I bought this off eBay a few months back. I'd always liked the idea of these things - I love a car that looks like it should be trundling around at 37mph with an octogenarian behind the wheel but will actually burn off pretty much anything on the road.
Except this one won't. It starts on the button, sounds healthy and drives perfectly smoothly, and I drove it back from Surrey to Norfolk with no issues at all. Even the aircon works. It ain't quick though. It doesn't appear to be getting much, if anything, in the way of boost. I've tried a couple of things - I've checked the turbo hoses for obvious signs of leakage, and I've replaced the boost control solenoid, but to no avail. It's now sat doing nothing, wasting tax and MOT and it's getting to the time of year when I really can't be bothered to spend my weekends under car bonnets. The Lambda sensor light is on - I don't know whether this might be putting the thing into some kind of safe mode?
It has a few other issues too. The brakes judder at speed (presumably a warped disc), the offside headlight glass is broken (although the light still works), and there's a dent on the top of the bonnet where something fell on it. Inside, the (original) stereo doesn't do much, and the knob for the headlight switch is missing - being a late '90s Volvo, the headlights are on all the time anyway so it's not bothered me too much. The switch can still be turned with a key or something if need be. There's also a couple of panels where the paint has faded slightly, although nothing too drastic. I've also found some grot inside the fuel filler flap, and the rear arches are starting to bubble up at the bottom.
On the plus side, it's MOT'd until April, it drives fine apart from the brake judder, tyres are good and apart from being down on power it seems to be in good health mechanically. Someone who knows what they're doing with these things could soon have it terrorising boy racers again I'm sure.
It's in NE Norfolk, and I'm confident that it would drive anywhere. It's not slow by normal standards - it just feels like a naturally aspirated 1.9, so it keeps up on the motorway, but it won't leave tailgating Audi drivers in the dust, which to me is the whole point of owning a car like this.
I want £250 for it - needless to say it owes me somewhat more than that, but it's my fault for not test driving it properly before handing over the wedge when I bought it.
Here's a couple of rubbish pictures.
Except this one won't. It starts on the button, sounds healthy and drives perfectly smoothly, and I drove it back from Surrey to Norfolk with no issues at all. Even the aircon works. It ain't quick though. It doesn't appear to be getting much, if anything, in the way of boost. I've tried a couple of things - I've checked the turbo hoses for obvious signs of leakage, and I've replaced the boost control solenoid, but to no avail. It's now sat doing nothing, wasting tax and MOT and it's getting to the time of year when I really can't be bothered to spend my weekends under car bonnets. The Lambda sensor light is on - I don't know whether this might be putting the thing into some kind of safe mode?
It has a few other issues too. The brakes judder at speed (presumably a warped disc), the offside headlight glass is broken (although the light still works), and there's a dent on the top of the bonnet where something fell on it. Inside, the (original) stereo doesn't do much, and the knob for the headlight switch is missing - being a late '90s Volvo, the headlights are on all the time anyway so it's not bothered me too much. The switch can still be turned with a key or something if need be. There's also a couple of panels where the paint has faded slightly, although nothing too drastic. I've also found some grot inside the fuel filler flap, and the rear arches are starting to bubble up at the bottom.
On the plus side, it's MOT'd until April, it drives fine apart from the brake judder, tyres are good and apart from being down on power it seems to be in good health mechanically. Someone who knows what they're doing with these things could soon have it terrorising boy racers again I'm sure.
It's in NE Norfolk, and I'm confident that it would drive anywhere. It's not slow by normal standards - it just feels like a naturally aspirated 1.9, so it keeps up on the motorway, but it won't leave tailgating Audi drivers in the dust, which to me is the whole point of owning a car like this.
I want £250 for it - needless to say it owes me somewhat more than that, but it's my fault for not test driving it properly before handing over the wedge when I bought it.
Here's a couple of rubbish pictures.
