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Whaddya reckon chums??? Opinions please....


Baz

Yes or No?  

25 members have voted

  1. 1. Yes or No?

    • Buy it!
      14
    • Don't buy it!
      11


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It's probably just pissycological, but since my '97 Volvo S40 turned 100,000 miles at Christmas, it seems to have gone downhill somewhat....I'm hearing lots of extra little knocks & bangs from the suspension, there seems to be a sort of "burning oil" smell coming into the cabin when the car is stationary with the engine running for more than a couple minutes (although it has NEVER required any oil between services since I've had it), and the front tyres have decided to start wearing on the inner edges too....Plus the dented N/S doors mean it doesn't even look nice anymore.... :(

 

The Volvo has been our main family transport for about 18 months now....One of those dependable cars that (with routine servicing obviously) You just get in and DRIVE....No washing it every five minutes to try and ensure that it doesn't fall to bits with rust, no worrying about whether it gets to odd car park ding etc....A workhorse really....The fact that it's a good-looking, capable & comfortable is a bonus....I just think it's getting on a bit now, bless it!

 

When my R20 (eventually) arrives it's going to be my everyday driver....Plan was to pass the Volvo on to Frances, who in turn is going to pass the Clio on to my step-daughter Stephanie....I'm starting to think though, that maybe the Volvo needs replacing....Something dependable that's not going to leave my wife stranded in the middle of Norfolk-Nowhere on the way home from a singing engagement on a dark December night!

 

I have very good memories of the Hyundai Atoz that I bought for my partner in a previous life (and that she still runs....to my knowledge with no problems whatsoever) so was considering something like this....

 

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....2000 Hyundai Sonata 2.0 GSi....This particular car is for sale in York at tha moment, it's covered only 37,000 miles (so I fugure it has PLENTY of life left in it yet), has a full main dealer service history, is plenty big enough for our needs, has all the bells & whistles except leather (which I'm not bothered about) and Auto (which I wouldn't have minded), and Hyundai reliability....All for a fiver under two grand....Plus it's guaranteed future Shite! :D

 

What do Y'all think....Good idea?

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Buy! That's a lovely P.O.S. ! love the spoiler!and I think we're in agreement - future shiteoid for sure (should you keep it long enough)take lots of photos now for the nostalgia of the futureTrouble is, it ain't a Renner!

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jeez...thats a shed (literally) load of car for £2k!!I can't see that you can lose much by running that around for a few years - should be cheap motoring and lets face it, it's only motor show programmes that would slag them off.It must be far better to drive than an early 90's Forxhaull - I really don't think there is a bad car on the road these days (except a perodua nippa) - just good cars and great cars.*edit* looks like the window in the back doors is out of a Mk1 Mondeo!

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Hmm, what a dilema Baz. The Volvosaurus being a mere 10 years old and only 100,000 miles under it has surely got loadsa life left in it. The clonks and rattles from the frontal area and uneven wearing tyres mean some suspension bushes, the burning oil smell must be a leaking gasket near the 'zorst or manifold, and some scrapyard doors and a bit of paint would have her looking sweet again :wink: You could spend a few hundred on the Ovlov, and with the dosh saved acquire some more shite :lol: What a result, though Mrs Baz might disagree :lol::lol:

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Avoid the Korean puppy munching motor.They are shite.............And not in the "shite" sense that we all know and love.Parts are not that easy to come by, and when yu find them, they are of poor quality and not cheap. Brake pipes collapse at the merest hint of moisture, and they pull all over the place if there is even slight movement in the front suspension bushes. Like a good wine, lay it down and leave it alone for a good while.

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On balance, some of these comments are justified.

 

BUT just think of the shite-kudos you'd get for owning one of those!

 

FWIW, it's only a smidge less than we paid for our Focus of the same age, and that is the 'ultra-desirable' TD estate.

 

OK, so it had done 100k more miles, but it will outlast that Frank Sinatra.

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Keep the volvo and spend a bit of money on it, my parents have got one that has just clocked 110K and is barly run in, a bloke down the roads got one with double that and it regually gets driven across europe. S40s are a bit dull, but dependable. If you didnt want to keep your s40, You could probably get a decent Xreg S40 for 2k or less, a better propsition long term than the Hyundai.

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Wheres the 'I'm a Libran' button for voting? Too difficult a decision for me!The Hyundai is definate shite & are pretty crap all in all but to be fair looks quite a nice car & is low mileage too... plus a caring home would be nice for it.I'd let the Volvo go going by the sound of things, I have an oil smell from my daily car too & its been deemed as being the engine gaskets - expensive.Consider another type of car to buy, even shiter perhaps ??? If not the Hyundai might be a wise buy? Difficult, difficult !

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Thanks for the comments chaps....

 

Have had a look at a Sonata for sale locally (before travelling all the way to York for that nice one) and have to admit that it left me rather cold....Well equipped and probably well screwed together (although the paint finish on this particular jobbie wasn't up to much) but ultimately, I think it can best be summed up with the words "Duller than the Volvo, and not as capable"....So reckon I'll be giving it a miss! :?

 

Did see a Daewoo Legaza, and liked that a lot....But that was nearly as old/high mileage as the Volvo :roll:

 

What's making it all the more difficult for me, is that having spent several hours perusing the Autotrader website, there is SO MUCH seemingly good stuff available for two grand (maybe three if I overspend a little)....So far I've been tempted by....

 

Alfa 156 2.0 Twinspark

Alfa Spider 2.0 Twinspark

Citroen BX19 GTi - Immaculate, low mileage....£1400

Mazda MX5

Mazda RX7 Mk1

Peugeot 205 GTi 1.6 - Beautiful white, one owner, totally standard.

Renault Laguna

 

....The list goes on....And all are much lower mileage than the Volvo, with FSH, even if some are older....I expect if I look carefully, I'd even find a late (shape before current) Renault Espace with sensible mileage and service history too....

 

AAAAARRRRRGH!....I think my head is going to explode! :?

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Baz, I think you’re getting itchy feet waiting for the R20 to arrive!I’d suggest holding tight on the Volvo right now, there can’t be anything that tricky on it can there? Better the Devil you know and all that. Selling it probably won’t release that much cash – keep it as your sensible back-up to a more interesting fleet, same role as the Camry fills for me (that does the hot oil smell too, maybe a leaking crank seal – I’ll live with it).If you’re looking for a Sonata, Leganza etc why not spend a few hundred? That way you’ve got a bit spare if it needs work, and haven’t lost much if it turns out be rubbish.At £2k I’d be looking for something that I would either keep for a very long time and would give minimal hassle, or something that won’t depreciate much. Laguna and 156 don’t fill those criteria IMO…..

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I got a V reg Rover 75 for a smidge over £2k at a local auction. Sounds cheap and it was in good cosmetic condition, with lots of toys, and nearly a FSH. However it has not been all plain sailing .. although not much is the cars fault to be fair!20k Service (and new back discs and pads) ..£400New thermostat housing, and allied parts & labour...£400Cambelt change (there are THREE of the buggers on the 2.0 V6)...£350Vandal stratch down side (£120 excess plus one of the protected NCD's 2 lives)added to this its a 20-25mpg car in town. But I don't care because I've always wanted one. But I suppose the moral is ...better the devil you know, unless the new car comes with a decent warranty (i.e. the sort that comes with a brand new car!!).By the by, IMHO I don't think you will get a particularly brillant MX5 for £2000 as that seems to be the entry price for anything with a MOT and no obvious bodywork faults. Spend another grand, and there's a lot more choice - Mr Welfare had a lovely late Mk1 for sale last autumn!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks for the opinions chaps....If I've been a little quieter than usual on here of late, it's because a lot of my "on line" time has been spent looking around trying decide firstly, whether or not to replace the Volvo, and secondly, with what? :?

 

After much deliberation, I've decided to allow a little more than the aforementioned two-grand, and ignore Shite-potential (I'll have my R20 for that soon anyway), and buy a really NICE newish car that should, with routine servicing, provide Frances with safe, comfortable, and practical motoring for about 3 years....Obviously though, it has to be something that I'm happy with too! :)

 

My heart wants me to buy an Alfa 156 Twin-Spark saloon....I bloody love these cars, and there are loads of beautiful, low mileage examples around that are within the budget I've set myself....Previous experience however tells me that these are expensive cars to run - My last one was reliable and economical enough, but maintaining it to a standard that I was happy with was VERY expensive....Plus, I couldn't park it anywhere and just relax....Always worried that some numpty would ruin it's carefully sculpted perfection with a carelessly opened door, or poorly executed parking manoeuvre! :roll:

 

So, using my HEAD, I think I've settled on a Renault Laguna....I'm not really a great fan of the early ones, but have always admired the newer shape model....So, tomorrow after work, I'm going to take a better look at this....

 

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....'02 Laguna 2.0 16v Dynamique....70,000 miles (more than I'd have liked, but this one's in much nicer condition than some 50,000 mile ones I've seen recently), Full service history, and newly M.O.T'd....It has lots of toys - Including the all important (for me anyway) CD player, Air Conditioning AND Sunroof. It also has a natty "insert card/push button" system to start it....Novel, but I'd imagine that the card/remote thingies will be pricey to replace should it ever be necessary!

 

I realise that home maintenance isn't gonna be on the cards really, although I don't do that with the Volvo anyway....More due to laziness than lack of ability....But that's no problem, as I already know a reasonably priced, reliable, independant Renault specialist with many years experience, who already looks after our Clio (and the Volvo - he used to secialise in those too) and has said that the R20 will be no problem either, as he still has all the special tools for them! 8)

 

So all being well, we'll soon be a 3 Renault family....Me with my '79 20TS, Frannie in the Laguna, and Step-daughter Steph in the Clio (provided she passes her test next month :shock: )....Quite a satisfactory arrangement! :wink:

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Yikes Baz, I can scan and e-mail you the Car Mechanics 'What Goes Wrong' guide to new-shape Lagunas if you like...makes scary reading (or a cracking bartering tool)!Still, on the plus side, by the law of averages not every one will be a Friday Afternoon example.LOL at you, SL and now me with cars that smell of burning oil...after spending 6 hours changing the knock sensor in the Omega, I now suspect that the cam covers are leaking oil, more than likely because the breathers are blocked, and the excess pressure blows the cam cover gaskets. P'raps I should have listened to BC after all...although now it's giving the full 207bhp and it did two full loads to the tip today, I can forgive it...'My' MX5 was not a particularly good one - OK, it was in nice order, but it was red (which I hate, because it means losing the skin off your fingers with the application of Farecla G3 on a regular basis to stop it oxidising), and it was the low-power (88bhp) 1.6. It fetched £2,800 in the end.Still think you should buy AnthonyG's R75 if it's still for sale, I've seen it (in the dark, mind :lol: ) but it looks a cracker.

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:shock: Interesting choice.Do I assume it is petrol powered? And can I ask for the love of all things holy, why!? I am wholly converted to diseasels now found in new-ish motorsWHY? Well they are not noticably slower than petrols any more, nor are they particularly noiser or less refined. And as an added bonus, the power is actually more useable, coming in big dollops at low revs. Oh and the fuel consumption is devine! For daily family duties, glowplugs and sooty exhausts is deffo the way forward.Can you not find a Laguna DCi? That would be 'pick of my pops' in your position. In fact I quite fancied a Wagon varient, but it was deemed 'too big' by the management, and we finished up with the wholly excellent Focus TDi (which is even more excellent now with its newly-fitted heavy-duty witter towbar ;) )Just my opinion, which is usually wrong and misguided anyway.
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Baz, from the trouble my colleage has had with a Laguna I'd steer clear - his is a diesel that is likely to suffer turbo failure at some point soon plus has had many other niggling faults.RW, I've visited your house and it seemed all very clean and well-ordered - why so many tip trips? Ah, perhaps I've answered my own question......

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I remember the aa saying they had a lot of call outs to these as the small indentations/prongs on the card used to start them broke frequently leaving the car immobile :shock: . Sounds like a pain to me.

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RW, I've visited your house and it seemed all very clean and well-ordered - why so many tip trips? Ah, perhaps I've answered my own question......

You were here some time ago. We might have had two ponds back then...we don't now! Lots of rubble to shift...and our honeysuckle arch blew down in the recent storms.Struggling to think what else might fit your criteria, Baz. Do the early (1999) Honda Accord Type-R's come in under £3k yet?
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Well friends, I respect the opinions of You all immensely....I wouldn't have asked for them if I didn't....But I have to admit that, despite misgivings, I decided to keep my appointment to view the Laguna today, and....

 

....I'm not buying that paticular car! :roll:

 

The reasons for this are as follows....I didn't much care for the vendor for a start, which is never good is it? The deal offered (i.e the P/X on the Volvo, for which I'd have no room) was not quite as good as it could have been, I had concerns over some work that had recently been carried out - There was a bill for the recent service/M.O.T (so far, so good), but it detailed a number of "advisories"....None of which could I find any evidence of having been rectified....Nothing major, but I'm not about to shell out that sort of money on a car KNOWING that it needs work, and the vendor was reluctant to carry out the work prior to sale....

 

But do You know what put me off more than anything? It had a crack in the glass of the main instrument cluster, and I ABSOLUTELY HATE THAT....A great big ugly blemish, right where You look the most (apart from through the screen obviously)....So this car has been eliminated :(

 

One thing that the (all too short) test drive did convince me of, is that I WANT A LAGUNA!....It was a thoroughly charming car....Feeling well put together, very poised on the road, with a fair ride quality (missing from my boss' Peugeot 407, for example) and a real character to it....This is what attracted me to French stuff from the '70s/early '80s, and what is sadly missing in the '90s models (original Megane and Laguna espaecially) from across the channel :(

 

So the search is on again....And definately for a Laguna....Others in the class, and from the early '00s just don't do it for me I'm afraid....I trust in my own judgement enough to be confident that the car I eventually buy will be as good as it can possibly be for the money, so if it DOES go wrong I'll deal with it, knowing what an excellent car it'll be when it's fixed! :D

 

Currently got my eye on a 2001, 67,000 mile 1.9 DCi Priviledge in my favourite colour....WHITE!....I know, I'm wierd! :oops:

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Baz, 2001 sounds like first year of production to me. Might be worth a look on Honest John's Car-By-Car Breakdown to see what recalls have been issued? The first year of production always has a few 'foibles' that need ironing out over time, but hopefully after 67k miles and nearly 6 years the previous owner(s) will have been the guinea pig! 8)

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