Hello fellow 480 owners

akroto · Post by **akroto** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 11:48 am

Hello all 480 owners.

My name is Anders and I live in Norway.
I've recently bought a '87 480 ES.
I've had it at a garage ever since I've bought it, so my uncle can repair it in his spare time. Unfortunatly its a Toyota garage, so I won't get cheap parts. But just the other day he called me and told me that my car was full of water.
I must admit I wasn't suprised, I've been reading about this car for few years now, and know about some of their problems.
We think we have found the problem, and if you guessed rearlights you are right. So I've figured I got to change them. (Yes, know I can probably reseal them but they are faded and cracked.)
Anyway, I called one of the Volvo suppliers in Norway, and asked for a price quote for a pair of new rearlights and the plastic piece between them. I knew this wasn't cheap parts, but didn't expect the total price of 5125 NOK or 507 GBP.

Now my real question: Is there a website anywhere in Britain or Sweden where I can buy cheaper parts.
I've been calculating that I can get a pair of rearlights in Britain (if the price still is Ã‚Â£103 a piece.) for the price of one rearlight in Norway. (Which costs 2285 NOK or 225 GBP).

DaKyy · Post by **DaKyy** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 1:03 pm

I'd say buy decent or good condition used rear lights. You can restore them if you are not in a hurry. They usually turn out good if they just are faded. Then you just need to use some sort of seal between the body and lights. You'll save lots of money if you can get your hands on a decent pair on eBay for example.

Here is mine:

Before:

After some lacquer:

And the sealing:

Congratulations for getting a 480! Mine is -87 also by the way

akroto · Post by **akroto** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 1:49 pm

I don't think I have that luxury of that, as these cars are so rare in Norway. I can honestly say that I've seen more Lamborghinis on the road, than I've seen 480's. (actually I've only seen two other 480's and one of them were swedish registred...

)
One would think that it would be more popular in Norway, bening a Volvo and we norwegians have always liked Volvo, but with this car that doesn't seem to be the case.
Dunno why really, maybe it was too expensive for the time.

DaKyy · Post by **DaKyy** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 2:44 pm

Use http://www.ebay.co.uk or http://www.marktplaats.nl/ for second hand parts.

I live in Finland and the situation is almost the same, I haven't seen another 480 for ages... I buy almost all my parts from ebay, if they are not available through Volvo or they are too expensive

The postages from Europe aren't that bad.

3404 · Post by **3404** » Wed Jul 16, 2008 9:35 pm

Maybe you can try an email to a Volvo garage in Holland: their site is www.hooftman.nl and their Email adres is: info.alphenadrijn@hooftman.nl
Rearlights are 133 euro each as far as I know but there is a good chance they give you a little discount if you tell them you are a member of Volvo480 europe .. It doesn't hurt to ask..

akroto · Post by **akroto** » Thu Jul 17, 2008 10:57 am

Hmm... Wouldn't hurt to ask.
My uncle is now trying to pull some strings, but I don't know how that goes. Even with employee discount here in Norway, I still think it cheaper abroad.