An estate [Bought an estate, in a state] SOLD IT

[JJ0063]

Rummaging through the garage and found a set of LED H7 bulbs I think I took out of one of ambers old Minis or Freelander, chucked them in and they work a treat. It’s already got projectors and headlight washers so hopefully no major issues.

Modernises the front a lot, these already have LED DRL’s in the fogs but xenon’s must be optional.

[leafsprung]

The absolute worst thing about mine was the headlights and it's pretty common to find broken adjusters where previous owners have cranked them to the max and beyond to try and raise the beam and stripped the gears. Mine were. 

They illuminate about 25 feet infront of the car and the cut off is so harsh that everywhere else is in complete darkness. I hated driving mine in winter on unlit roads and one of the reasons I sold it. 

[stuboy]

16 minutes ago, JJ0063 said:

wear a white cap and hi vis and play motorway cops,................lol

[EyesWeldedShut]

On 7/23/2023 at 4:53 PM, JJ0063 said:

Got a great bargain last night, genuine Volvo dog guard and a stupidly rare centre partition for £25…. I did have to drive to Milton Keynes for them but well worth it.

 

Now the pugs can have a side and the lab can have a side, no fighting and everyone’s safe. 
 

The dog guard bit behind the seats is really neat too, it’s on gas struts so you can just flip it up when not in use.

 

There's posh - gas stuts eh? The older ones like mine have a manual rotation device (my hand) and clip into a fitting in the roof lining - tbh it's the best and non-rattling dog guard I've ever had and the design is second to none.
It's also welded out of old tank tracks so you are less likely to be wearing a dog around your neck after an emergency stop (unlike the Paddy Hopkirk branded ones back in the day that would collapse if you went over a speed hump)

[ruffgeezer]

If this is the 1.6 I don't think the timing belt is a bad job.  

I did the belt on my fiesta 1.4 tdci on the drive, only sticking point was the paper waterproof gasket getting displaced and me having to pull it all apart again to rectify it.

[JJ0063]

1 minute ago, ruffgeezer said:

If this is the 1.6 I don't think the timing belt is a bad job.  

I did the belt on my fiesta 1.4 tdci on the drive, only sticking point was the paper waterproof gasket getting displaced and me having to pull it all apart again to rectify it.

It’s going in on Thursday, my mechanic who’s looked after our family cars for 25+ years said it’ll be £120 labour max - I got a Gates kit from eBay for £92

[EyesWeldedShut]

1 minute ago, JJ0063 said:

£120 labour max - I got a Gates kit from eBay for £92

Bugger - our kid just 'paid' for my dinner for doing his - should have added my drinks to his bill  . Mind that'd be over £120.
Got his pump (FAI) and Gates kit for £92 from FleaBay in separate purchases
His total bill on a '12 reg C4 including 4 new Goodyears and a new battery came in at £2,100 so you're streets ahead of him - the one that surprised me was OAT antifreeze stuff at £26 for 5litres (but then that'll do a couple of motors).

 

[ruffgeezer]

5 minutes ago, EyesWeldedShut said:

 one that surprised me was OAT antifreeze stuff at £26 for 5litres (but then that'll do a couple of motors).

 

I tested and rescued mine - twice!

[JJ0063]

17 minutes ago, ruffgeezer said:

I tested and rescued mine - twice!

I should include the £120 includes coolant - all I ever supply is parts, consumables and fluids he includes in the price he quotes me.. and because we’ve used him for so long I know I can trust him. I remember us taking our B reg Sierra Ghia to him when it was our family car in the early 90s. 

[EyesWeldedShut]

Does it need FAP/EOLYS ? Not sure on the Volvo? Worth getting him to plug it into his scanner and see what the ECU says. Sprogs car was on 110K miles and the fluid needed a topup but the DPF was reporting 60,000 km left before it needed replacing.
Good news is that the price of DPFs and EOLYS has plummeted over the past few years. Happy Scotsman.

[JJ0063]

4 minutes ago, EyesWeldedShut said:

Does it need FAP/EOLYS ? Not sure on the Volvo? Worth getting him to plug it into his scanner and see what the ECU says. Sprogs car was on 110K miles and the fluid needed a topup but the DPF was reporting 60,000 km left before it needed replacing.
Good news is that the price of DPFs and EOLYS has plummeted over the past few years. Happy Scotsman.

Luckily that’s the earlier one, this is the D2 which is the D4162T and doesn’t have the EOLYS luckily!

[RoverFolkUs]

£120 is still very cheap for the labour and coolant to do a DV6 belt. It's a very easy belt, probably the easiest possible for a modern, but south east prices dictate it to still be a good £400 job all in, including parts and VAT, and that would be on the cheaper end of the scale!

[sierraman]

I mean the stop watch starts as soon as work starts, the guy fitting it won’t be working his twat off get get it done super quick. Maybe London way on you’ve the enormous overheads of high rent to cough up on and higher wages. 

[EyesWeldedShut]

1 hour ago, RoverFolkUs said:

£120 is still very cheap for the labour and coolant to do a DV6 belt. It's a very easy belt, probably the easiest possible for a modern, but south east prices dictate it to still be a good £400 job all in, including parts and VAT, and that would be on the cheaper end of the scale!

Yup - was thinking of my earlier comments  whilst I was out - I hope I didn't give the impression that £120 was a 'rip off Britain' price - I think it's a very reasonable for a couple of hours work by a mechanic who has all the gear/overheads/facilities.
Pretty sure a DV6 around here would be north of £600 once you stuck VAT on it

[EyesWeldedShut]

3 hours ago, JJ0063 said:

Luckily that’s the earlier one, this is the D2 which is the D4162T and doesn’t have the EOLYS luckily!

The C4 cost about £25 for the fluid/filler and getting into the tank was really simple - looks like PSA actually applied some thought to improving the previous bag system which was really expensive for what it was (£75 still for the Bini aftermarket OEM baggies - £150 from Mini).

[JJ0063]

Just found someone 15 mins from me breaking an identical car so am popping over tonight to swap the boot lid over and NSR door. £90 and he’s going to do the swap with me on his drive. I’d pay more than £90 to just get the dent in the boot removed so I’m happy! 
 

Only real body damage remaining will then be front bumper splitter and a scrape on the OSR arch.

[JJ0063]

New boot and NSR door, perfect colour match! Just need to remove the tints as the donor car has tinted windows (aftermarket so I can peel it off) but it’s made the car look a million times better for £90, I didn’t even have to do anything, young lad breaking it changed it all over on his driveway for me!

[timolloyd]

This’ll be ready for Pebble Beach soon!

[2flags]

Looking good! Nice to see a bargain banger being properly sorted. That thing could last you for years. 

[Agila]

@JJ0063you lucky lucky bastard, that is all.

Honestly man you've played an absolute blinder with this one. Buzzing for you 👍

If this was me I think I'd still pinch myself and chuckle. I've got the Midas touch in reverse at the minute. Everything I touch turns to shit.

I've probably said "well bought" a million times already 🤣.  Don't forget it's now an appreciating asset, given no more Volvo estates for the UK 😢.

[JJ0063]

Thanks for the kind words all. 
 

Oh I’m massively chuffed with it, it’ll never be pristine but it’s come along way in the 5 weeks I’ve had it and is now at the standard where it could be sold as a normal family car for a fairly standard market price with the benefit of having almost full history including belts etc , lowish miles for a diesel, cheap tax, all the mod cons and whatnot. 
 

Mechanic rang me this evening to say he’s done the belt and pump, taken it out for a run and all seems fine but as it was so late in the day he said he’d prefer to keep it overnight so he can check coolant levels in the morning. I’ll have a wander up with the dog and collect it tomorrow and then bar the windscreen it’s finished!

[yes oui si]

Two randoms, ta 

[JJ0063]

And home with a new timing belt, water pump and aux belt. Lovely driving it not thinking about cambelt roulette! 

[ruffgeezer]

I'd leave then tint on the bootlid as you risk ruining the heating element pulling it off.

Great job so far.  Bastard! 🥺

[JJ0063]

4 hours ago, ruffgeezer said:

I'd leave then tint on the bootlid as you risk ruining the heating element pulling it off.

Great job so far.  Bastard! 🥺

Yeah it’ll be good for the dogs too, il just take the NSR door off so it doesn’t look out of place!

[camryv6]

3 hours ago, JJ0063 said:

Yeah it’ll be good for the dogs too, il just take the NSR door off so it doesn’t look out of place!

or go back and get the window for the other side

[bezzabsa]

see if the yoof puts your stuff up for sale , 

[JJ0063]

Driving through Dereham tonight an a chap middle 60s in a pale blue V50 coming towards me gave me a “Volvo wave” 

I now don’t know whether to buy some leather driving gloves or sell it.

[S2000]

11 hours ago, JJ0063 said:

Driving through Dereham tonight an a chap middle 60s in a pale blue V50 coming towards me gave me a “Volvo wave” 

I now don’t know whether to buy some leather driving gloves or sell it.

2 Randoms please 🤣

[TheOtherStu]

Is your mechanic (or the one who did the previous work) a volvo specialist? I think his name is Steve?

I only know this because my folks live in Reepham and managed to get a V40 through its entire life (1999 - 2019 RIP 160k SRS fault I believe). They ended up giving him the car free when it became EOL as thanks.
Anyhow, I probably don't need to tell you this because you'll have passed it a hundred times in your life, but apparently the breaker near the A1 Black Cat roundabout is as good a Volvo breaker as there is in the country.