"New" 740 GLE

[sg-strummer]

Hi all. Introductory post as I just registered.

I am in the process of buying an F reg (89) 740 GLE 7 seater estate, 2.3L, manual box with overdrive. This is my second Volvo, the first 3 yrs back being a 2.3 turbo auto, bought when we inadvertently increased out stable of kids to 4 Did not last long as the turbo went, and much work was needed for the dreaded MOT. After a disastrous foray into the realms of HP resulting in a Fiat Multipla skidding (at 20mph) in snow ... writeoff!! and a Zafira that blew the fuel pump 7 months after purchase (£1500 to fix ) .... court case with finance company pending, gonna try my preferred option!!!! I wanted to get another brick in the first place, but she said "Lets get a newer car, it will be better, it wont break down" hahahahaha!!!!

Anyway, buying from an acquaintance who is kindly letting me pay over a couple of months, which meant I could not knock him down from the £600 asking price. Known faults (informed by seller) are:

Overdrive not working, he tells me that he sprayed a connector under the car with WD40 and it worked for a day then went again, so bad connection seems likely.
Saggy ceiling syndrome! Have read with interest the posts on this, and think I will try a DIY job using black "leatherette" to match the leather seats.
Sunroof leaks. Loads of options to check out here! Owner tells me he has rodded the drains and that they are clear, he suspects the seal is shrunk and hardened with age. There is no lining at all on the sunroof, so one from a breaker may be in order? I seem to remember a post about later glass roofs fitting? The damp is on the floor in the rear passenger footwell, passenger side, so maybe the sunroof is not to blame?

Overall she's not too bad for an old bus. paint a little faded, but the car has been standing and could do with a bucket of water being thrown at it! One slight scrape at the back by the lights, easily paintable. Interior is clean and sound apart from the headliner. Battery was flat, but jumpstarted first try, which impressed me as the car has not been run for months. A bit noisy but hey, shes done around 200,000 miles! Drove fine apart from low tire pressure where its been standing.

Surprisingly, the insurance payments are lower than the Rover 440i that I bought to get me back and fro work!! Pity the fuel costs are unlikely to be lower too

Have only driven it round the block as yet, but felt good, I LIKED the last one lots, apart from the sub 20 mpg.... Expect stupid questions soon ... bikes I can work on but cars are relativley new to me. Yep, a biker in a Volvo ... LOL! I need a couple of years out of this car, to let me sort some debt and save for a newer version, no more HP!!!!!! Cant see any problems getting that, maybe even longer.

Waddya think?

Steve

[Scott Stephen]

any piccies????

[sg-strummer]

Its not taxed yet, as end of month looming and I still have the Rover. Also on disabled tax, so have to go to local DVLA and change it over, so the car is still on his private parking. Will post em once I have it here. May even do before and after tcut and polish

[turboboy]

Welcome and welcome again and i know you are going to enjoy your motoring.

For £600 I don't think you were robbed, it sounds a reasonable price for an estate and you have one of the better equipped GLE models.

Don't worry about being a biker in a Volvo - do what I do and say you are working undercover. lol.

When it comes to the roof lining just be aware that the backing can disintegrate around the sunroof aperture when you take it out. I finished up having to throw mine away. The other problem is that the plastic fittings (clips) that hold the sides in place become brittle and break if not removed carefully.

A manual non-turbo should return a better fuel consumption than your previous Volvo, I believe they do sensible figures for a fairly quick brick outhouse.

What milage has it done and any piccies yet?

[sg-strummer]

Originally Posted by turboboy

Welcome and welcome again and i know you are going to enjoy your motoring.


What milage has it done and any piccies yet?

It has done around 200000, speedo has been changed. Seems to run fine tho, and no rust!

Picking it up end of month, no point taxing it for a week and need to transfer from disabled tax. Will post a pic then.

Thanks for the info!

[caveman]

well done, its nice to hear of another one back on the road,
regards
cavey

[gettingolg]

I picked up my 740 after emailing an ebay seller. I made all the classic mistakes - offered £450 over the phone, he then pulled the car off auction and I sent a deposit by Paypal to secure it. I then capped that with a train journey from Nottingham to Portsmouth....
My reasoning was that after a 90 min phone chat with the gentleman I felt he was trustworthy - after all its a lot of hassle for £450 on his part otherwise. He was in the Navy and the car had belonged to his superior officer and another before him.

see: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1989-VOLVO-740...QQcmdZViewItem

Not too bad for an old girl eh?! History isnt quite as comprehensive as I was led to believe but she has been well cared for and apart from the odd tiny niggle Im chuffed to pieces.

The car is in great nick but I still question myself as to why I travelled all that way and back for an old Volvo! Having looked around since and read this post and the subsequent threads I think my sanity is intact. Though I think £600 is fair - especially if the buyer knows the owner and some of the cars history.
Ive mentioned it on this forum before - but the week before I agreed to buy my current car a local ( respected ) garage had an E regd 760 turbo estate in for £595. By the time we'd got down there we had just literally been pipped at the post. Turned out to have been owned by the same guy from new, a retired headmaster, it had a huge 56k on the clock and came with FVDSH. Too good to be true? It was genuine. Though Im still snarling now its good to know these 'mystical' time-warp cars do exist and occasiobnally come up for sale.
We are recent converts having been Saab enthuistasts for years before we deviated to a newer car, buying an Espace. I will never find the words to adequetly describe how I felt about that car. I did try and persuade my other half to let me buy a 760 estate at the time...another Volvo with known history...
Desperate for a bigger boot at a budget price - we're smitten! Theres no greater kick in my book than fixing the defunct fuel gauge with a flick of a fingernail on the instrument fascia!...Non functioning Sunroof costing £10 for a new motor from a 940 and a 15 minute fix!..

I'll shuffle off - have just seen how much crap Ive typed up - sorry to all!
Paul.

[Richard C]

Nice looking car you've got there Paul. The great thing about these older volvo's is that you can buy them for less than 3 or 4 months repaymemts on a new car, and they'll still be going long after the new cars have been sent to the scrappy...

[gettingolg]

Cheers Richard.
Im convinced that a lot of people look down on you because you drive an older car. My brother paid a stupid amount of money when the first Audi TT appeared. A Golf in a fancy dress costume?!... plagued with gearbox trouble that two dealers refused to admit to whilst the warranty was valid - he decided to sell before it expired and the dealer offered to replace the box at his expense... lost £8 - £9k in depreciation. Bought a 2 year old Porsche Poxster - discovered it needed a new back axle a whole 2 days into his ownership....got it sorted FOC - but you can imagine the hassle amnd stress involved.

Who is it they call upon when they want something big and heavy shifting?!....

[jacksonb123]

Looks nice Steve, those half leather seats are my favourites in the 7/900 series.
Enjoy.