It all began on my 19th Birthday when my step father gave me the keys to his old '94 Volvo 440 1.8i. I had that beast for 2 traumatic years. It took alot of unintentional abuse as i was a new and frankly dangerously optimistic new driver. Alas during the summer of 2006 is succumed to a 'catastrophic' water leak which left the footwells submerged. The 440 went to the great scrap yard in the sky... well... Cardiff.
I was carless for a year, and began yearning to drive again! I considered my options and remembered spotting a local '480' during my summer job. The hunt was then on!
I went on a crash course online and offline seeking all the information i needed to prepare myself for making a purchase. Including this forum which was invaluable... I made a list of trouble-points to ask about when viewing and set about saving some dollar.
Summer of 2007 and a corker appeared on Ebay... i followed it up and after a quick phone call it met most the criteria for being credible candidate. The 480 was in Devon, That weekend i set off with a mechanic friend on the voyage to devon... needless to say i was driving it back to southwales before that night.
However from the get go it was not smooth runnings, after a stop at a services for a topup my brand new 480 which cost £450 wouldnt start, we bumped it and continued... i put it down to one of 'those character traits' after all it had not left the the west country and this was a long drive!
We had haggled the previous owner down from £500 on account of the following issues...
Speedo non-functioning
Cracked windsheild
snapped chair releases
non-functioning heated seats
water leakage into boot
Info center has non backlight
However there was a full service history and unbelievably 2 previous owners. Bargin? or would it turn out to be an utter waste of time and money?
Fortunatly it not starting was 'one of those things' and hasnt happened since... However since Christmas 2007 its had a new battery and as of January 2008 a new starter motor. And the passenger window has ceased up.
Apart from these 'inconviniances' its been fine... i drive back and forth from Cardiff to Portsmouth regulary and it has been reliable as clockwork. I recommend any budding 480 enthusiasts to take the plunge, do it. I'm a student, i have no money, and this is my second car. Its never to early to get involved... besides when it does go wrong learning from each small setback prepares you for the inevitable, future disaster!
What are you waiting for!
I'll keep you updated through 2008. So far so good!
