Broken Volvo V70 - fixed! It lives again!

[Gruber]

Very sad to be posting this, but...  the clutch slave has gone on our V70.  It's mounted inside the clutch housing, so it's a clutch-out job, probably involving a new clutch along the way.  Quotes in the region of £1200-1500.  And it's due an MoT in October.  

I paid £1300 back in Feb for it and it's been brilliant over the 5-6,000 miles we've done in it.  So much so that I've just spent £400 on a cambelt and water pump change.  But it makes no sense to us right now to spend this sort of money on it - and then whatever it needs for the MoT (nothing known, but..   well... old cars, innit?!).  

Quotes from the "car take back" types are in the £250-280 range.

I'd love to see it saved but that only makes economic sense for someone with the time and skills to do the clutch themselves... and that's not me.  Is it you?

It isn't driveable and needs a trailer.

The facts:  176,000 miles, 2.4 petrol manual (140 bhp), low owners, full service history, cloth interior.

Lovely, comfortable, spacious old boat.  Truly sad to be getting rid.

It's in Cambridge, CB5

 

 

[Mr_Bo11ox]

cloth interior very rare on these

[somewhatfoolish]

Doing a clutchless delivery is surely in the finest tradition of shiteing? What's the battery/starting like? 

[wesacosa]

If everything else is sorted and you like the car I do wonder if spending £1000 fixing it is much wiser use of money than spending another £1500-2000 on another car that might then also shit something expensive

 

[Gruber]

3 minutes ago, somewhatfoolish said:

Doing a clutchless delivery is surely in the finest tradition of shiteing? What's the battery/starting like? 

Haha.  Battery and starting is fine:  on the button.  These share a Dot4 reservoir between brakes and clutch... just fyi.  

[Gruber]

1 minute ago, wesacosa said:

If everything else is sorted and you like the car I do wonder if spending £1000 fixing it is much wiser use of money than spending another £1500-2000 on another car that might then also shit something expensive

 

Yeah - I know.  It's a gamble either way, right?  The only other things I'm aware of that are 'wrong' are a slight flutter at the front under firm braking and an occasional knock from somewhere front left.  So those could be something or nothing type things come MoT time.  

Meanwhile Hagstrom Saab have a 9-5 with 3 months warranty and 12 months MoT for  £1600.  

So yeah...  it's roll the dice time. 

[Gruber]

The Volvo is cosmetically challenged:  various bird poo burn in the paint, a few knocks and scrapes here and there.  It's no show queen.  Hence the £1300 entry fee back in Feb!  

The dog likes it though.  

[AxWomble]

1 hour ago, Gruber said:

Yeah - I know.  It's a gamble either way, right?  The only other things I'm aware of that are 'wrong' are a slight flutter at the front under firm braking and an occasional knock from somewhere front left.  So those could be something or nothing type things come MoT time.  

Meanwhile Hagstrom Saab have a 9-5 with 3 months warranty and 12 months MoT for  £1600.  

So yeah...  it's roll the dice time. 

55 reg estate? Nice looking thing tbf, I can’t blame you for that price. 

[Gruber]

1 hour ago, Mr_Bo11ox said:

cloth interior very rare on these

And much better and more hard-wearing than the leather. 

[big_al_granvia]

your garage is taking the piss on your clutch mate. our tame specialist is 650 plus vat and craig uses good oe spec parts

[wuvvum]

7 hours ago, Gruber said:

Meanwhile Hagstrom Saab have a 9-5 with 3 months warranty and 12 months MoT for  £1600.  

Aah, Hagstrom Saab.  I didn't realise they were still going - thought Tom would have retired by now.  Interesting character - once gave me an Austin Somerset as a courtesy car while I was having work done on my 99.

[Flat4]

9 hours ago, big_al_granvia said:

your garage is taking the piss on your clutch mate. our tame specialist is 650 plus vat and craig uses good oe spec parts

Not if you do the DMF at the same time, which you may as well while you're in there. 

[ruffgeezer]

Doubt the petrol has a DMF though.

[Gruber]

Thanks all.

Eurocarparts lists the clutch kit including slave, at £370.  (edit to remove reference to the DMF... turns out that's an extra £550)

Labour:  various website sources suggest 7-9 hours and labour rates round here start at £65 plus VAT.  

So that gets you to £1,000 easily enough even before all the little extras.  

And yeah, I get that superman could do it in 4 hours, and some parts of the country have cheaper labour rates, and it might not need a DMF....  etc etc.  

I'm waiting for some more quotes, but so far they're in the £1,000-£1,300 ballpark, excluding DMF.

[sporty-shite]

This car sounds very much like something @Minimad5 should buy

[sierraman]

I’d probably just pay the £1300, it’s unlikely anything at that money will be any better. 

[juular]

Strong agree.  You won't get anything so good that has had a new timing belt, water pump, clutch and DMF even for the combined repair costs. 

[grogee]

buy this? Smaller but the dog will still fit in, if it crouches a bit.

 

 

[Minimad5]

2 hours ago, sporty-shite said:

This car sounds very much like something @Minimad5 should buy

I'd love too mate, as I reckon that A) I could probably have the clutch etc done in the day ... depending if the driveway was soaking with rain 😅 and B ) This would be a brilliant daily.

But it's a bit far for me to collect, and no one has purchased my Diesel Mk1 V70 😕🤷‍♂️

[Talbot]

Look at it this way:

You currently have no car.  If this was advertised at a local 2nd-hand place with new cambelt, water pump, clutch and slave for £1300, it would seem a bargain wouldn't it?

Or, keep looking for a smaller (lower overheads) type place to do a clutch.  I know of at least one, but likely nowhere near you.

[Petrolize]

18 hours ago, Gruber said:

Yeah - I know.  It's a gamble either way, right?  The only other things I'm aware of that are 'wrong' are a slight flutter at the front under firm braking and an occasional knock from somewhere front left.  So those could be something or nothing type things come MoT time.  

Meanwhile Hagstrom Saab have a 9-5 with 3 months warranty and 12 months MoT for  £1600.  

So yeah...  it's roll the dice time. 

I recon if you told the garage to do the clutch and MOT at the same time, they would be a bit more lenient then normal with the MOT as they’ve already made their money with the labour in the clutch job. So might advise some of the things instead that could be borderline fail etc. 

[juular]

2 minutes ago, Petrolize said:

I recon if you told the garage to do the clutch and MOT at the same time, they would be a bit more lenient then normal with the MOT as they’ve already made their money with the labour in the clutch job. So might advise some of the things instead that could be borderline fail etc. 

The other good part of this is, since they will probably have much of the suspension disconnected to get the gearbox out, you are combining labour if any of those parts needs replaced.

[paulplom]

5 hours ago, Gruber said:

Thanks all.

Eurocarparts lists the clutch kit including slave, at £370.  (edit to remove reference to the DMF... turns out that's an extra £550)

Labour:  various website sources suggest 7-9 hours and labour rates round here start at £65 plus VAT.  

So that gets you to £1,000 easily enough even before all the little extras.  

And yeah, I get that superman could do it in 4 hours, and some parts of the country have cheaper labour rates, and it might not need a DMF....  etc etc.  

I'm waiting for some more quotes, but so far they're in the £1,000-£1,300 ballpark, excluding DMF.

I had a '55 v70 2.4d and it shit the slave cylinder about 12 years ago. Got a bill for £1100. Your quotes are very reasonable indeed.

[SmokinWaffle]

3 hours ago, Talbot said:

Look at it this way:

You currently have no car.  If this was advertised at a local 2nd-hand place with new cambelt, water pump, clutch and slave for £1300, it would seem a bargain wouldn't it?

Or, keep looking for a smaller (lower overheads) type place to do a clutch.  I know of at least one, but likely nowhere near you.

This is the best way of viewing it. If you scrap this for £300, buy a replacement for £1600, you've got a decent car but of unknown quantity for £1300. Might need a cambelt / service and so on - lots of potential for financial outlay. 

So that's £1300 spent (roughly) - not taking into account the money lost on the volvo given its recent cambelt. If we take that into account - its a £1700 decision. 

If you spend (at a guess) £1500 getting this fixed and MOT'd - you have a car of a known quantity that you know suits your needs and you love - with a fresh cambelt and clutch.

At a total cost of £1500. 

If you look at it this way you're only spending £200 (or saving £200 depending on how you view it) to get this fixed - and getting a car that suits you perfectly and will likely outlive anything else you can buy for the same price. 

I'd say invest in it and enjoy the security for the next few years! 

 

[philibusmo]

As much as I would love to persuade you to start breaking this car so I could have the cloth interior and good window regulators for mine, I have to agree with the above that getting it fixed is likely to be the most financially astute option.

[sierraman]

I’d say a £1,600 car has at the very least a 50/50 chance of landing you a sizeable bill within months of buying it. It’s like the starting point for something that might* see a year or two out. The folks across from us scrapped an Astra as the clutch went, then bought another which has now within a fortnight gone bang. If you can DIY it’s not such an issue but if you are paying £60 an hour for jobs then it’s a shortcut to the workhouse. 
 

TL:DR Take it on the chin, another £1,600 car will most likely have problems. 

[Gruber]

4 hours ago, SmokinWaffle said:

This is the best way of viewing it. If you scrap this for £300, buy a replacement for £1600, you've got a decent car but of unknown quantity for £1300. Might need a cambelt / service and so on - lots of potential for financial outlay. 

So that's £1300 spent (roughly) - not taking into account the money lost on the volvo given its recent cambelt. If we take that into account - its a £1700 decision. 

If you spend (at a guess) £1500 getting this fixed and MOT'd - you have a car of a known quantity that you know suits your needs and you love - with a fresh cambelt and clutch.

At a total cost of £1500. 

If you look at it this way you're only spending £200 (or saving £200 depending on how you view it) to get this fixed - and getting a car that suits you perfectly and will likely outlive anything else you can buy for the same price. 

I'd say invest in it and enjoy the security for the next few years! 

 

Thanks for this.  This is good sense.  I've also got a quote now for £820 from a trusted garage, which all starts to feel more feasible.  

However...  @Minimad5's Tdi V70 P1 has thrown me a curveball...

[Gruber]

Oh yeah - I'm not worried about the £400 on the cambelt.  It's done almost 2,000 for us in the past month - to weddings in Bristol, family visits in Stoke, Reading, Hastings, etc - so I'm very happy that's £400's worth of peace-of-mind bargain motoring right there.  

[sporty-shite]

19 minutes ago, Gruber said:

However...  @Minimad5's Tdi V70 P1 has thrown me a curveball...

I'm sure he could work you a good deal. 😁

[Minimad5]

2 hours ago, sporty-shite said:

I'm sure he could work you a good deal. 😁

Got to be careful with my ££ at the mo' , as little rescue doggo is needing a good few quid spending on her 😕, but I'd certainly entertain a deal with this, as it deserves to be returned to the road.