406oc.co.uk

My car passed the MOT today without fault, 10th year of straight passes in my ownership

Congratulations! Come to think of it, that's a very long time to actually have the same car...

Quite an achievement young man.

(even if you do replace the suspension every few thousand miles)

Just kidding.

Well done from me too - 10 years is a long time to own any car, I only kept my Ford for a year....!!

Yours is a nice car though, easily another 10 years worth of ownership.

Yep even with the Ford suspension issues it has still never once flagged a warning light or hesitated or failed to do anything un-car like.

The air-con works perfectly, the interior is all still clean and tidy and the bodywork gleams.

Funnily enough I was talking to the MOT man and realised that apart from headlamp bulbs (they're on all the time) I've never actually changed any of the rear bulbs on this car, they still must have the factory bulbs even the spare wheel has never been used

It has now become a bit of a personal challenge to see how long I can keep it but also keeping it in A1 condition where possible, biggest fear is someone crashing into it as it'll get written off instantly.

There in lies the rub, if it did get smashed you'd only get the same money for the car if you'd never bothered to wash it and treated it as a battering ram

Are the tails LED's? They're all LED's on yoyoII, apart from the number plate lamps which I suspect are incandescents as one of them's dead.

I know, sadly that's the truth.

The tail lights are normal filament bulbs never known them last like this, especially as they're always on with the engine running, 105K miles.

I did actually replace the indicators, not because they blew but they weren't 'orangey' enough where the coating stuff peeled off.

Current concern is the eggsauce system, there's a tiny leak which I manage* with gun-gum every few months but the tubing, although stainless* steel* from the factory, is feeling 'soft' and crunchy. No Kwik-Fit type eggsauce systems were ever made so its either a genuine Volvo system (£££££) or a 'Sports' aftermarket jobbie. Lets see what this winter does to it and ignore it for now, I expect sudden snappage at some point as has happened recently to other Volvo Forum drivers.

10 years, that really is quite an achievement and I'll bet surprisingly good value for money.
It's an eye-opener to realise you've managed to enjoy running something a bit special that you really like that winds up saving you dosh as well.
I is envious.

Wish I could think of an equivalent to replace the current Dogmobile.

Doggy wrote: ↑Tue Jan 08, 2019 8:59 pm 10 years, that really is quite an achievement and I'll bet surprisingly good value for money.
It's an eye-opener to realise you've managed to enjoy running something a bit special that you really like that winds up saving you dosh as well.
I is envious.

I think luck came into it, remember I bought it back in Jan 2009 when it was OMGRECESSIONCHAOS I paid £7,000.00 for it after a main dealer 'Principle' in that B'Ham stormed onto the Sales floor one morning and told everyone to shift the whole stock and make the prices less than the cheapest equivalent car they could find on Autotrader mine ended up £2,300.00 less than book price so I put a deposit down over the phone pronto.

What I got was a £22K 4 year old car with 23,000 miles on it, it made sense to me to keep the thing as long as possible, as it turns out the horrific rising cost of living in recent years has pretty much prevented any reasonable/equivalent replacement of the car anyway but in the meantime the volvo has soldiered on without causing much grief. Over Christmas I had a very enjoyable 'jostle' on the A43 with a new E-Class Mercedes who was desperate to overtake me leaving the numerous roundabouts, I bet he had quite a surprise when a 2005 volvo was making better progress.....

In terms of big bills (outside of normal oil services, tyres and brakes), off the top of my head, there's been: Oil Breather Diaphragm (350.00) Air Con Compressor (600.00) Suspension Capers (1300.00?) Engine Mount (150.00). So about £2,400.00 over 10 years plus the original cost of the car I estimate a total running cost of £95.00 per month including depreciation, servicing, brakes and tyres but excluding Tax, fuel and insurance. I only do 4500 miles a year now so fuel cost at 25mpg isn't really a concern.

That's almost the same period as my 2 406's - bought the original Dogmobile in October 2008 at 6.5 years old / 102k miles for £3250, sold it 4 years & about 85k miles later for £800. In that time it had an a/c condenser, the first defap in these parts, a cambelt kit, disks all round, strut top bearings / front dampers and a clutch / DMF that I changed at the first suggestion of slip about 3 month before I sold it.

Got replaced by the current 406 for £1500 off fleabay at 9 yrs / 87k miles. This one's had a 2 batteries, an alternator, 2 cambelt kits, disks etc all round plus clutch/DMF/6-speed box, 2 condensers an intercooler and various odds & sods I've forgotten. It'll be 16 in March and has 224k on the clock.

Suspect all that means we've shelled out about the same for the privileged of 10 years of reliable, comfortable travel in something quick enough to put a smile on your face without draining your wallet. (I've covered an extra 150k miles in that decade tho).

So let's pat each other on the back and ask Uncle Google what depreciation means

I still think your 6-speed conversion is the work of a genius! hoe you figured it'd all work out I'll never know [/doff's hat in your direction].

And if anyone wants to know what goes wrong with 2.2's they can read the above and say: Condensers and Clutches

Your next motah has got to be a 508 surely?