a Volvo XC70 d5 p3.
5 miles into my journey home it broke down, I assumed it was fuel as it just cut out and I knew it was low. Long story short it wasn't fuel, I got a garage to recover it to discover that the cam belt hadn't snapped but teeth were missing.
How bad the damage will be I don't know yet but after paying £5k for a car to not even get it home is a bit of a kick in the b
ks. The history for the car was quite good, the cam belt was done previously and had 50k miles before being due again.
As a private buyer I'm aware there's no recourse legally, I shall just have to take that on the chin which is not great as £5k is not a small sum of money to me.
But where do I go from here, I'd love some ideas.
I suspect mechanically it's either a new engine or reconed head. What would be a rough estimate on charges for that?
My other option I guess is try and break the car then scrap it, some of the bits seem to go for quite a bit of cash on ebay. Has anyone got experience of this? Is it a huge pain in the arse?
I've not spoken to the previous owners, I don't know if I should really. I don't believe they knew of this issue and were open for me to do any inspection, I test drove the car for over an hour with no issues and there was no clues that this was a problem. It's just one of those things I guess.
Cheers
5 miles into my journey home it broke down, I assumed it was fuel as it just cut out and I knew it was low. Long story short it wasn't fuel, I got a garage to recover it to discover that the cam belt hadn't snapped but teeth were missing.
How bad the damage will be I don't know yet but after paying £5k for a car to not even get it home is a bit of a kick in the b
ks. The history for the car was quite good, the cam belt was done previously and had 50k miles before being due again.As a private buyer I'm aware there's no recourse legally, I shall just have to take that on the chin which is not great as £5k is not a small sum of money to me.
But where do I go from here, I'd love some ideas.
I suspect mechanically it's either a new engine or reconed head. What would be a rough estimate on charges for that?
My other option I guess is try and break the car then scrap it, some of the bits seem to go for quite a bit of cash on ebay. Has anyone got experience of this? Is it a huge pain in the arse?
I've not spoken to the previous owners, I don't know if I should really. I don't believe they knew of this issue and were open for me to do any inspection, I test drove the car for over an hour with no issues and there was no clues that this was a problem. It's just one of those things I guess.
Cheers
I’d wait for the cost of repair and go from there.
Unless it’s more than a couple of grand, I’d suck it up, pay the repair and then enjoy the new car.
Breaking a car, if it were me, sounds like a monumental hassle, both in time and effort, that I couldn’t be bothered with.
So I’d sell for scrap, or repair it. Whichever is the cheapest route overall.
I wouldn’t contact the previous owners if it was a private sale if you purchased without any guarantee or warranty, just wasting your time.
Unless it’s more than a couple of grand, I’d suck it up, pay the repair and then enjoy the new car.
Breaking a car, if it were me, sounds like a monumental hassle, both in time and effort, that I couldn’t be bothered with.
So I’d sell for scrap, or repair it. Whichever is the cheapest route overall.
I wouldn’t contact the previous owners if it was a private sale if you purchased without any guarantee or warranty, just wasting your time.
Same happened to my 740 - halfway home from buying it, stripped cambelt.
Ultimately I ended up putting a secondhand engine in it at the side of the road outside my house.
Engine for mine was only £200, plus the gaskets, (and a new belt kit!) etc meant it cost about £500 - which was less than the cost of getting the head reworked plus the same gaskets + then a head gasket and bolt set on top.
Last I looked a second hand D5 engine was circa £800, then you've got the labour on top to fit it if you haven't got the time/space/tools/knowledge.
Should come in well under the cost of buying another car though.
Get quotes for both options and make your choice.
Obviously you have the fact a secondhand engine is an unknown quantity, but you've just got to roll the dice on that one unless you know the seller.
Usually the later Volvos are scrapped for automatic gearbox problems with a still perfectly good engine, so you have that in your favour.
I wouldn't bother contacting the seller, they won't have known about that. We did tell ours, but only because he sent a message saying he hoped we got home safe, while we were hooking it up to the back of the AA van
Breaking a car is usually a pain in the arse, people dont turn up, people claim bits didn't arrive, you've got to have the space to store bits until someone needs it etc etc.
Ultimately I ended up putting a secondhand engine in it at the side of the road outside my house.
Engine for mine was only £200, plus the gaskets, (and a new belt kit!) etc meant it cost about £500 - which was less than the cost of getting the head reworked plus the same gaskets + then a head gasket and bolt set on top.
Last I looked a second hand D5 engine was circa £800, then you've got the labour on top to fit it if you haven't got the time/space/tools/knowledge.
Should come in well under the cost of buying another car though.
Get quotes for both options and make your choice.
Obviously you have the fact a secondhand engine is an unknown quantity, but you've just got to roll the dice on that one unless you know the seller.
Usually the later Volvos are scrapped for automatic gearbox problems with a still perfectly good engine, so you have that in your favour.
I wouldn't bother contacting the seller, they won't have known about that. We did tell ours, but only because he sent a message saying he hoped we got home safe, while we were hooking it up to the back of the AA van
Breaking a car is usually a pain in the arse, people dont turn up, people claim bits didn't arrive, you've got to have the space to store bits until someone needs it etc etc.
If your on facebook, join this and tell the story, the admin Darren who runs it is a XC70 diesel specialist. See if they can assist.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/XC70OwnersUK
https://www.facebook.com/groups/XC70OwnersUK
pd2 said:
If your on facebook, join this and tell the story, the admin Darren who runs it is a XC70 diesel specialist. See if they can assist.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/XC70OwnersUK
I was going to suggest this!https://www.facebook.com/groups/XC70OwnersUK
Darren is very highly recommended and has a great reputation (not used him myself yet as he seems to mainly stick to P3 cars and I have a P2 XC70).
Hope you get it sorted OP.
Have a good look at that invoice for the cambelt change, would be very very very odd for one of these to drop teeth 50k before a change.
Every chance that's the factory belt and any claimed history of a belt change is fabricated, the guy you bought it from might not have known in any case.
Not sure it helps you in this situation with a private sale though, really sorry for you getting a kick in the pods like this. Fingers crossed you don't have 20 bent valves and it'll be a relatively straightforward repair.
Lots of these appearing in breakers now, worst case get a head off one of those, and if it's a 185bhp one do the swirl flaps when the head is off. £5k car is worth dropping £1.5k - £2k to fix, not what you want when you just spent all your money buying the fker though 
Every chance that's the factory belt and any claimed history of a belt change is fabricated, the guy you bought it from might not have known in any case.
Not sure it helps you in this situation with a private sale though, really sorry for you getting a kick in the pods like this. Fingers crossed you don't have 20 bent valves and it'll be a relatively straightforward repair.
Lots of these appearing in breakers now, worst case get a head off one of those, and if it's a 185bhp one do the swirl flaps when the head is off. £5k car is worth dropping £1.5k - £2k to fix, not what you want when you just spent all your money buying the f
ker though Edited by GeniusOfLove on Friday 22 August 14:58
GeniusOfLove said:
Have a good look at that invoice for the cambelt change, would be very very very odd for one of these to drop teeth 50k before a change.
Many years ago I had a fall out with an otherwise well regarded sports car mechanic that was championed on Pistonheads and generally in car circles. He bodged a job I left him to do on a TVR and I decided to vote with my feet. Several years later I bought another sports car from a dealership not far away from said mechanic specialist. Coincidentally, they happened to use the garage for all their work, which included the pre-delivery service on my new to me sports car. This should have included a cambelt as it was the major service due.
About a year down the line I had my usual specialist do some work including a new manifold and he rang to say the cambelt was the original and I was lucky it hadn't failed and killed the engine.
This was supposedly recommended high(ish) end specialists so an invoice would mean F all to me.
GeniusOfLove said:
Have a good look at that invoice for the cambelt change, would be very very very odd for one of these to drop teeth 50k before a change.
Every chance that's the factory belt and any claimed history of a belt change is fabricated, the guy you bought it from might not have known in any case.
Not sure it helps you in this situation with a private sale though, really sorry for you getting a kick in the pods like this. Fingers crossed you don't have 20 bent valves and it'll be a relatively straightforward repair.
Lots of these appearing in breakers now, worst case get a head off one of those, and if it's a 185bhp one do the swirl flaps when the head is off. £5k car is worth dropping £1.5k - £2k to fix, not what you want when you just spent all your money buying the fker though
I was also shocked about the belt but the invoice is real and I verified it. We think the aux belt may have snapped at some stage and damaged the cam belt, they are famous for getting tangled in there and snapping the cam belt with it but on this occasion the mechanic thinks it just caused some damage. Every chance that's the factory belt and any claimed history of a belt change is fabricated, the guy you bought it from might not have known in any case.
Not sure it helps you in this situation with a private sale though, really sorry for you getting a kick in the pods like this. Fingers crossed you don't have 20 bent valves and it'll be a relatively straightforward repair.
Lots of these appearing in breakers now, worst case get a head off one of those, and if it's a 185bhp one do the swirl flaps when the head is off. £5k car is worth dropping £1.5k - £2k to fix, not what you want when you just spent all your money buying the f
ker though Edited by GeniusOfLove on Friday 22 August 14:58
It had a brand new aux belt on it...
Well they got back to me, the bottom crank pulley is damaged which resulted in the belt going.
The pistons seem ok, the head is actually cracked and the valves are done for.
They quoted me £4700. I'm going in next week to have a look at what the options are.
I'm wondering if this is a front garden job. £4700 is a bit more than I thought and it seems like reconditioned heads are easier to source than an engine.
I shall have a few beers and mull it over.
The pistons seem ok, the head is actually cracked and the valves are done for.
They quoted me £4700. I'm going in next week to have a look at what the options are.
I'm wondering if this is a front garden job. £4700 is a bit more than I thought and it seems like reconditioned heads are easier to source than an engine.
I shall have a few beers and mull it over.
TopPlonker said:
Well they got back to me, the bottom crank pulley is damaged which resulted in the belt going.
The pistons seem ok, the head is actually cracked and the valves are done for.
They quoted me £4700. I'm going in next week to have a look at what the options are.
I'm wondering if this is a front garden job. £4700 is a bit more than I thought and it seems like reconditioned heads are easier to source than an engine.
I shall have a few beers and mull it over.
Christ that’s bad luck. I’ve just changed the timing belt and aux belts on my early xc90 d5 it’s an easy job but on my research it says don’t bother with anything other than the proper Volvo belts, bearings and tensioners. Maybe it was aftermarket? The pistons seem ok, the head is actually cracked and the valves are done for.
They quoted me £4700. I'm going in next week to have a look at what the options are.
I'm wondering if this is a front garden job. £4700 is a bit more than I thought and it seems like reconditioned heads are easier to source than an engine.
I shall have a few beers and mull it over.
If mine went and that was the repair bill I would either cut my losses and sell it or attempt fitting a second hand engine myself.
TopPlonker said:
Well they got back to me, the bottom crank pulley is damaged which resulted in the belt going.
The pistons seem ok, the head is actually cracked and the valves are done for.
They quoted me £4700. I'm going in next week to have a look at what the options are.
I'm wondering if this is a front garden job. £4700 is a bit more than I thought and it seems like reconditioned heads are easier to source than an engine.
I shall have a few beers and mull it over.
I would be looking at a recon engine if you're not inclined to cut your losses and flog it as is.The pistons seem ok, the head is actually cracked and the valves are done for.
They quoted me £4700. I'm going in next week to have a look at what the options are.
I'm wondering if this is a front garden job. £4700 is a bit more than I thought and it seems like reconditioned heads are easier to source than an engine.
I shall have a few beers and mull it over.
I'd think about a few options....
Buying a matching (or cheaper/tatty/higher mileage) one to mentally move on the quickest, then DIY it over time (high up front cost but no worse than the repair and mostly recoverable in time?). Having the same one would sitting there make the DIY easier.
Punish yourself
with a (I think lovely!) low mileage 2000 Avensis 2.0 (non VVti engine that is non interference so no cambelt worries).....then DIY the volvo over time.
Paying the same again for the repair would irk me more, but it's a reasonably big DIY job? See what the beer tells you!
It isn't worth anything but you have my sympathy
Buying a matching (or cheaper/tatty/higher mileage) one to mentally move on the quickest, then DIY it over time (high up front cost but no worse than the repair and mostly recoverable in time?). Having the same one would sitting there make the DIY easier.
Punish yourself
with a (I think lovely!) low mileage 2000 Avensis 2.0 (non VVti engine that is non interference so no cambelt worries).....then DIY the volvo over time. Paying the same again for the repair would irk me more, but it's a reasonably big DIY job? See what the beer tells you!
It isn't worth anything but you have my sympathy
I'm trying to mentally price up the job here so bear with me...
I have found fully reconditioned heads for £1200 sold on an exchange basis.
From there am I right in saying it's a strip down job, head gasket, timing belt, aux belt and put it all back together type job?
So say the gaskets and sundries come to £500, the head is £1200, belt job £600....
How are they coming to £4700, am I being given the fk off price?
If you were to do this job on your driveway am I better off going down the path of a new engine, or get the head and do it myself...
I have found fully reconditioned heads for £1200 sold on an exchange basis.
From there am I right in saying it's a strip down job, head gasket, timing belt, aux belt and put it all back together type job?
So say the gaskets and sundries come to £500, the head is £1200, belt job £600....
How are they coming to £4700, am I being given the f
k off price?If you were to do this job on your driveway am I better off going down the path of a new engine, or get the head and do it myself...
TopPlonker said:
I'm trying to mentally price up the job here so bear with me...
I have found fully reconditioned heads for £1200 sold on an exchange basis.
From there am I right in saying it's a strip down job, head gasket, timing belt, aux belt and put it all back together type job?
So say the gaskets and sundries come to £500, the head is £1200, belt job £600....
How are they coming to £4700, am I being given the fk off price?
If you were to do this job on your driveway am I better off going down the path of a new engine, or get the head and do it myself...
If your head is cracked, you’ll not get an exchange, so they are probably charging you full Volvo RRP on a new head. I have found fully reconditioned heads for £1200 sold on an exchange basis.
From there am I right in saying it's a strip down job, head gasket, timing belt, aux belt and put it all back together type job?
So say the gaskets and sundries come to £500, the head is £1200, belt job £600....
How are they coming to £4700, am I being given the f
k off price?If you were to do this job on your driveway am I better off going down the path of a new engine, or get the head and do it myself...
They said on the phone it's a second-hand head they priced up. Add £500 for the none exchange then at worst...
But it seems to me like they would accept it as the heads break around the valve poppets, the reconditioned ones are machined out, a new bit is welded in and then re-machined to accept everything again.
But it seems to me like they would accept it as the heads break around the valve poppets, the reconditioned ones are machined out, a new bit is welded in and then re-machined to accept everything again.
Well I went and had a look this morning, this is the offending part.
The engine is getting rebuilt, there's a refurb head on the way and it will ride again.
I went with the garage quote, after thinking about it and looking into the job I think it's £2500 of parts and tools I would need to buy and it's a pig of a job.
The engine is getting rebuilt, there's a refurb head on the way and it will ride again.
I went with the garage quote, after thinking about it and looking into the job I think it's £2500 of parts and tools I would need to buy and it's a pig of a job.
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