Volvo 480 Club Europe

Congratulations on your purchase! Enjoy the car!

bunjiweb wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 24, 2020 10:45 pm

Hello all.

I was the lucky bidder on this particular 480 and after a brief inspection it was driven 101 miles back from Derby without anything alarming issues reported.

As others have said, it seems someone ticked all the options on this S, and so far, most of it works apart from the speedometer... Quite a big issue I thought at first, but after reading some of the helpful guides on here I'm confident I can get it working. Largely because the car also came with a spare dash cluster (and also a spare brand new allot wheel!).

Overall everything else seems to work fine and be in very good condition. The electric mirrors didn't work but that turned out just to be the fuse, and I haven't yet had a chance to test the heated seats because white frankly it's been too hot to notice!

Little history came with the car, but so far everything seems pretty good - the interior is in especially good condition and whilst the engine bay isn't clean, there's no signs of previous coolant splashes or oil leaks.

Earlier today I took the battery tray out as the previous battery clamp had obviously failed at some point and a hasty bodge of cable ties and a metal bar were holding it in. I fashioned a new clamp and it looks rather smart, even if i do say so myself!

I may start a thread for the car, if anyone would be interested?



Ben

Hello Ben & congratulations on your acquisition - many many hours of pleasure, pain and plain old head-scratching ahead!!

I'm somewhat jealous of your purchase, as my first wedgie was a 1991 white ES with white bumpers and a few 'extras'. Your car looks to be in very good condition, and I hope you get lots of fun and plenty of opportunities to post on here as a result of getting her.

Whereabouts are you based?

All the best!

Martin Mc

Thanks for the comments. What a welcoming community that I'll no doubt be badgering for help with things over the coming weeks....

I'm based near Cheltenham and work for a classic car dealership near Bibury in The Cotswolds (in normal circumstances at least!)

I'll start a thread on the car later today, hopefully!

Ben

That looks quite tidy and I also look forward to a dedicated diary thread.

Welcome to 480 ownership!

Welcome to wedge ownership Ben. Sounds like you work in the right job as a 480 owner,good luck hope to see you at a meet. Norman.

Hey Ben, welcome aboard. 

A dodgy instrument cluster is a common thing and the easiest thing is to remove it and send it to Brinkie in The Netherlands for repair‎, if he is still accepting jobs during his lock down. Mine went and came back just before the UK locked down. The instrument cluster isn't too difficult to repair but you need to search on here first how to get the dashboard surround out so that you don't break any of the fixings for the hidden screws).

There is also the intermediate connector (between the sensor and the dashboard) to consider and also the state of the wire. If you take a look at MisterH's posts you will see that he successfully cured his speedo woes with some wire repair. 

The sensor itself is very unlikely to fail so don't waste your time trying to find what is a very rare part until you've exhausted the ‎two above options. 

Looks like a nicely speced-up S that is basically an ES without front fog lights‎. They can be easily added and I believe that all of the wiring is already in the car so you can just add the lights (there are two types, I believe you would have had the 'fixed-focus- later type at that age... they will be pricey because of their rarity now but certainly possible to find) and a new dashboard switch. Don't hold me to that though!

Well....

It's been a tough old year, hasn't it? What started off as a lockdown project quickly got pushed to one side as my lockdown holiday rapidly evaporated!

I managed to fix a number of little niggles with the car, including the aforementioned speedometer and info centre issues a long with a few other interior bits. Managed to go for a few lovely drives in it but because of work, young child and the general cluster-feck that was 2020, the MOT had lapsed late last year. Today I thought I'd get it to the MOT station and see if I could get a fresh one on it with the view to finding a new loving owner.

Sadly, once at my local friendly MOT centre, I was able to get a proper look at the underside for the first time since I first bought it, and the two rear sections of the inner sill that I knew looked a bit suspect were, well, not in a good shape at all. It appears someone filled the back sections in with a serious amount of rubber / silicone then covered it in underseal etc. to fool the unaware (i.e. me) into thinking it was pretty solid.

So, now I'm left with a Volvo that has a lovely interior, lots of plus points including what feels like a very strong solid engine, but unfortunately 2 rust patches I wouldn't even want to attempt to get into.

As such, I thought it only fair to give you lovely people the heads-up that I will now have to sell the car on again. I don't want to profiteer from it, I just want to get as near as I can back for it as I paid and find someone who'll either get it back on the road or use all the nicer parts to make one very lovely 480.





bunjiweb "at" gmail.com

Oh no! Sorry to see this has gone sour on you.

Did you buy from a private seller or a dealer? What a bastard to pull the wool over your eyes with this sort of bodge.

There are repair panels available so it isn’t the end of the world if you do want to “invest” more money in to having repaired.

I don’t how much you paid but if you paid for a a “goodun” it is highly unlikely you are going to get your money now it needs a lot of money(like £1000 or so roughly) to make it good again.

James is correct. The bastard who sold you it in that state! I would echo his thoughts that getting it sorted yourself may be better financially in the long run especially if you invested a fair bit initially. Wish you all the best whatever you decide.

Hi Ben,

I am genuinely saddened by this one.... looks a treat in the photo's. I was looking forward to a diary thread.

My 1994 was pretty much identical in that area and the only way forward is to cut it all out and start over...



The only 'hope' I can provide is I would much rather bend and shape metal on my classic car than attempt to try and fix something like a CANBUS communication error on something newer; but fully understand how daunting it all looks.

Values are rising and a bit of money spent on tin-worm might be an investment?

Best wishes and hope to see you (in perhaps another 480?) sometime in the future.

JKM.

Thanks for the replies chaps.

Sadly other commitments, both metallic and humanoid, mean I simply haven't got the time to invest in this one.

It's likely I'll put it on eBay next week, unless someone is interested in making me an offer on here (definitely my preferred route!)

Ben

This is a real shame Ben.

Granted, there are "proper" repairs and "cosmetic repairs", but if you do the latter (as I have often done) and then sell the car on, you must always be completely open and transparent about what you have done. Certainly that's what I do and I hope those affected would agree...

In this case it was something that was always going to require more than just cosmetic repair and for the seller to deceive you so badly is deplorable.

I very much feel for you and am really sorry you aren't in a position to deal with this in a way that lets you keep the car. At least the purchaser will go into ownership with their eyes open!

Good luck and best wishes

David

Frustratingly it was surprisingly well covered over with silicone and sealant. I'd seen what I assumed was little more than surface rust on both corners. Judging by his character, I'd assume the seller wasn't fully aware of it as I think it was probably already like that and he simply didn't have it up on a ramp to fully poke about.

I'll be getting it up on eBay by the weekend if I can find a moment and am open to any offers as I'd rather see it go to a good home than snapped up by someone thinking they can bodge again and flip it!

Ben

Back on eBay it goes....

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/333954251250

Good luck with the sale Ben. Your listing on eBay does justice to the car, which looks great, without pulling punches, so fair play to you.

Yes, good luck Ben. At least this time around any buyer has had an honest advert!

David

Thanks chaps.

Have had quite a bit of interest, an offer of 1k and currently 97 watchers, so fingers crossed I can find a new home that appreciates it.

I always write descriptions as honestly and detailed as possible. What's the point in being scarce on details only to have someone win it for a low price then turn up and kick tyres and offer even less!

Ben

Despite interest it seems the rust is just too much for people to make a sensible offer or commit and make a reasonable bid.

I'd like to offer the car to members for £800, so will post in the FS forum shortly, but I'm thinking this may well end up being broken for parts. Sad really!

Ben

Hello Ben,

I was watching the auction on eBay, and saw that it appeared to have sold for £1150 (?) which was a reasonable achievement. What happened then, was it the usual, "my pet frog accidentally bid" or "my three year old hacked my account and bid on my behalf" sort of nonsense? Sorry it didn't work out. I'm sure someone on here might consider taking it on

As an aside, you might consider Car & Classic - it is free to post an ad on there, and the generally good overall condition of your car might tempt someone who isn't necessarily aware of this site. I've always had much better success selling via C&C than through the noise and uncertainties of eBay.

Good luck in any case!

Actually it was a forum member that won it which filled me with great confidence, as I'd been very open here having posted photos of the rust etc. Unfortunately they then decided after winning that the rust was too much for them to take on so backed out. He was at least very civil throughout but it was very frustrating. I am now in a position where desperately need to get rid of the car before I have to start paying for storage on it so will likely have to sell it at a stupidly cheap price, i.e. £800, just to be able to move on.

Ben