Post 82165 by T5 Ben on 2006-02-20 16:55:30
Good afternoon.Came across this excellent site this morning and thought i might ask a couple of questions.Have owned a couple of Volvo's before,the first one was a T reg 244 GLE which my folks had then various others before i walked past the Volvo dealers in Bishops Stortford and saw a white L reg 240 Torslanda which i bought straight away.That was 4 years ago and my wife keeps having children and we couldn't get three car seats in it so my dad stole my Volvo and i bought a Renault Espace( Sorry to swear on your site!!!!)He still has it and it has only covered 110,000 miles.Now want to get a proper car again so have been looking for a volvo estate and have been looking for a T5.
Any pointers in what to look for would be very much appreciated.
Thanks in advance
Ben
Can we get another tank please dad my daughters say.
Post 82167 by Vikingxl on 2006-02-20 17:05:27
Hello and welcome good luck in finding what you want!
Post 82171 by dicky b t5 on 2006-02-20 17:17:08
Welcome to VPCUK mate....Have you looked in the For Sale Section...
Good luck with the search. :)
Post 82179 by swordy21 on 2006-02-20 17:37:50
As with all cars:-
Service history, especially oil changes. Check levels and look for mayo.
Check all electrics work, they can be a pain to diagnose. This includes central locking/alarm.
Check if turbo oil return pipe seals have been replaced (cheap and easy to do), crankshaft oil seal. get under the car and look if there is oil dripping from a little square hole on the N/S.
ABS light - these units can fail, but there is a cheap repair service offered thru this forum.
Front wheels, check CV joints, suspension top mounts, drop links - Take it for a test drive, if there are any clunks when turning corners could be one of these.
Look for uneven tyre wear, could be tracking out or something more severe as above.
Gear change - should be slick and easy, autos not jerky at all.
Ask if any fault codes have been read/stored.
Check condition of all the little vac lines and rubber elbows.
How has the car been driven, high mileage not necessarilly a problem especially if mostly motorway. Short rags from cold then not letting the turbo cool down can knacker turbos.
Engine idle should be smooth at 900rpm, no odd colour smoke from the exhaust nor from the dipstick.
Accelleration should be smooth and progressive, and pin you in your seat.
Personally I would avoid cars with aftermarket "performance" mods, like dump valves, unless professionally fitted/done, eg RICA Remaps with a warranty. They're fine if you want to do them, but IMHO best to buy a stock car then do with it what you want.
Finally buy the highest spec one with the best history you can. There are plenty of tidy ones out there for not much money, worth holding out rather than getting a cheap one just because it is there now, you could end up forming a long and meaningful relationship with both your main dealer and bank manager.
Good luck
Post 82186 by Jod T5 on 2006-02-20 17:57:58
[QUOTE=swordy21]
Check condition of all the little vac lines and rubber elbows.
[/QUOTE]
...lol :slap:
Post 82569 by T5 Ben on 2006-02-21 19:48:43
Hi guys,thanks for the info.I was chating to a work collegue today and he mentioned that as my wife drives the car 4 times a day to school and back (Approx 8 miles each way) it probably wont do the car much good as it wont heat up properly :pants:
Saw a post for an essex meet possibly in march and wondered if i could possibly come along for a chat and your expert advice if my wife :remybussi is not working.
Thanks again
Ben.
Post 82571 by Murphy on 2006-02-21 20:02:43
Hello and welcome to the forum :)
Post 82633 by dicky b t5 on 2006-02-21 22:06:42
[QUOTE=Ben 77]Hi guys,thanks for the info.I was chating to a work collegue today and he mentioned that as my wife drives the car 4 times a day to school and back (Approx 8 miles each way) it probably wont do the car much good as it wont heat up properly :pants:
Saw a post for an essex meet possibly in march and wondered if i could possibly come along for a chat and your expert advice if my wife :remybussi is not working.
Thanks again
Ben.[/QUOTE]
Hi Ben, mate i do less miles to work than that most days, and i've never had any problems with my R or my old 850 T5 which i had for about 16 months.
I think its worse if you do short trips of say 1 or 2 miles.. :B_steerin .
Im sure you would be most welcome at the Essex meet,(see the thread.)
Got to try and make it myself as yet.... :slap:
Post 82642 by Mrsmopp on 2006-02-21 22:11:03
I do 4 miles to work and back each day and I have to say its not doing my 70 much good!! It's only warm for about the last mile of the journey each way :(
x
Post 82660 by siamblue on 2006-02-21 23:33:27
I do 1.5 miles each morning and afternoon taking the kids too school, no ill effects so far. 18 months and counting.
Post 82717 by Unknown on 2006-02-22 15:36:17
Hi Ben, welcome to the site, are you in Stortford? i'm in Harlow, just down the road :) you'll be most welcome at the meet i'm sure.
Post 82729 by Martinr on 2006-02-22 16:23:45
Welcome. My pennyworth :)
Make sure the underside of the engine is free from oil. Leaks can prove to be expensive to fix.
On an 850 (96) ask if the Heated Seats recall has been actioned, this is FOC action by Volvo dealer so it should have been. If the owner plays dumb it might be a bargaining point. Remember it won't cost you anything to get it done if it hasn't been actioned.
As it is an auto check the fluid for level and colour. This must be changed regularly and should have been part of the dealer service schedule.
See if the engine is completely cold before starting her up. Blue smoke can occur on start up form cold that is related to valve seals, if it does this when warm might also indicate a turbo related problem. there have been lots of posts on here related to this issue.
Ensure that the air conditioning is functioning as it should. This could just be it needs re-gassing but there are other more expensive reasons why it may not get as cold as it should. Again there are a lot of posts on here and the VOC forum with relation to aircon problems.
When I bought mine none of the interior lights worked. I haven't heard of anyone else having this problem but it is worth checking the function of the interior lighting as replacement of the unit is approx £40 in parts. It is an easy DIY job so don't be tempted to let the dealer do it as they will charge a min of 1/2 hour and it takes less than 5 mins.
Check that all the warning lights that should be on when the ignition is first turned on actually light up. It is not unknown for bulbs to be removed (Lambda light in particular), to mask potentially expensive faults.
Other than that look for the usual things that are important when buying any used car.
Post 82893 by T5 Ben on 2006-02-22 22:41:52
Thanks again for all the info chaps!!.
I live at Great Notley,Braintree so North weald is only 25 mins away so was hoping to pop down to meet your goodselves if that is ok.
Is it ok if i turn up in my Transit,(yes it is white). :)
Watch yourselves on the A120 and M11 as there are a couple of unmarked police cars about at the moment one is an Octavia and my wife :remybussi thinks the other one is an Audi with a private plate.Also they are doing speed traps on the A120 as you come off the M11 to Stansted just when the bends straighten out they sit on the left in the hedge.
Look forward to meeting everyone.
Cheers, Ben :B_steerin
Post 82904 by Unknown on 2006-02-22 23:08:29
[QUOTE=Ben 77]Thanks again for all the info chaps!!.
I live at Great Notley,Braintree so North weald is only 25 mins away so was hoping to pop down to meet your goodselves if that is ok.
Is it ok if i turn up in my Transit,(yes it is white). :)
Watch yourselves on the A120 and M11 as there are a couple of unmarked police cars about at the moment one is an Octavia and my wife :remybussi thinks the other one is an Audi with a private plate.Also they are doing speed traps on the A120 as you come off the M11 to Stansted just when the bends straighten out they sit on the left in the hedge.
Look forward to meeting everyone.
Cheers, Ben :B_steerin[/QUOTE]
Cool, yeah I know Great Notley :) that bit of the A120 near the M11 is a 50 zone - thats just cheeky! You'll be welcome in the transit, come post in the essex meet thread to confirm.
Post 83342 by Richie-T5 on 2006-02-24 12:14:11
hi folks i have noticed a small oil leak from the n/s on my 855, what is the crack if it transpires to be a crankshaft seal, are we talking super bucks ??
Post 83368 by t5owner on 2006-02-24 14:53:35
[QUOTE=Richie-T5]hi folks i have noticed a small oil leak from the n/s on my 855, what is the crack if it transpires to be a crankshaft seal, are we talking super bucks ??[/QUOTE]
If its the seal then yep mega bucks as the gearbox / clutch have to come out 6.5 hours labour
And you might as well have the clutch done at same time as it could be / probably is contaminated by the leak
If its leaking higher up from the rear of the block and running down the back it more likely to be the turbo oil return pipe seal (common failure) and if so its not soooo expensive to fix
Cheers
stuart
Post 91159 by T5 Ben on 2006-03-21 14:21:20
There i was working hard as always on friday,finished the job so go back to my office in the afternoon.My boss then tells me he's making me redundant :jaw: as work has dried up.Oh dear i thought what am i going to do???????.Anyway i have an interview on thursday so hopefully something good will happen then.Was also thinking of doing my HGV license.Dont think i will be purchasing a T5 at the moment!!!!!!
Might get a dinky toy!!!!!!Ha Ha.
TTFN
Ben
:B_steerin
Post 91168 by Wobbly Dave on 2006-03-21 15:33:51
Sorry to hear that mate - hope you find a new job soon.