volvo 440. any good?

[bub2006]

Browsing cheap motors online I've stumbled upon a 440 1.8se for 300 with a years ticket. Anyone know anything to look for and what mpg like etc? Thanks

[DodgyBastard]

300 and a years ticket? why isn't it in your drive already?

[purplebargeken]

They aren't bad motors. Buy it!

[bub2006]

It's a n plate. Not on drive yet as he hasn't replied to my email and I'm unsure of fuel economy, if it's thirsty I'm kippered

[Six-cylinder]

Not Volvo's finest, when new quality problems like clutch cables pulling though the bulkhead after only 10k, steering column coming loose and miss machined manifold that sucked air on PDI. 

 

I had mainly pre cat 440 with injection but I did have a 460 GLEi cat H reg that did about 33mpg driven like a Salesman!

[robinmasters]

If you look at it as a well made Renault rather than a poorly made Volvo they're ok.

[bub2006]

I've just been to look at the bx,bloke used it for 4 years since his 95 year old dad gave up driving it. His dad owned it from a year old. 1.4 petrol carb model,leccy windows an central locking. Mot till next March and 47k on clock. Asking 600. Out my price range so a bit disappointed

[beko1987]

I used to really want one of these! Still sort of do but not as much. What is the mag of a 1.8 one? Did they do a derv?

 

Had the even bigger hots for a 480 es (the one with leather) but it would be impractical day to day

[bub2006]

And now just been offered a 1.5 dci clio. 04 plate 65bhp model

[nacho man]

Go for the volvo, that renault might do 65mpg for five mins, the rest of the time you will want to dump it in the canal when it breaks every 0.43 secs.

[bub2006]

My thoughts exactly about clio. Not heard back from volvo yet,going to look at a corsa b 1.4 hi torq automatic later. This could be fun.

[Lacquer Peel]

I used to really want one of these! Still sort of do but not as much. What is the mag of a 1.8 one? Did they do a derv?

 

Had the even bigger hots for a 480 es (the one with leather) but it would be impractical day to day

Aye, with a Renault 1.9TD.

[Six-cylinder]

I am not so sure a Volvo 400 is any better or worse than a Renault. When I had new Volvo 400s I broke down twice one with a severe misfire the other the clutch cable broke. When I had a older 480ES which I passed to my son we had a rusted rear spring holder and hundreds of electrical problems. 

[RobT]

Make sure the alarm/immobiliser work properly, I had a late 460 that used to give me loads of grief on that front. They also eat alternators, but could just be down to worn bushes.

 

This 440 I've now got likes to run hot in traffic, which is a commom problem apparently. Can be dodgy temp gauge rather than anything more serious, which i think is the case with mine.

[DS20]

My thoughts exactly about clio. Not heard back from volvo yet,going to look at a corsa b 1.4 hi torq automatic later. This could be fun.

 

DON'T DO IT.  

 

I had the use of my grandmother's Corsa Hi-Torq 1.4 for a year or so while she was experimenting* with an automatic Corsa B.  It's a truly horrible engine IMO - asthmatic, doesn't like to rev, no power, struggles with hills.  The best I ever saw from it was 37mpg, and on long trips (500 miles each way from Sussex to Scotland) it would do 33-35mpg, depending on speed and traffic.  On the plus side, the engine seemed indestructible, never needed anything apart from routine services.  My sister took the car on after me, and sold it three years ago when it was seventeen years old and had done over 160,000 miles.  A neighbour of my sister's bought it, and it's still going strong.  

 

Aunt_DS20 still has her 1.4i automatic Corsa B (18 years old this year), and while it's a little less slow than the one my sister and I had, it's equally as disappointing mpg-wise.  Low 30s mpg isn't that bad, really, but I'd want more power for the fuel it uses.  

 

Go for the 440.  Ma_DS20 had one in the mid-'90s and liked it muchly.  It was a 1.8Si manual and would do 35-40mpg, so was a bit more economical than the Corsa and infinitely nicer to drive.  

[NorfolkNWeigh]

I once had to use a 460 that if driven with the slightest enthusiasm would scrape it's hard plastic mudflaps on the ground. The noise was so annoying that one night I removed them at the side of the road using only my anger and foot.

My impression at the time was that they were better than Orions/Belmonts but not as good as an R8 or ZX, most user choosers at that grade chose the 440/460 though, must have been a badge thing, or possibly there were a lot of Scotsmen working there at the time.

[theorganist]

I had a battleship grey G reg 440 it cost me £275 in 2004. It was the best car value for money I ever bought. It cost me hardly anything in 18 months of ownership where it got abused. The only thing that killed it off was the power steering pump which leaked and one day after months of regularly topping the fluid up it burnt out. It let me down one due to a faulty relay which cost £20 to fix.

 

If I had the love for old cars now that I did then I would have had it fixed.

 

It was comfortable and had useful performance with the 1721cc engine. It had central locking, electric windows and power steering and it even had a manual choke.

 

I would definately recommend one.

[bigfella2]

I got given a G plate 440 GLTI off my sister when i grenaded the engine on my Golof. For a 1.7 Renault engined Volvo it was deceptively quick, handled well, had the best heater evvver and drove really nice. Generally gave it death for two years, and it just laughed it off. Just seemed to rust as fast as it drove unfortunately. Later ones seem better in this respect. 

[nacho man]

Make sure the alarm/immobiliser work properly, I had a late 460 that used to give me loads of grief on that front. They also eat alternators, but could just be down to worn bushes.

 

This 440 I've now got likes to run hot in traffic, which is a commom problem apparently. Can be dodgy temp gauge rather than anything more serious, which i think is the case with mine.

I had a 460 with the 1.7 Renault engine that also ran quite hot and would go really close to the red in traffic but the fan would always cut in and cool it down, if I remember it had a pretty small rad as well.

 

Never overheated just kept you on your toes.

[RobT]

The rads do seem comically small, despite having plenty of room for a bigger one. I'm no great spannerist but I'm finding this easy to work on, most of the ancillaries and whatnot are easy to access.

[Bren]

My mate had an early 440 on a G plate.

 

He fucked the electrics up on it as he had a fault with the lights - they were on all the time.😜

[Station]

I had a 440 CVT, a really good comfy car but completely boring. I got it for 150 with mot.

I had an Impreza at the time and sometimes preferred the 440.

 

It had electric everything apart from wind up windows(?).

[bub2006]

Sounds like early r8 rovers. Still not got back in touch yet but I'm just going to look at this corsa

[Minimad5]

First time in one of these and the sunroof fell in, bounced off my head, slid down the side of the seat and shattered on the passenger seat rail.

 

Other than that, they seem to drive okay if a little bouncy.

[M'coli]

You don't fancy a veg-friendly Citroen BX with MOT until October for £350 or so, do you?

[HH-R]

My first experience of a CVT was my mate's 460 about 8 years ago. It was rusty as fook and there was a small fire or something when he changed the radio, and I seem to remember the immobiliser packing up as well.

 

It ran out of electricity a lot but otherwise kept going, I felt sorry for it as it lived a hard life!

 

CVT was weird... like a slipping clutch!

[D Spares & Tyres]

Drove a few of these when they were newish and they were so dull I can barely remember them

 

A few years on  I still can`t see why anybody would want one now unless it had sentimental value

 

They had unreliability issues that you could almost put up with on the similar engined Renault as they were far more enjoyable, but wouldn`t tolerate on a Volvo.

 

But what I love about this site is enthusiasm for such stuff and I`m sure you couldn`t see a reason for my collection either

 

 

So... buy it and show us some pics

[derskine]

Get a 340 instead...

Renault lump in mine has been flawless (1.7)

[bub2006]

You don't fancy a veg-friendly Citroen BX with MOT until October for £350 or so, do you?

107_1166.JPG

Mmm I'm intrigued. Location?

 

Car update. Still not had a reply from volvo,viewed the corsa and it was a dog,viewed a fiat stilo that had serious knocking,no response from a 306 1.8 auto,306 hatch and a 306 estate. Hopefully going to view a ford escort cvt tomorrow and a vauxhall astra 1.6 8v

[HH-R]

Just remembered something else, the seatbelt light and TICKA-TICKA-TICKA-TICKA-TICKA-TICKA-TICKA-TICKA-TICKA-TICKA-TICKA-TICKA-TICKA-TICKA-TICKA-TICKA-TICKA-TICKA.