Car Talk

[NeilB]

Out with the old

and in with the new along with a healthy reduction in BIK tax.  I also get 359hp to play with!

[BroadAmbition]

Our Robin has just added up all the maintenance / faults costings for his Volvo XC since new - It's frightening

Griff

[NeilB]

22 minutes ago, BroadAmbition said:

Our Robin has just added up all the maintenance / faults costings for his Volvo XC since new - It's frightening

Griff

Yes I saw that.  This won't cost me a penny (apart from BIK tax), as it's a company car, saying that the XC60 was faultless over 3 1/2 years.

[floydraser]

My XC90 will be 10 years old in June. Apart from the brakes after 5 years I've had no problems, 76k miles. Not the quality build I was expecting but it's sooo comfortable I would miss it.

[twowrights]

5 hours ago, NeilB said:

Out with the old

and in with the new along with a healthy reduction in BIK tax.  I also get 359hp to play with!

Nice, but if I had 359hp to play with I wouldn't have my license for much longer. 😜

[oldgregg]

6 hours ago, NeilB said:

Out with the old

and in with the new along with a healthy reduction in BIK tax.  I also get 359hp to play with!

Very nice. Gotta love a fast estate.

[BroadAmbition]

Robins XC -  So.. previous owner spent £10,856 then I spent £5,768 so it’s had £16,621 spent on it. This works out since registration to be £977.00 a year!

W0w

Griff

[OldBerkshireBoy]

Hard to comment not knowing what was spent on what.

[grendel]

you have to try and avoid the dealerships, getting my 2008 volvo through the MOT with the ABS pump woes (at 180,000 miles), cost me £800, it cost the ABS repair company whose courier lost the pump that went with my car over £600 in bills from Volvo for just recoding the part, if I had taken it to volvo they would have insisted on a new pump (£2500) plus probably another £800 to do the work.

my costs did include a full service all the filters (including cabin filters) and a new coil spring.

[RumPunch]

Took a few attempts this year but only abo £50 in parts

 

[LondonRascal]

Well here is something to watch and urm, enjoy? Here I show you what is wrong with, and why I am finally giving up on my Volvo XC70. These cars are often thought to be reliable, well I've had much work done on the car (almost £6,000 in two years) and the single owner before me spent over £16,000 in the 15 years they owned it. Despite all this love, care and money some things are coming back previously fixed at great expense in 2017, and others are popping up with new issues.  But it is not all bad, she these are very comfortable capable cars too so we have a little review of the good bits too.

And this is makes you pleased you are just watching, not paying - we go through each invoice and tally up the costs over the years:

 

[floydraser]

Well I've nothing better to do so I've just watched both of the above videos and I have to say I think you're being more than a little unfair to have a go at Volvo's reputation. 

I think you said the mileage was 127K when you bought it, from an address in London, with scratches on the door. I would have run a mile! Even if it was a Toyota! Did you also see their receipts before you bought it? I wouldn't say it's been looked after; they weren't bothered about the deep scratches so it wasn't their pride and joy.  You never know how the cars been driven on a daily basis but in London that usually means short journeys with a lot of start-stop trips. Main dealers like to change the timing belt at around 60k to 70k so it was due one when you bought it. Although Volvo themselves say the belt is actually OK for 110k to 120k, depends how brave you are.

I think it was a brave gamble to buy the car, I've done the same with boats! 

[floydraser]

Three years ago I was charged with selling my Father-in-law's 10 year old Kia Venga which he had bought new from the main dealer in Leicester. He had traded in his very low mileage Carens and they stung him at the time with a very low trade in value. He would have been 82 at the time. I went through the service invoices and was horrified at the amount of money they had taken him for. From memory, there was a 12k service at 5k miles and a couple of 20k services too. It had only done 16,300 miles when I sold it! He was also supposed to get something like 25% discount on his first seven years services but they seem to have forgotten that. 

Having watched Robin's videos, in the "you may also like" column it seems there is a trend for all the Clarkson wannabees on Youtube to buy a car from Ebay/FB Marketplace and take it to a main dealer for assessment. Four grand for a pair of Jag headlights! 

[Happy]

13 minutes ago, floydraser said:

Three years ago I was charged with selling my Father-in-law's 10 year old Kia Venga which he had bought new from the main dealer in Leicester. He had traded in his very low mileage Carens and they stung him at the time with a very low trade in value. He would have been 82 at the time. I went through the service invoices and was horrified at the amount of money they had taken him for. From memory, there was a 12k service at 5k miles and a couple of 20k services too. It had only done 16,300 miles when I sold it! He was also supposed to get something like 25% discount on his first seven years services but they seem to have forgotten that. 

Having watched Robin's videos, in the "you may also like" column it seems there is a trend for all the Clarkson wannabees on Youtube to buy a car from Ebay/FB Marketplace and take it to a main dealer for assessment. Four grand for a pair of Jag headlights! 

I ran a SEAT dealership set up on the day they started in this country.  We had a lot of happy customers. One of them was an ex Army Officer.  Lovely guy and quite elderly.  He did'nt do a great mileage but insisted on a full service every six months.  It did not matter how many times I told him he was wasting his money - he insisted.  Customer was always right.

[OldBerkshireBoy]

Once knew a guy who fitted new HT leads at every service! 

[oldgregg]

2 hours ago, floydraser said:

Having watched Robin's videos, in the "you may also like" column it seems there is a trend for all the Clarkson wannabees on Youtube to buy a car from Ebay/FB Marketplace and take it to a main dealer for assessment. Four grand for a pair of Jag headlights! 

Yep.

The format seems to be something like this:

1) Oh no, what have I done, it's the worst financial mistake ever

2) Take it to a main dealer or the most expensive specialist we can find and get a quote as near five figures as possible.

3) Fix it up with parts from sponsors, run it for a bit and then flip for a tidy profit because you're 'famous'.

Bonus points for poking a screwdriver through the easily-replaced rusty sills, or for putting the car on a dyno to see how many horses have escaped.

[BrundallNavy]

My uncle use to change his oil on a v6 Clio every 3000 miles. He use to give it to his neighbour who used it to do an oil change on his ford focus. Now that’s what I call recycling. 

[Bikertov]

My engine burns so much oil, I don't need to do an oil change

I reckon it gets through a 4L bottle of oil every year, so there is always fresh stuff in there.

[oldgregg]

My Honda was getting that way, I did a trip to Blackburn at easter to see Norwich play and I topped it up before leaving Norwich and it needed another litre when I got home.

Now admittedly the VTEC got a lot of use on that trip because we were running a bit late, but it was definitely doing its own oil changes at that point. 

[dom]

I had a 99 2.2 VTEC Prelude. It was the absolute top spec Motegi model with 4 wheel steer. I ran it for years until it got to the point where it was pointless to sell, as it had no real cash value, but it was still far too good to get rid of. So I just stopped servicing, but continued driving it. It'd use a litre or so of oil a month and probably went a good 4 years without a change. I dread to think what it looked like when it eventually got drained. The really mad thing is, I eventually traded it in back in 2015. The new owner stuck a private plate on it, and when I last checked it was still on the road.

I always vowed to never buy a Japanese car. I'm now on Honda number 5. I suspect the only reason I'll ever buy another brand is due to the diminishing range Honda now offer.

[Mouldy]

3 hours ago, Bikertov said:

My engine burns so much oil, I don't need to do an oil change

I reckon it gets through a 4L bottle of oil every year, so there is always fresh stuff in there.

Good to know that you’re doing your bit for the environment, Danny! 

[LondonRascal]

20 hours ago, floydraser said:

Well I've nothing better to do so I've just watched both of the above videos and I have to say I think you're being more than a little unfair to have a go at Volvo's reputation. 

I think you said the mileage was 127K when you bought it, from an address in London, with scratches on the door. I would have run a mile! Even if it was a Toyota! Did you also see their receipts before you bought it? I wouldn't say it's been looked after; they weren't bothered about the deep scratches so it wasn't their pride and joy.  You never know how the cars been driven on a daily basis but in London that usually means short journeys with a lot of start-stop trips. Main dealers like to change the timing belt at around 60k to 70k so it was due one when you bought it. Although Volvo themselves say the belt is actually OK for 110k to 120k, depends how brave you are.

I think it was a brave gamble to buy the car, I've done the same with boats! 

I was sharing my opinion, and my opinion is Volvo cars are not all they are made out to be as far as reliability - this was my third Volvo (previous two were V70's). I waited patiently after the other two V70's to try and find a decent one and liked the idea of the XC70 (having found the XC90 too slow and also costly to tax but under is the same drive-train as an XC70). I travelled to Peterborough, Leicester, Norwich, Corby, Penrith and then finally found the one I went on to buy in Epsom. One former lady owner, full Volvo main dealer service history. Impeccable MOT history - what exactly do you expect on a 17 year old car? I was not looking for perfection, I just wanted something comfy to take big things to the local tip in and be a stand in car.

Of course it was not the former keepers pride and joy, it is a car - for lugging stuff around for a family. It was not my pride and joy either - I reserve that for my Mercedes SLK - but it had served them well (ish) having kept on spending and spending out on above usual costs - £16,000 over a 15 year period is excessive. It made sense when the rear light cluster got broken and Volvo wanted £490+VAT to replace and fir they threw in the towel and ridded themselves of it.  It had TWO cam belt changes before I bought it, so was not due one when I bought it, but I had it and the water pump done in the first month of ownership. I don't think this was a gamble or being brave, it was calculated. I want any car to be reliable regardless of age once it is in my ownership.

Few would buy a car of that age and expect to do little with it, but also few would do much with it - if you spent £4,000 on a car with 134,000 on the clock, regardless of who it was manufactured by, it is likely to begin having issues. Usually those are 'every day' things like the suspension bushing wearing but here I am having thought at the time " That was bad luck the Power Steering pump failed but lucky I did not have to replace it" - having failed at only 112,000 odd miles, it went again last year with under 150,000 miles - so original Volvo part sourced and fitted and here we are and it is leaking again! So this car requires a new pump - a third in its life - that is not (in my mind) usual. You've seen the costs I have incurred and the moment anything happened it was straight booked in - garages telling me I was 'off my rocker' spending thousands on an old Volvo worth a few hundred quid, but on I went, not because I have a passion for the car or Volvo's but because that is the sort of owner I am. If it needs doing it gets done. I am not however vein enough to worry about having the door resprayed to get rid of the scratches because that is cosmetic and does not do anything, its why I always use brushed automatic car washes none of this 'double bucket fear the swirls' nonsense.

So, I think you are being unfair, because I was not 'dissing' the car, but whenever you hear of this generation of Volvo it is seen as so reliable, bullet proof even - but go on a Forum and see the same issues time and again and so I think hmm, maybe this is just as good as a Ford, or a Citroen but is it 'above average' for reliability? I see countless other high mileage diesels out there with blown turbos, injector issues, blocked DPF's, EGR's clogged with soot - none of that is any issue with the car, its a bit of plastic that operated the swirl flaps which caused the chain reaction. Oh, and the prop shaft - and how many cars of this age have already had a new one of those - yep my one had, and here I am looking at another  needing doing, so I called time and thought nope. It has been fun, yes it is comfy and yet I have to draw the line keeping putting not hundreds of pounds, but thousands of pounds into a car that is nothing special at the end of the day. So it is going and a new Audi A6 AllRoad is coming on Thursday. I am also considering getting a cheap used EV for local trips that I can run on pennies charging it up and see what this EV ownership is like without having to go full in and it be my owner car.

[LondonRascal]

9 hours ago, Happy said:

I ran a SEAT dealership set up on the day they started in this country.  We had a lot of happy customers. One of them was an ex Army Officer.  Lovely guy and quite elderly.  He did'nt do a great mileage but insisted on a full service every six months.  It did not matter how many times I told him he was wasting his money - he insisted.  Customer was always right.

I have my Mercedes SLK oil changed that often without fail, despite the fact it lives in the garage and came out 6 times this year. Why argue with a customer wanting to spend their money? Better than a customer arguing something does not need doing when it really does need it, or chasing customers for payment..

[LondonRascal]

If you fancy seeing me trying to do car reviews - and failing, here are a couple from the archives:

 

[floydraser]

35 minutes ago, LondonRascal said:

I was sharing my opinion, and my opinion is Volvo cars are not all they are made out to be as far as reliability - this was my third Volvo (previous two were V70's). I waited patiently after the other two V70's to try and find a decent one and liked the idea of the XC70 (having found the XC90 too slow and also costly to tax but under is the same drive-train as an XC70). I travelled to Peterborough, Leicester, Norwich, Corby, Penrith and then finally found the one I went on to buy in Epsom. One former lady owner, full Volvo main dealer service history. Impeccable MOT history - what exactly do you expect on a 17 year old car? I was not looking for perfection, I just wanted something comfy to take big things to the local tip in and be a stand in car.

Of course it was not the former keepers pride and joy, it is a car - for lugging stuff around for a family. It was not my pride and joy either - I reserve that for my Mercedes SLK - but it had served them well (ish) having kept on spending and spending out on above usual costs - £16,000 over a 15 year period is excessive. It made sense when the rear light cluster got broken and Volvo wanted £490+VAT to replace and fir they threw in the towel and ridded themselves of it.  It had TWO cam belt changes before I bought it, so was not due one when I bought it, but I had it and the water pump done in the first month of ownership. I don't think this was a gamble or being brave, it was calculated. I want any car to be reliable regardless of age once it is in my ownership.

Few would buy a car of that age and expect to do little with it, but also few would do much with it - if you spent £4,000 on a car with 134,000 on the clock, regardless of who it was manufactured by, it is likely to begin having issues. Usually those are 'every day' things like the suspension bushing wearing but here I am having thought at the time " That was bad luck the Power Steering pump failed but lucky I did not have to replace it" - having failed at only 112,000 odd miles, it went again last year with under 150,000 miles - so original Volvo part sourced and fitted and here we are and it is leaking again! So this car requires a new pump - a third in its life - that is not (in my mind) usual. You've seen the costs I have incurred and the moment anything happened it was straight booked in - garages telling me I was 'off my rocker' spending thousands on an old Volvo worth a few hundred quid, but on I went, not because I have a passion for the car or Volvo's but because that is the sort of owner I am. If it needs doing it gets done. I am not however vein enough to worry about having the door resprayed to get rid of the scratches because that is cosmetic and does not do anything, its why I always use brushed automatic car washes none of this 'double bucket fear the swirls' nonsense.

So, I think you are being unfair, because I was not 'dissing' the car, but whenever you hear of this generation of Volvo it is seen as so reliable, bullet proof even - but go on a Forum and see the same issues time and again and so I think hmm, maybe this is just as good as a Ford, or a Citroen but is it 'above average' for reliability? I see countless other high mileage diesels out there with blown turbos, injector issues, blocked DPF's, EGR's clogged with soot - none of that is any issue with the car, its a bit of plastic that operated the swirl flaps which caused the chain reaction. Oh, and the prop shaft - and how many cars of this age have already had a new one of those - yep my one had, and here I am looking at another  needing doing, so I called time and thought nope. It has been fun, yes it is comfy and yet I have to draw the line keeping putting not hundreds of pounds, but thousands of pounds into a car that is nothing special at the end of the day. So it is going and a new Audi A6 AllRoad is coming on Thursday. I am also considering getting a cheap used EV for local trips that I can run on pennies charging it up and see what this EV ownership is like without having to go full in and it be my owner car.

One former lady owner you said. It has all the fancy extras you said. So this lady shelled out on a top of the range Volvo brand spanking new and couldn't care less about it? Blimey, how some people live. I would have seen the scratches on the door and said to myself "if that's an indication of how they look after the car, they clearly don't value it very much, I wonder what else is wrong? Probably thrashed. Best walk away."

I don't get the importance you attach to the "impeccable MOT history" and "no advisories" mentioned in the vid. Mine went for it's test on Thursday and got two: two of the tyres are worn, still legal but worn. Big deal. So mine's MOT record is not impeccable but I won't hold it against Volvo. Your lady's main dealer probably changed everything that even looked worn before it went for the MOT, like the light cluster you mention, would have been an MOT fail.