Seriously?

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Bob Meadows

This seller has had a lot of Volvo cars on their books for quite some time plus other cars (Classic) to include a Riley RM chopped! and way of the price scale for what it pretended to be:~

Prices are always rich from this seller and I do feel they are overcharging - Lytham is an area we know well with a larger retired population- probably selling off long term ownership vehicles.

Personally I would not go there as you could get far better value privately.

Next time I'm in Lytham I can grab a pensioner for you!!
Regards Bob.

I don't know much about 740s Bob, would £4,000ish be expensive for a motor car like that? When I compare it to 240s being offered for that price they are not in such good order.

Alan

[Laird Scooby]

I wouldn't touch that 940 with somebody elses bargepole!

Some unconscious incompetent has put OAT coolant in from the look of things, the expansion tank has a red colour to the liquid inside.

It will be a ticking time-bomb because pre-2000, the various gaskets weren't made to withstand the acid (Organic Acid Technology) in the OAT coolant. Also if they didn't flush every last residue of the previous ethylene glycol out of it, the acid will cause the silicone to precipitate out of the EG coolant and form a silicone gel. This will block the entire cooling system causing HGF if the leaks from the various gaskets don't get it first!

Then there's the corrosion it will cause in the block - OAT corrodes cast iron faster than EG coolant corrodes aluminium so the block will rot from the inside out.

I'd also question why such a low mileage, apparently near immaculate Norwich registered car is so far from the county it was first registered. Was it simply an estate sale at auction and the Blackpool/Lytham St Annes dealer bought it and took it "oop norf"? Maybe. Doubtful though.

Lastly, i'd be worried about the excessively low mileage on a 20 year old car. If it was only used for short runs, they will almost certainly have all been cold starts and worn the engine more. If it was used once or twice a week for longer runs, that's much better.

I could be wrong on this but it's a bit of a gut feeling - however checking on the tax status provides interesting reading :


K112 HCL
✓ Taxed
Tax due:
1 July 2022
Incorrect tax status?
✓ MOT
Expires:
26 July 2022
Incorrect MOT status?
Warning If you've just bought this vehicle the tax or SORN doesn't come with it. You'll need to tax it before driving it.
Vehicle Details

Vehicle make
VOLVO
Date of first registration
August 1992
Year of manufacture
1992
Cylinder capacity
2316 cc
CO₂ emissions
Not available
Fuel type
PETROL
Euro status
Not available
Real Driving Emissions (RDE)
Not available
Export marker
No
Vehicle status
Taxed
Vehicle colour
SILVER
Vehicle type approval
Not available
Wheelplan
2 AXLE RIGID BODY
Revenue weight
Not available
Date of last V5C (logbook) issued
11 August 2021


It's taxed and MoT'd until July next year, last V% issued just ten days ago so probably bought at some point in July (towards the end at a guess, the MoT expires 26/7/2022) and the seller has forgotten it's still listed on fleabay.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

PPS. The MoT history for that 740 is unblemished, it has been doing 2-3,000 miles PA and has all the hallmarks of a well looked after motor car. If I didn't have the RB (and another 2 cars and 4 motorcycles) I'd buy it myself :-).

<whispers> Pssst! Alan! It's a 940........

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

I wouldn't touch that 940 with somebody elses bargepole!

Some unconscious incompetent has put OAT coolant in from the look of things, the expansion tank has a red colour to the liquid inside.

It's taxed and MoT'd until July next year, last V% issued just ten days ago so probably bought at some point in July (towards the end at a guess, the MoT expires 26/7/2022) and the seller has forgotten it's still listed on fleabay.

So that 740 I liked turns out to be a 940 Dave!

How could you tell the motor car has been filled with OAT coolant rather than ethylene glycol from its colour Dave? The ethylene glycol I use in the RB is pink (I like it that colour, ethylene glycol itself is colourless of course, manufacturers put different dyes in for marketing purposes, it doesn't affect anything else).

You could well be right about the low mileage piece being lots of short journeys, it is a one-owner car so maybe it has done 3,000 miles/year for nearly 30 years, that sounds plausible. Now, we have no way of knowing whether the 3,000 was Darby and Joan's annual holiday when they drove to their villa in the Algarve every June and back in September, or whether it was Joan popping round to her sister's house most days and the bingo on Thursday eves. I know that if I was buying a car I'd rather go for the 90,000 mile one than the 275,000 mile one :-)

... as I said, I know nothing about 740s (including what they look like, and so frequently confuse them with 940s), and clearly even less about 940s. It still looks like a nice car to me :-)

Alan

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

So that 740 I liked turns out to be a 940 Dave!

How could you tell the motor car has been filled with OAT coolant rather than ethylene glycol from its colour Dave? The ethylene glycol I use in the RB is pink (I like it that colour, ethylene glycol itself is colourless of course, manufacturers put different dyes in for marketing purposes, it doesn't affect anything else).

You could well be right about the low mileage piece being lots of short journeys, it is a one-owner car so maybe it has done 3,000 miles/year for nearly 30 years, that sounds plausible. Now, we have no way of knowing whether the 3,000 was Darby and Joan's annual holiday when they drove to their villa in the Algarve every June and back in September, or whether it was Joan popping round to her sister's house most days and the bingo on Thursday eves. I know that if I was buying a car I'd rather go for the 90,000 mile one than the 275,000 mile one :-)

... as I said, I know nothing about 740s (including what they look like, and so frequently confuse them with 940s), and clearly even less about 940s. It still looks like a nice car to me :-)

Alan

To be honest Alan, at that age the only real difference between a 740 and a 940 is the badge, they're virtually identical other than that.

The coolant appears to be a darkish red like so many OAT coolants are, EG should historically be blue or green but it throws a big question mark over the entire car if it is the wrong colour as you have no way of knowing if they've used the wrong type of antifreeze.

Looking at the MoT history there was one year it only did 6 miles between tests, another ws about 26 between tests and in general it suggests its use was dropping year on year so it would have been stood around in between whiles for longer and longer which doesn't do any car any good.

I'd rather go for a higher mileage car that's had things fixed as and when they've come up than one that has low mileage as you really don't know what you're getting. At least if it's being used and racking up the miles, the wheel bearings won't Brinnell for example.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

To be honest Alan, at that age the only real difference between a 740 and a 940 is the badge, they're virtually identical other than that.

The coolant appears to be a darkish red like so many OAT coolants are, EG should historically be blue or green but it throws a big question mark over the entire car if it is the wrong colour as you have no way of knowing if they've used the wrong type of antifreeze.

Looking at the MoT history there was one year it only did 6 miles between tests, another ws about 26 between tests and in general it suggests its use was dropping year on year so it would have been stood around in between whiles for longer and longer which doesn't do any car any good.

I'd rather go for a higher mileage car that's had things fixed as and when they've come up than one that has low mileage as you really don't know what you're getting. At least if it's being used and racking up the miles, the wheel bearings won't Brinnell for example.

740, 940… Luke has corrected me for mixing them up several times previously. They do look pretty well the same to me, but now I look at it again the ad does have 940 in the title… must be the dementia.

I went out of my way to get pink EG for the RB (also it was a few pennies cheaper I think) so maybe that 940 has much the same. I think my Skoda Superb uses OAT type coolant (I haven’t checked the Skoda bottle, but I seem to remember that is the case), which looks pink in the expansion bottle and not dissimilar to the RB’s coolant.

I think we will have to agree to disagree about the high vs low mileage piece, generally I believe that machines are worn more by use as long as they are well maintained. The RB has only done 110.000 miles in 41 years, and that feels plausible (although I have no proof), the motor car drives very well and I’m much happier than if it had done 275,000 miles. That is just my opinion, I’m certainly not saying anyone else is wrong :-)

The years when the car only did 6 miles might have been when Darby hit 70 and his doctor wouldn’t sign off his licence because of his eyesight, and at the same time Joan was waiting for a knee operation and so couldn’t drive. They parked the Volvo in the garage attached to their bungalow, having jacked it up on stands of course. The next year, after Joan’s operation, they were able to do the 3,000 mile round trip to their villa in Portugal for the grandchildren to join them for the summer hols. Neither of us knows any of this of course, but I’d be entirely comfortable buying a 90,000 mile 30 year old car with a good provenance.

Just my opinions again. The car looks nice for the money to me.

Alan

[Laird Scooby]

The 760 facelift in 1988 was the first "try" at a 940 Alan, if the front end styling hadn't gone down well i'm sure it would have been changed.

The 740 facelift followed in late 89/90 and then the 940 was launched, essentially a rebadged 740 at the time - later the 940 gained a few things the 740 never had and there are two schools of thought, one is the 740 was the last real Volvo, the other that the 940 was the last real Volvo.

Both arguments have their merits as do the arguments on mileage low Vs higher.

The RB is the "middle ground" of the low/high mileage argument really and proves the cases for both sides.

[nemesisthewarlock]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

The 740 facelift followed in late 89/90 and then the 940 was launched, essentially a rebadged 740 at the time - later the 940 gained a few things the 740 never had and there are two schools of thought, one is the 740 was the last real Volvo, the other that the 940 was the last real Volvo.

Ah but everyone knows the last real Volvo was the 960

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by nemesisthewarlock

Ah but everyone knows the last real Volvo was the 960

definitely not!

[nemesisthewarlock]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

definitely not!

Lol I feel such a troll for that ... still love my 960 .. tho' 740/940s look like a good back up