How much is the volvo worth?

How much is this white ex-police T5 worth 1997 Dec
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=9872&item=4561322434&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW
with 196,000 miles on the clock? Not a lot I would say? He says he was
pleased the last auction sale fell through at 1,040 pounds because he
wanted more for it. Would it not be sensible to pay more money for a
lower mileage one? As repairs for 196.000 miles ex police one could be
costly I think, particularly on a volvo at this mileage. Is my
thinking correct? A non ex police red Feb 1999 T5 SE model with
141,000 went for 2,150.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=9872&item=4561538752&rd=1

Look at the valuation
http://www.wisebuyers.co.uk/index.j...96-99)&mmv=19832&yearplate=1997/R&mileage=196

valuation adjusted for 196,000 miles

Retail: £3,465
Private Good: £2,845
Private Average: £2,055
Private Poor: £1,255
Part Exchange: £2,305
Trade: £2,102

Those valuations seem way out.

 

Darren (Dazza) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Irrespective of Ovlovs and ex-plodness, by they time you're at 140k miles,
the difference to 200k is relatively academic.

It's condition, condition, condition.

140k could be utterly shagged and worn out if not properly maintained.
200k could be fresh as a daisy.

 

Agreed, my father has a T5 V70 with 130k on the clock and it goes like
stink... - Look out for an oil leak under the engine bay, caused by blow
back pressure in the block, blowing out the main crankshaft to gearbox
seal. (Big problem with these)
Also look out for blue smoke under acceleration, indicating worn turbo
seals and possibly bearings.
Remember the turbo is a very special peace of kit on this car, it's
where all the power comes from, check it out carefully, they can be a
grand upwards.
The police look after there cars very well.
Expect 27mpg tops though!!!
I think a T5 for a grand is a real bargain, irrespective of a few faults
and high milage....

Once you have driven one!, they are addictive.

Andy

 

You think?

They get utterly ragged by the drivers - OK, they may be well
maintained, but once they've reached the end of their useful life to the
force they're normally totally fucked.

It may be slightly different for cars, but a BikePlod I know says to
*never* touch an ex-plod bike.

 

Yeah, those Police bikes are always hooning around at max_revs+1 with race
cans on and... oh wait...

 

I think I'll trust his opinion on this one as he rides them every day so
knows _exactly_ how shagged they are when they get shot. I can only
assume it'll be the same for cars.

 

With respect, he is a bike copper, not a mechanic... - Don't make
assumptions, there are good volvo's out there with 2+ million miles on
the clock.

Andy

 

He rides the bikes every day - and has been known to ride a variety of
kit, not just the marked bikes.

A Honda Pan European is probably *the* most bulletproof bike ever made,
even those are to be avoided after the plod have had them for a few
years.

Just because a privately owned Volvo has 2 million miles on it doesn't
mean a thrapped to an inch of it's life fast patrol car will make it
that far.

It's really not worth the risk. You may get lucky and find a good one,
but the odds are you'll buy an expensive shed.

 

With respect, he is a bike copper, not a mechanic...

What kind of assumptions ?
Those such as assuming a bike 'copper' knows nothing about mechanics ?

 

Thing is repairs are going to be expensive arent they? And nobody will
want it if you try to resell it with 200k+ on it And the repairs will
soon cost as much as the car is worth. Anybody know the maintenance
costs of these kind of cars? Whats likely to go wrong at this mileage?
The turbo wont last much longer will it? How much to replace that?
Insurance is group 16 too. Volvo parts arent cheap are they? And volvo
dealer maintenance is out of the question the prices they charge.

How specialized is maintaining a volvo t5? Can any garage do it?
Independent volvo specialists dont seem very common compared to other
makes of cars (eg French cars, Saab etc)

 

If the turbo is original I'd expect it to need replacing soon-ish,
especially as I can't see the police leaving their cars to idle for a
couple of minutes before cutting the engine..... probably around £500
for an exchange turbo plus fitting.

Anyone should be able to work on the car, but, as a 5-pot motor, the
cambelt is going to be a right PITA to replace. (I'm sure I'm right in
assuming the engine is longitudinal in these things).

 

500 plus fitting, well the car is simply not worth buying is it, even
at 1000 pounds. For 2000 you can get a lower mileage private only
owned higher spec car. (The police ones are fairly poverty spec
compared to an SE or CD trim). And not many people like white cars.
As for buying the 1000 pound one, you could soon spend in maintenance
and repairs what a better example would cost.

What about suspension parts etc, arent they likely to be shagged at
that mileage? Could be costly?

 

Plenty of guys on the T5 forums with ex-plod motors. Main problem is the
dibble spec, manual / cloth / basic everything, 16" rims with toughened
suspension, holes in dash and roof, no stereo etc. IIRC one of them fitted a
bigger turbo, custom ECU map and nitrous and is running in the twelves.
Mechanically they get everything changed that needs to be, and the engines
are very much unburstable.

 

Volvo parts aren't cheap, neither are the dealers. Fortunately you'll not
need many of the former or any of the latter...

But a 2000 quid car can only lose 2000 quid

Yes - I do. Wheel bearings £130, cambelt service (at independant using volvo
parts) £450, ECU upgrade £550...

depends - ISTR 400-600 quid being a realistic price for a fitted upgrade
turbo...

Group 16 is nowt. My dealer is 79 per hour plus vat - but the guy who
services my car is 35...

Any garage with a decent reputation yes.

 

It's transverse, and it's not a difficult job - 400 quid all in with the
service using original parts.

 

No flame intended, but in the USA at an independent shop I believe you could
get the same service on a 850 which is about the same as the s70 for US$400
using Volvo parts. (just the belt, not the water pump too...)

Why are things so much more over there?

 

The cost of properly maintaining a car has very little to do with what
*you* paid for it and a lot to do with what it cost new.

Maintaining and running a £1k T5 will cost *much* more than running and
maintaining a £1k Corsa...

....but may well represent *much* better value.



A

 

I would be *very* hesitant to buy an ex-police vehicle, I'd trust them a lot
more than an ex-rental, but they're still normally very well used by the
time police departments get rid of them, otherwise they'd keep them around.

 

Because virtually everything costs more, and hence mechanics have to be paid
somewhat higher wages to compensate I would assume. I live in an expensive
area of the US and things are similarly pricey across the board.

 

In James Sweet <> decided to enlighten our sheltered
souls with a rant as follows

Heh, ex rental cars.

*Never* buy one, well, Avis cars are better maintained than any other hire
fleet, but even then I'd be mega-wary.

Problem with them is this; there are a *lot* of them out there, far more
than most people realise. I've worked for most of the big hire companies,
and quite a few of the small independant ones, and I'd not buy a car that
any of them have had, bar the occasional Avis one.

Avis ones are only maintained properly because the cars move from depot to
depot on a regular basis, and if there's a fault it has to go on Avis's
computer system. Once it's on the system as damaged, it can only be removed
once the car has been fixed by a main agent, inspected by someone from Avis,
reported to Avis, who will then let it back on the system for rentals. If
one branch sends a car with a fault to another branch, the first branch gets
all the grief for not putting it right. This costs the first branch money,
so it's in the second branches interest to find as many faults as possible
on every car. The other companies don't give a flying ferrets left testicle.
Avis also have maximum mileage / time limits on each car which can't be
overridden without permission from Avis head office. This is hard to get.
From memory it was along the lines of Fords = 12000 miles / 6 months, Nissan
= 9000 miles / 6 months, Saab 17500 miles / 6 months, Renault 7500 miles / 3
months, Volvo 11000 miles / 6 months.

It's very, very rare any of the major hire companies will actually register
the cars to themselves, they're normally registered to a lease company which
can make identification difficult if you don't know what to look for.

When I was a Nissan salesman out of our used car fleet of 50 cars, 40 were
ex hire, 5 were "Demonstrators", a couple were "pre-registered", and there
were normally a couple of trade ins.

Best way to spot Avis cars is a little rectangular white sticker with a 7
digit number and a red border, there'll be one on the rear reg plate, one on
the back of the interior mirror, one on the lower inside edge of the
bootlid, and very often another inside the drivers door jamb. If the car has
ever had any damage, there /should/ be a piece of paper or sticker either on
the inside of the bootlid, or under the boot mat / carpet.

*Avoid* Budget / National / Hertz cars.[1]

[1] This is "in my opinion", obviously.. they're a bit litigious

--
Pete M

Range Rover Vogue SE, Ford Capri (ressurection stalling)
Porsche 911 3.2 (For Sale)

COSOC #5
Scouse Git extraordinaire. Liverpool, Great Britain