480 - to buy or not to buy??

Discussion in 'Volvo 480' started by Jerry Atrik, Nov 14, 2004.

  1. Jerry Atrik

    Jerry Atrik Guest

    Been offered a 480, 12 years old, 1721cc, about 125,000 miles and 3 owners
    with MOT until June 2005 for £300, or even £200. Local lad got it and
    trailored it to his house to work on. He paid £100 for it and has patched up
    seals on rear lights and welded a new tray in the boot area where rust from
    water ingress caused problems to the luggage strap rings. Only outstanding
    problem is the computer display thingy which has an intermittent fault and
    sometimes goes off. Problem apparently is the wiring loom to it as it can be
    cracked somewhere and cause the int fault. He is a car/Volvo nut and has 3
    Volvos plus a race car - mini - but having done the work on it he has tried
    to ride in it and found that he is tooo big to sit comfortable in it. Having
    chatted to him I can believe it.

    Should I go for it or not folks? I do have a 440 that is having MOT on
    Tuesday and will prob pass.
     
    Jerry Atrik, Nov 14, 2004
    #1
  2. Jerry Atrik

    Pete M Guest

    In
    Don't go there. The Volvo 480 is the car that very nearly annihilated Volvos
    reputation for reliability. They really are crap.


    --
    Pete M

    Mercedes 260E
    Ford Capri (ressurection starts soon)
    COSOC #5
    Scouse Git extraordinaire. Liverpool, Great Britain
     
    Pete M, Nov 14, 2004
    #2
  3. Jerry Atrik

    R. Murphy Guest

    If you scrap it next June, for that price who cares as long as it is fully
    roadworthy now, especially if there's plenty of meat on the tyres, shocks
    and steering etc are OK and the engine oil/inside of filler cap etc is clean
    (and of course the coolant). You are not risking much here. You can always
    wizz it in for an early MOT and/or a mechanical check if you are not
    confident. For that price, again, what do you need the com[uter display for,
    as long as none of the legal bits are affected of course.
     
    R. Murphy, Nov 14, 2004
    #3
  4. Jerry Atrik

    Rob-480-V70 Guest

    Rob-480-V70, Nov 14, 2004
    #4
  5. Jerry Atrik

    Guest Guest

    No. Faults with the speedo / instruments / computer display are nearly
    always 99.5% of the time the dash unit itself.

    Tim..
     
    Guest, Nov 14, 2004
    #5
  6. Jerry Atrik

    Jerry Atrik Guest

    Been to see it. It was a mini project car. Rear lights sorted.
    Problems = Speedo was working, but not rev counter.
    display on rhs of speedo was unlit - he says it needs a new bulb fitting but
    no readout of fuel etc could be seen
    mini rust of the rear wheel arches as per normal on 440 Volvos it seems
    electrics like lights, indicators, windows, sunroof all work
    engine seems fine, oil dirty: last changed 6 months ago, engine bay oily on
    left side, no apparent leak source visible
    drives o.k. brakes a little soggy but fine. gears o.k. clutch o.k.
    Not sure when cambelt last changes either altho it is in the pile of
    paperwork somewhere, so need to check that.
    Neighbour says don't touch it with a barge pole as it's a £200 car that's
    not really worth that with the rev counter/speedo problem.

    So I'll probably leave it unless it really is a bargain as I don't NEED it
    but it does seem a nice car......
     
    Jerry Atrik, Nov 14, 2004
    #6
  7. Jerry Atrik

    Tommy Guest

    Get the owner to see it through the MOT - the only big prob. I remember is
    the cost of sorting out the rear wash/wipe - I don't believe it - but it can
    cost up to £500
     
    Tommy, Nov 14, 2004
    #7
  8. Jerry Atrik

    Ben Harris Guest


    The computer problem is normally caused by dry-joints on the rear of the
    speedo cluster. It's fairly straightforward to get to, and shouldn't take
    more than half an hour to get the whole cluster out the car. I believe
    there's a guide on the 480 Club Europe's website,
    (www.volvo-480-europe.org). Once the speedo's out, the solder joints on the
    back of the connectors are the most likely culpriots.
     
    Ben Harris, Nov 14, 2004
    #8
  9. I second this. Get a 12 year old(1993) Volvo 240 instead.
     
    Joseph Oberlander, Nov 14, 2004
    #9
  10. Jerry Atrik

    Bev A. Kupf Guest

    That's easier said than done. In my experience, 240s are very hard to
    find in the UK. 400 series Volvos are easier to find. And don't forget
    - the 240 would be subject to the same MOT inspection that the 400 series
    Volvo would have to pass.

    As an example, looking at motors.ebay.co.uk, there are a whole bunch of
    400 series cars for sale, and only three 240s -- and one of those three
    had an expired MOT.
     
    Bev A. Kupf, Nov 14, 2004
    #10
  11. Jerry Atrik

    deadmail Guest

    Rear wash-wipe isn't part of the MOT IIRC.
     
    deadmail, Nov 14, 2004
    #11

  12. Correct.

    The MoT Tester's Manual only refers to wipers and washers in relation
    to the windscreen.

    http://www.motuk.co.uk/manual/contents.htm
    --

    Stewart Hargrave


    For email, replace 'SpamOnlyToHere' with my name
     
    Stewart Hargrave, Nov 14, 2004
    #12
  13. Jerry Atrik

    Ben Harris Guest

    My 480 passed it's MOT without the rear wash-wipe working, last time.

    Ben.
     
    Ben Harris, Nov 15, 2004
    #13
  14. Jerry Atrik

    Ben Harris Guest

    This is another common problem with 480's. There is a halogen bulb which is
    used to display the LED on the infocenter. If you look really close, you can
    see that the infocenter is (probably!) working, it's just not illuminated.
    These cost about £10 from Volvo to replace (although I'm sure if you know
    what the bulb is, you could buy it a lot cheaper elsewhere), and you could
    do it at the same time you've got the binnacle out, looking for dry joints
    to fix the rev-counter problem - see my other post about that!

    Ben.
     
    Ben Harris, Nov 15, 2004
    #14
  15. Jerry Atrik

    Jerry Atrik Guest

    wot now? 440 has passed mot muster with info notes about brake pipes
    corroding, sleeves on base of rear shocks corroded (but they said that last
    year!), rubber bumper thingies on base of rear shocks falling apart and a
    patched up exhaust. Logic tells me to stick with the old 440 and keep her
    going... might phone the ins company to find out what the 480 would cost as
    an extra car though ;-)
     
    Jerry Atrik, Nov 16, 2004
    #15
Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments (here). After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.