My New Fishing Wagon

[Vagabond]

,my 240 cost nothing ,spend £150 putting in parts for the mot ,big big car (bigger than new volvo estates).

only 266 thou on clock ,unfortunately its a four speed box but easily upgraded to a five if i stumble across one.

jaw dropping turning circle (amazes me i can turn round corners sharper than in the golf).

 

Yep, my 240 was the best car I ever had. 250,000 miles - up mountains, through sea tunnels (in Norway), north to the North Cape, as far east as Istanbul, as far west as Galway, south to near Gibraltar. Used it as a miniature camper van.

In an ill-conceived move, "upgraded" it to a Volvo 740, which had an inferior turning circle, and didn't last as long as the 240.

"Upgraded" the 740 to a Volvo V70AWD and now wish I hadn't, new automatic gearbox needed at just 70,000 and the electrics are a joke - always going wrong and draining the battery. (One needs to carry a spare charged battery plus jump leads all the time) Volvo garage can't find the fault - which is intermittent, and keep telling me the car needs a new battery - ignoring the fact that when the battery was replaced, the new one was drained in two days!

At the moment I have a nice rugged and reliable Landie Defender 90 which I use when the Volvo is playing up worse than usual.

 

Will upgrade the V70AWD to anything that hasn't got Volvo written on it.

[chesters1]

its typical Vagabond ,modern doesn't always mean better ,hopefully though your new ones MPG is better than mine its a thirsty bugger ,would be better with a 5 speed box but 240's are rare in breakers now ,mine which is unusual shares the engine with some 740's though so one maybe turn up eventually.

anyone with a 5 speed box from a b230k engine please give me a pm (you never know)

 

get some waxoyl in your landy frames though my series 3 rotted away

Edited June 3, 2008 by chesters1

[Steve Burke]

I've had the same things go wrong with my Volvo as Vagabond, although mine is the Cross Country version that has extra ground clearance. It may be the later model has sorted these problems out but there's no way I can afford such a new car - although I have field-tested it! Go to http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/Tackle-And-Bai...ss_country.html

 

Elton, there's one small mistake in the review that perhaps you'd correct. In the 2nd para please change "This makes it comparable with many 4x4 and leisure vehicles...." to "This makes it comparable to other "soft-roaders"". Cheers.

 

Luckily we bought my Mk I Cross Country very cheaply and so overall it hasn't worked out that expensive. However it's not the reliability you'd expect with a Volvo. Having said that, it's certainly been the best car I've had to date, and hopefully it'll last for many years to come. If I were to buy again I'd consider the diesel, but I may not do enough miles a year to warrant the extra front end cost even secondhand.

 

There were 3 cars on my final short list giving me good enough off-road ability for Wingham, excellent on-road comfort, load carrying capacity, plus the option of an automatic gearbox. The others were the Audi All Road and the Subaru Legacy Outback.

 

I couldn't find a Legacy at the time, and chose the Cross Country as my previous Volvo 850 had just saved our lives, plus we have an excellent local Volvo dealer in Lipscombs of Ashford. Most of all though, the All Road wasn't introduced until 1999 and so a lot more expensive than my 1997 VolvoXC.

 

Anyway, I agree you've got a great fishing wagon in the Legacy at a real bargain price, Elton!

[Rob Ward]

The Subaru Outback is an absolute steal second hand.

 

We had one for touring Australia and I nearly cried when I had to give it back, it's top of my shortlist for when I replace the Bora!

[ColinW]

Good move getting an older one!

As of next April, you will still be paying £185 a year car tax, while someone in a 2001 model will have to stump up £300!!

 

http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/road-tax/?deriv=17626

Edited June 4, 2008 by ColinW

[****glyn****]

I know Steve Burke likes his AWD Volvos, but when you're skint, they're just a dream.

 

However, I think I did okay the other day. I bought a 1997 R-plate Subaru Legacy Estate 2.0l petrol for the princely sum of £521.

 

It's an all-wheel-drive model, with a low gear option, just like a big 4x4. It's done 77,000 miles and has a twin electric towbar fitted.

 

Obviously, it's been towing a caravan (the towbar and Eurocamp sticker are a dead giveaway!), but that's what these things are built for.

 

The car itself is basic - no electric windows, aircon and the like. However, it seems to drive okay, is reasonably pokey and, being AWD, sticks to the road like glue.

 

I missed my old van, so having the option* of folding down the back seats is fantastic. It did a run to the council dump the first day I had it!

 

I reckon it's a great fishing wagon. Loads of space, cheap enough to not worry about getting it scratched, 4wd for when it's a bit muddy and it will tow my boat, if I ever get it seaworthy.

 

I quite like it

 

 

* I say 'option', but the seats got folded down as soon as I bought it and have stayed like that since. I don't d'do' passengers

 

you can't beat my £100 suzuki barbie wagon .as of steves awd volvo ,I've just had to tow him out because he got stuck

 

ps yes I'm on the carp lake why are you not here.

 

catch ya later glyn

[Elton]

This car has been fantastic so far.

 

It now possesses a few kilos of Suffolk sand and has a faint aroma of squid, but fires up first time every time and serves me well. I even washed it a few weeks back. Not inside, though. Obviously.

[Vagabond]

volvo's ..240 .....

 

big big car (bigger than new volvo estates).

.

jaw dropping turning circle (amazes me i can turn round corners sharper than in the golf).

 

at only 19 years old its my newest car yet ,and surprisingly back then it was designed with a 19 year life

 

were not talking fast but it has grunt where its needed

 

and being a carb version can be played with by amateurs like me without having to plug something in for the car to give me a hint whats wrong with it like these over complicated new ones.

 

Too right chesters My 240 was the best car I ever had.

 

Being an angler means you use narrow lanes and tracks. You soon notice that a three-point turn in the 240 becomes a five (or even seven) point turn when you "upgrade" to a V70AWD

[Dick Dastardly]

Good point about not minding about scratches etc Elton.

 

I was quite happy to take my old Range Rover any where! New one (new for me that is!) I dont want to scratch it or get mud on/in it! Kind of defeats the whole point of having it realy!

 

Must admit my Volvo estate was the roomiest fishing wagon Ive had.And they were built to last over 20years old and never no rust.

Edited February 21, 2009 by BUDGIE

[Vagabond]

Now Chesters is a Volvo owner, I would be interested in his take on the sub-class of busybody that only Volvo owners know about.

 

These people have never heard of daylight running lights, and every time they encounter a Volvo start flashing their lights, blowing their horns, wildly gesticulating with their hands and whatever else seems necessary to attract your attention. Attention to their own driving is suddenly low priority (I wonder if anyone has actually run off the road whilst doing the above)..

 

I have developed a special sigh and a muttered "What a prat" for these events.