Time for another car ... Volvo 960 or Volvo 850?

I think Volvo introduced an anti-theft system after the 850 that meant many of the components are coded up and the car just wont behave unless the computer is happy that everything is above board. I could be wrong on that, its just what I read. In any case, both the 900 and the 800 series pre-date that, which I think might be something Ford funded after they bought Volvo in 1999.

[Tangent alert]
Once my 940 broke down and because I didn't have my tools with me, I had no option but to call out Green Flag. The man arrived, and started poking about pretending he knew what he was doing. He looked at the warning light on the dash, and said 'ah yes, the ECU is not happy, it says the lambda sensor has failed'. I replied, 'well lets ask it shall we' and led him to a little black box of tricks under the bonnet. I put a jumper wire into a certain hole, pressed a button, and watched an LED flash a code at me, and then said 'its telling me that the MAF sensor signal is missing out of range'. The chap was puzzled by this, and asked if this box was a custom mod. I told him (truthfully) it was a standard feature on most 940s. 10 minutes later, the MAF sensor was off, cleaned, and refitted and I was on my way. I later discovered that the gadget in the air box that regulates air temperature into the engine was dead, so it was always sucking hot air, so I bolted into the cold air position (12 pence repair cost) figuring the hot air feature might be necessary in a Swedish winter, but not usually in the UK. That made a massive improvement to both performance and fuel economy. I then decided to overhaul the entire ignition system, so about £25 spent meant she now had reliable ignition. Then I spent £1 on some carb cleaner, and in less than 1 hour I'd dismantled the entire air intake system, including throttle body and idle control etc, cleaned it thoroughly, and refitted.

I only paid £300 for my Volvo, with over 250,000 miles on the clock. Spent about £30 and 2 hours work max, and she just ran like a dream after that. She ran well for the most part before that, but 17 year old ignition parts usually misbehave from time to time. I let her go because I was skint, and her clutch was slipping, and I'd bust a back shocker and couldn't afford to put her right. Biggest mistake ever. I'f Id put those 2 bits right she'd have still been going strong.

 

Volvos am HARDER THEN MIKE TYSONS HEAD!!!!!

I Used to crush cars for a living in a bayling crushing machine i worked for the UKs biggest salvage company

This machine was capabull of crushing 2 cars at the same time and crushing them in to a squire box even 2 cars at the same time

UNLESS IT WAS A VOLVO!!!!

Every Time it was a Volvo DONT MATTER WOT MODEL

The Machine STRUGGLED TO CRUSH THE CAR!!! THEY ARE THE STRONGEST CAR ON THE PLANET!!!! Well Built More Safty Features The The Goverment Hand Book on Helth n Saftey :WINK1:

Thats my only experance with them

I WOULD DEFANTLEY TRUST MY FAMERLIE IN ONE

 

Volvo as a company has always been at the leading edge when it comes to safety features. I believe they were the first to add side impact protection bars, way before it became a Euro NCap standard. They had real crumple zones before everyone else I think. When the 940 came out without a drivers air bag, and the media asked why, a Volvo spokesman remarked that an airbag is not necessary, if the car is designed to take the force away away from the driver in the first place.

Nowadays Volvo, even though they are now owned by Ford, are still at the forefront of safety. Their newest cars don't wait for the driver to hit the brakes if they are on a collision course, and in some of the top models, if you do crash, a Volvo call centre automatically gets a full description of what's happened, where, how fast etc, so they can pass it on to the emergency services. Apparently it even reports if you're upside down in the middle of a field, how many times you rolled, how many people are in the car, etc etc. so that by the time the emergency services arrive, they already know exactly what to expect.

Going back a little bit, there is a photo floating around the web somewhere of a Volvo 740 estate (the 700 series was the 900 series predecessor). It had gone off the road and cartwheeled down a hill, flipping several times end to end, before rolling several times sideways. The driver had a broken thumb.

 

http://community.preloved.co.uk/fuseaction-reviews.showreview/productID-1066/ec003ebd.html

snip:

It's been said that Swedes don't like to bet unless they're sure they're going to win.
So when Volvo advertised an accidental loss of life insurance policy for all '96 models, you can bet the Scandinavian auto maker had some data to back up the offer.

For example, Volvo will tell you that no driver deaths occurred in single-vehicle crashes or rollovers of the Volvo 240 during 1990-94. Not one. The insurance policy, by the way, pays £250,000 to the estate of any occupant of any '96 Volvo who loses his or her life in an accident, up to a total of £1 million. It remains in effect for 48 months

 

I dont even drive but i want a volvo now I suppose this is why the police use them too Dim for motorway patrol cars....

 

got home last night .... saw the post ... was not in the mood to open the envelope as that normally means some or other bill to be paid ....

opened it this morning .... I have a received a cheque for tax rebate from HM revenue and customs for £1618.21

that changes things considerably, .... and that amount added to my initial budget will get a much newer car with less miles ... my search initially was for a volvo 960 ....

then I started looking for a Volvo V70 T5 geartronic .... saw one a few days ago, made an offer but was rejected .... now I have enough cash to get a decent T5

it pays to have a good accountant ....

 

thanks for that ... will have a close look

 

Hmmm ... my heart wants a flash car ... my mind (and wife) say I should look for a bargain ... bank some of the change, and take the wife and kids on a long weekend trip in the UK (maybe lake district or Cornwall) ... we have not had a family holiday in 4 years

there's loads if you search .... here's 3 that my son found today ... (his recomendations for cheap)

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif...radius/1501/page/1/postcode/cb246bl?logcode=p

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif...page/1/postcode/cb246bl/radius/1501?logcode=p

he is pushing me to buy this mitsubishi (he will end up getting it soon as he is doing driving lessons at the moment)

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif...postcode/cb246bl/page/1/radius/1501?logcode=p

 

I too had my eye on a Saab 9-5 turbo estate for ages, until I learnt something shocking. Under the skin they are a Vauxhall Vectra, revision B or C, I think, the revision that drops to bits.

Can't say much about the Volvo, except that its Volvo, and just old enough to actually be Volvo rather than Ford. So good.

Why is the mitsubishi in the list? Is it just because of the performance stats? Because if it is, you should know that you can get more horses than that in your original choice of a 960 (204bhp). The VW Passat 2.5 one also does better, although it will be a bit pricier.

Did I understand correctly that your son is going to end up with something like that after he passes his driving test? If I got that right, then lets hope he (or you) is extremely rich, because no insurer is going to want anything to do with a new driver in a car with 160+ bhp.

 

after all that .....

on the spur of the moment, I bought a Saab 9-5 2.0T estate with all the bells and whistles ... low miles and full service history and was only £900

hoping to collect it tommorow

Saabs are cheap now, as they went bankrupt ... but rumour has it that there is a buyer who will take over the factory

I have never bought a bad used car ... but not sure about this time round ... if I can get 2 years good service I will be happy

 

They didn't go bankrupt as I understand it. GM sold it because it was running at a loss, and it was running at a loss because Saab refused to fall into line and make cheaper, but inferior cars.

Saab has now been sold to a consortium consisting of some Chinese investors, and a Swedish manufacturer. The latter is very likely connected in some way with pre-Ford Volvo.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy your new motor. Let us know how you get on when you get it. Its a car I had my eye on for a while but was put off because I heard it was a Vectra underneath, but I've since heard that its only loosely connected to the Veccy so it might be alright.