The Joy of Running an Old Shed

[Quavers]

My search for a V70 has been called off. I had my eye on a couple - both pulled from ebay. The rest look very leggy and do not justify their asking prices.
It is surprising how many people are asking top money for cars at the end of their life.
I will spend some money on the pisshat - I changed the gearbox oil a few weeks back but it is still not great - I have ordered some fuchs sintofluid 75w which hopefully should be better.

[Oxford1971]

Quavers said:

My search for a V70 has been called off. I had my eye on a couple - both pulled from ebay. The rest look very leggy and do not justify their asking prices.
It is surprising how many people are asking top money for cars at the end of their life.
I will spend some money on the pisshat - I changed the gearbox oil a few weeks back but it is still not great - I have ordered some fuchs sintofluid 75w which hopefully should be better.

Loads of Volvo estates with plenty of history. I brought an 850 off an Accountant who had pretty much replaced the whole car over the time he'd owned it. Complete new AC system, Windscreen wiper assembly, Driveshaft, that was just in the 12 months before I brought it for the princely sum of 995 pounds. All the work had been done at the main dealer too.

Volvo's seem to attract that sort of owner, and it's a good thing for us shed buyers.

[Lemming Train]

Quavers said:

My search for a V70 has been called off. I had my eye on a couple - both pulled from ebay. The rest look very leggy and do not justify their asking prices.
It is surprising how many people are asking top money for cars at the end of their life.
I will spend some money on the pisshat - I changed the gearbox oil a few weeks back but it is still not great - I have ordered some fuchs sintofluid 75w which hopefully should be better.

They command top money because people (mostly old duffers) believe Volvos to be unbreakable and the absolute pinnacle of reliability whereas the reality is - as evidenced in this thread - they can be just as unreliable as everything else and throw up eye-watering bills. There's also the fact that they got a 5 star NCAP rating back in 1984 or something which is another reason why old duffers want them and are prepared to pay ridiculous sums of money for them. A Mondeo estate would do the same job for a fraction of the price.

[aaron_2000]

Lemming Train said:

Quavers said:

My search for a V70 has been called off. I had my eye on a couple - both pulled from ebay. The rest look very leggy and do not justify their asking prices.
It is surprising how many people are asking top money for cars at the end of their life.
I will spend some money on the pisshat - I changed the gearbox oil a few weeks back but it is still not great - I have ordered some fuchs sintofluid 75w which hopefully should be better.

They command top money because people (mostly old duffers) believe Volvos to be unbreakable and the absolute pinnacle of reliability whereas the reality is - as evidenced in this thread - they can be just as unreliable as everything else and throw up eye-watering bills. There's also the fact that they got a 5 star NCAP rating back in 1984 or something which is another reason why old duffers want them and are prepared to pay ridiculous sums of money for them. A Mondeo estate would do the same job for a fraction of the price.

I found mine a pretty tough sell at £525, even though it was a clean car, nice spec and straight bodywork. Took £440 for it and it passed an MOT the next day with 1 advisory.

[Lemming Train]

aaron_2000 said:

I found mine a pretty tough sell at £525, even though it was a clean car, nice spec and straight bodywork. Took £440 for it and it passed an MOT the next day with 1 advisory.

Because short MOT then ?

[aaron_2000]

Lemming Train said:

aaron_2000 said:

I found mine a pretty tough sell at £525, even though it was a clean car, nice spec and straight bodywork. Took £440 for it and it passed an MOT the next day with 1 advisory.

Because short MOT then ?

Still had over a month and a clean MOT history, new owner put it through one anyway to see if it was worth keeping or not. The first car I sold when I was 16 was my granddads old Almera Tino, sat for 3 years with no MOT and that went for around £500. Only paid £300 for the Volvo and put a few thousand on the clock before I sold it.

[Oxford1971]

They don't command good money, they are cheap as chips.

[Lemming Train]

Oxford1971 said:

They don't command good money, they are cheap as chips.

If they're rough, yes. Tidy ones with service history and a long ticket go for silly money compared to other equivalent marques.

[Oxford1971]

Lemming Train said:

If they're rough, yes. Tidy ones with service history and a long ticket go for silly money compared to other equivalent marques.

I picked up a tidy XC70 with 1 yr MOT, big service history, totally mollycoddled by the previous owner, 900 pounds. It's been great! But you are right , history esp Cam Belt changes,very important. Also Volvo front tyres wear out so quickly .

[aaron_2000]

Lemming Train said:

Oxford1971 said:

They don't command good money, they are cheap as chips.

If they're rough, yes. Tidy ones with service history and a long ticket go for silly money compared to other equivalent marques.

Had FSH, and it was straight. Could've put 12 months on it but then I'd still get lowball offers and timewasters. Didn't lose money on it so wasn't overly concerned with the low price.

[anonymous-user]

aaron_2000 said:

Lemming Train said:

Oxford1971 said:

They don't command good money, they are cheap as chips.

If they're rough, yes. Tidy ones with service history and a long ticket go for silly money compared to other equivalent marques.

Had FSH, and it was straight. Could've put 12 months on it but then I'd still get lowball offers and timewasters. Didn't lose money on it so wasn't overly concerned with the low price.

The joys of trying to sell a shed, if you are selling a car for under £1k you have to deal with absolute scum, time wasters, and people who want to put oil in the header tank and convince you the head gasket has gone.

Decent people who just want a cheap car as a run about are thin on the ground, but you soon get adept at spotting them. The bar is not high though, just being able to string a sentence together is a pretty good give away that the buyer might be genuine.

If you are looking at selling a shed there is literally no point spending money on it to make it more appealing as you will not get it back. FSH means literally nothing at this price, the last shed I sold had £3 to £4k of service receipts didn't get any more money for it.

But it works both ways, if you are a decent person who is stood in front of the seller holding cash offering to take the car away it is amazing what you can get off. They will have been dealing with scum and time wasters for weeks and just want the car gone.

[rider73]

Joey Deacon said:

The joys of trying to sell a shed, if you are selling a car for under £1k you have to deal with absolute scum, time wasters, and people who want to put oil in the header tank and convince you the head gasket has gone.

Decent people who just want a cheap car as a run about are thin on the ground, but you soon get adept at spotting them. The bar is not high though, just being able to string a sentence together is a pretty good give away that the buyer might be genuine.

If you are looking at selling a shed there is literally no point spending money on it to make it more appealing as you will not get it back. FSH means literally nothing at this price, the last shed I sold had £3 to £4k of service receipts didn't get any more money for it.

But it works both ways, if you are a decent person who is stood in front of the seller holding cash offering to take the car away it is amazing what you can get off. They will have been dealing with scum and time wasters for weeks and just want the car gone.

so
much
THIS!

[Quavers]

Yes its a nightmare. People with £500 to spend expect a clutch reolacement and cambelt for their money.

[watchnut]

I am well chuffed with my local garage, the wife drove to work yesterday (V70 1999) and complained engine management light came on/off/on lost power, so struggled to work, phoned garage, they said bring it in for 1500, quick look at engine, and even she can see the big split in the hose for the turbo. She leaves it with them and walks home, by the time she gets home they call her and say they have "bodged" it for a temporary repair. They can't get new hose until today and then can't do it until friday......she asked will it make Gatwick from New forest as daughter off to France skiing for 6 months.....yes but don't thrash it....the mechanic only went home, and got some hose he thought would fit for a few days, and four jubilee clips !!!

So i drove daughter to Gatwick this morning taking it easy, running smooth as silk, 241k came up and on the way back i couldn't resist trying to see how the repair would stand up to a bit of welly.....well the tt in the 18 plate BMW behind me asking for a tow can testify that even if booted in 5th gear it had a little life in it, but, yet a cloud of smoke Dick Dastardly would have been proud of (mechanic warned us it might be a wee bit smoky as the split pipe was very coked up)

It looks a cheap fix as at top of engine, and no time at all in labour, however I think a couple of slabs of "wife beater" are going to be dropped off on top of the bill for 1st class service in sorting it so quickly keeping us on the road. pays to use the same garage for buying all our tyres from them and two of the 5 cars in the family getting serviced there

everyone thinks my V70 is a shed...it might be, but I loves it

[Touring442]

Big Easy said:

CrgT16 said:

Yep have one of those Type S turning circle is ridiculous, apart from that ok car. Done 4K on mine so far.

I had one of these a few years ago, had forgotten about the turning circle until now. I found the gear ratios a bit off as well, it was crying out for a 6th gear - 3500rpm at 70mph in 5th. At the time I was doing a lot of motorway driving so it was a bit of a pain, loved it around town though.

2005 would be the last of the good Civics. The 2006 Spaceship version was/is bloody awful. Terrible ride thanks to the old style twist beam rear axle, shocking all round vision (it's a genuine problem to see out of it) and the dash is a disaster. One of the few cases where a manufacturer took a good car and ruined it.

They are well made and reliable however.

[aaron_2000]

Joey Deacon said:

aaron_2000 said:

Lemming Train said:

Oxford1971 said:

They don't command good money, they are cheap as chips.

If they're rough, yes. Tidy ones with service history and a long ticket go for silly money compared to other equivalent marques.

Had FSH, and it was straight. Could've put 12 months on it but then I'd still get lowball offers and timewasters. Didn't lose money on it so wasn't overly concerned with the low price.

The joys of trying to sell a shed, if you are selling a car for under £1k you have to deal with absolute scum, time wasters, and people who want to put oil in the header tank and convince you the head gasket has gone.

Decent people who just want a cheap car as a run about are thin on the ground, but you soon get adept at spotting them. The bar is not high though, just being able to string a sentence together is a pretty good give away that the buyer might be genuine.

If you are looking at selling a shed there is literally no point spending money on it to make it more appealing as you will not get it back. FSH means literally nothing at this price, the last shed I sold had £3 to £4k of service receipts didn't get any more money for it.

But it works both ways, if you are a decent person who is stood in front of the seller holding cash offering to take the car away it is amazing what you can get off. They will have been dealing with scum and time wasters for weeks and just want the car gone.

When I bought the Volvo, I told him if it starts I'm taking it, got there and it started straight up so I handed him the money, taxed and insured it and took it. He had it up for £600 and had nothing but hassle trying to sell it, he gave me it for £300 for a quick sale. 3 owner car, he'd owned it since 2007 and only sold it because he was getting divorced. Great shed, and a nice engine too. I sold it to a nice guy too, made me happy seeing it a couple of weeks ago doing the school run instead of going to the scrapyard like it was gonna.

[Bumblebee7]

Touring442 said:

2005 would be the last of the good Civics. The 2006 Spaceship version was/is bloody awful. Terrible ride thanks to the old style twist beam rear axle, shocking all round vision (it's a genuine problem to see out of it) and the dash is a disaster. One of the few cases where a manufacturer took a good car and ruined it.

They are well made and reliable however.

Agree on the terrible ride, disagree with everything else. I have a 2007 ictdi, owned by me for 6 years and in the family from new and it's a great car. The dash is perfect and any other car I drive is more complicated to use, never need to take your eyes off the road to see the speedo either. Drove a 17 plate Merc GLC for the whole of the last weekend and I thought the layout was awful and speedo position all wrong. I think the visibility is great, with huge wing mirrors and the weird wing in the back window actually seems to be at the perfect height to not be blinded by cars driving behind you. My only criticism on that front is that I wish it had a rear wiper.

[anonymous-user]

I just bought a 1 owner 1999 Mercedes E240 Auto Estate, 2.5 petrol, year MOT with 250k on the clock for £500 - will I regret it?

[Oxford1971]

It's just got to last till the next MOT and job's a good 'un.

[aaron_2000]

catweasle said:

I just bought a 1 owner 1999 Mercedes E240 Auto Estate, 2.5 petrol, year MOT with 250k on the clock for £500 - will I regret it?

I'd say any running and driving car with 12 months MOT is worth at least £500