New member, looking for a 480

[MisterH]

I'm surprised to see that thye built the 1.7 in 1994.
I thought it would be all 2.0litre cars by that time.

Only carried on doing 1.7s because of the contracted number agreed with Renault before production started, and before they realised the 480 wasn't going to sell in huge numbers thanks to the rubbishing it got from the motoring press. When the special edition two tone was introduced, it was only available as a 1.7 in order to get the remaining engines sold as the 2ltr was in the pipeline. Once they got down to a more comfortable stock level, they introduced a 2 ltr two tone.

do the 1.7 TT cars have the weedy engine output, or is it more grunty like my B18E, after the B18F my B18 knowledge gets more limited

[hdickins]

I'm *still* amazed by how many of you have multiple 480s!

[dragonflyjewels]

You won't be when you have one! They are totally addictive......
Have you ever driven one ?

[dcwalker]

You won't be when you have one! They are totally addictive......
Have you ever driven one ?

says the lady who should know, given between her and her husband they have 5 of them!!

Sylvia is absolutely right though, they are addictive. Until recently I'd only had one at a time, but over the last couple of years I have twice taken on a second, run them as daily drivers, done a lot of work on them, and then sold them on thinking "how many 480s does one person need?" Yet here I am again about to take on a second one and looking forward to it. It's decidedly weird, but that seems to be how these cars are!

Eventually, with all the rescue and restoration efforts going on, there'll be move surviving 480s than ever, but all in the hands of very few people

Good luck with your search - as has been said, although that red S is probably good for what it is, it's the most basic spec 480 that was made, and yes, despite the fact that the two-tone was brought in to run-out the remaining 1.7 engines dwindling orders and so numbers of 480 manufactured from 1992 onwards meant that some 1.7 engines remained kicking around and being fitted to the basic "S" models until very near the end, so it means checking carefully what any given car has in it. That said, the same applies to spec levels - on paper the S is the most basic, but many of then had extras fitted either as Volvo tried to use them up or else as specified by new buyers, so you can find S models as well spec'd as ES models. It's all a case of checking out any given individual car, rather than just making assumptions based on what should have been the case.

And yes, it will be a B18FP engine if it is a 1.7, which means with the cat about 102 bhp at best when new. If you've never driven a 480 it might just seem to have a little less go to it that you expected; if you have driven either a 2.0 or especially a turbo, it would seem decidedly flat.

The upshot of all that waffling is that I'd consider buying that red one certainly, but not for anything like £5,500!

David

[brinkie]

My wife is protecting me from my addiction by limiting the number of Volvos we have to the number of drivers licenses in the family. She bought herself a V70 so I'm stuck with my only 480, until December 2021 when the oldest turns 17. He really wants a 480 for himself so I did a pretty good job in parenting (no seriously, I've got a pretty busy life, only storage space for one car and no place to work on them so that's quite sensible not to have another car's issues occupying my mental to-do list)

I still have my first 480 which I bought in 2014. I've bought second ones, usually 1995 ES, either to rescue (succeeded in three cases) or when it's really beyond hope, for parts. There was half a year I've actually owned two, one to preserve and one to drive daily. The latter has also been restored (new wheel arches) and still lives on. Of the rescued cars, sadly only one lives on to date.

Contrary to common belief, a 480 is relatively easy to work on and reliable, given its age and the high mileages many cars have!

[hdickins]

And then there's this...
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VOLVO-480-ES ... Swv9pfbJ9q

Which looks a far more reasonable price, at least. Although I'd prefer a later one, it could be a good way to dip my toe int 480 ownership?
Any opinions?

In response to previous questions, no I've never even sat in a 480.

[dragonflyjewels]

The lack of previous history is a concern, you'd need to get the cambelt changed asap. along with a holiday in the Netherlands for the instrument cluster. Might be interesting to find out why the current owner hasn't done either. Solid wheel arches are a very good sign that the first long-term owner kept it in a garage so the underside is likely to be pretty good. The mot history shows it needs at least 2 new tyres as well. Factor in the costs of all these - 1500 wouldn't be unreasonable if they'd been done.
The earliest mot on record is 2019 so I'm guessing this was a well-cared for retirement car that was off the road for at least 14 years after the owner hung up his keys - much like my white turbo, whose first owner couldn't bear to part with his beloved car and left it sitting 9 years in his garage until he died. The lack of a V5 or any history could be due to all the paperwork being lost on the death of the owner, or it could indicate a cat C write off, although there is nothing obviously wrong in the pictures. I suspect the current owner knows a bit more than he has put on the ad. so ask lots of questions.
There will probably be more posts from other members advising other things to check. To me, it looks good so if it's not too far away go and have a look. I can guarantee you will find the seats confortable, the visibility very good and if you have a test drive I think you will be happy with the performance and handling.
If in doubt, dont buy it - you might do better to wait for one of our 1.7 rescue cars to be ready to sell. Both are much lower mileage and will have been given a thorough overhaul. They will also come with a very honest assessment of anything else that might be an issue.

[hdickins]

That's really useful advice, thanks.
I think I'll have to do a bit more waiting though, we're going into lockdown this weekend and so I'd rather not break the "non-essential travel" ban.
But I'm encouraged too. (And maybe waiting for one of the rescue cars might be a better bet anyway.)

[MisterH]

Hi Howard, the FB marketplace usually has some gems, if one is careful, here are a couple wedges that I have found there:

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/it ... 1093789248
nasty wheels though...


https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/it ... 2274541953
This one is very clean, but has the wrong mirrors for the year I think

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/it ... 6561719407
And this one, well let's just say even Andrew Eldritch would find that Corrosion a bit much

[brinkie]

I'm surprised to see that thye built the 1.7 in 1994.
I thought it would be all 2.0litre cars by that time.

They didn't. It should have been a 2 litre.

There's a fellow 480 driver in my hometown who drives a 1996 registered 480 S with an early 2 litre engine (red oil dipstick) and no infocentre. Upon closer inspection, I've found out it's actually produced in model year 1993. It probably sat unregistered at a dealer or maybe at the importer, until they've found willing to buy a poverty spec 480.

The same happened to a 1994-registered 480 1.7 litre without turbo, it was probably built a couple of years earlier. By 1993, all cars were either 2 litre or 1.7 litre turbo.