Possible New Volvo Owner

Hi all,

currently looking into buying a volvo s40 1.9diesl sport. Just wanted to know if there is anything to look out for, seen a 2004 from a dealer with 100K for under 2K. I understand its a renault engine, is this a problem

Any advise would be most appreciated

Cheers

Mark

 

Hi Mark.
Last I heard, Volvo's are one of the safest cars around in a crash. I drive a 740 Turbo wagon, have done these past 6 years or so. My car is like driving a tank with performance amongst all of these newer plastic cars.
The best way to get feedback on the Volvo you are thinking of buying is to Google it = Volvo s40 feedback or feedback Volvo s40 and go from there. It is what I did with the list of cars I thought I wanted to own, until I came down to my Volvo and the rest was history, as the old saying goes.
Whatever you decide, it is a good idea to check your local wreckers for wrecked similar Volvo's for second hand spares (about 1/3 Retail cost or less) and Volvo parts suppliers, so you don't get caught short, anytime soon.
Also find a local mechanic with a good Volvo repairs history, in case you won't be doing repairs yourself. I lift the lid of my Volvo and look at what's under the hood and close it again, pretty quickly. I have an excellent mechanic to do repairs and to keep my hands clean.
Another thought bounced by, but I've forgotten it again.
In Aussie, where I am, we have a Government Agency called REVS which provides an instant feedback of if the second hand vehicle we are about to buy has Hire Purchase outstanding on it. If It does, I wouldn't touch the purchase with a barge pole, because I could end up with paying the purchase price in full and ending up with the full HP on top of that, if the seller does not pay off the HP from my purchase price, before I collect the car, but things are probably different in the USA where I'm guessing you are.
Whatever you decide - Good Luck
BigBenn

 

Thanks BigBenn,

Will give it go, the sale of my current car as fell through so gives me a bit more time to do some research.

By the way its the UK where I live

All the best

Mark

 

Hi Mark - That's OK. Do you still have The Exchange & Mart. Was a good place to look for a second hand car - I left England for New Zealand in 1974 and eventually ended up here in Aussie some 10 years later and been here ever since, so my memories of England are sketchy to say the least.
I was going to add have a look at the speedometer. I reckon about 10,000 miles per year is what I would expect an about town car to do, so if your intended car is 3 years old you should expect to see about 30,000 miles on the clock, which is fine. Anything less than that, is of course great, because it probably means the car you intend to buy has not travelled very far and should last correspondingly longer, before major bills become a likelihood, nevertheless with a Volvo, I would expect about 18 years of average use, before major bills should be due.
If you drive a manual, take it out of gear at traffic lights and whenever you stop in traffic queues and apply the handbrake and keep your foot off the clutch and only engage gear when you are about to drive off and not before. If you get used to doing this, your clutch will last for years longer than if you ride the clutch all of the time and the repair costs will be correspondingly less. Heard Volvo's are being made in China now. Apparently the Chinese purchased Volvo.
Guess you know all of this anyway, so my apologies
LOL BigBenn