Volvo 480 on AutoTrader

Cleaned up the garage, found parts laying around, but it turned out to be a complete Volvo 480? If you want to sell your car (480 only) you can place an advert here.

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480starter
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Volvo 480 on AutoTrader

Post by 480starter » Thu Feb 16, 2023 9:56 pm

Hi guys, I'm sure you've seen the Turquoise Volvo 480 on AT and was looking for opinions on pricing, condition, ETC? I'm new to these cars but have absolutely been enamored by them.

Any glaring issues / helpful info would be awesome. Cheers guys :D

(Also I noticed an incorrect mileage put down on a previous MOT that seems to have been an error - would this be problematic? It seems to have sat dormant for almost 5 years, too.)

Link: https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-detail ... 4084460089

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WillC9303
Knows an Aerodeck isn't a 480
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Re: Volvo 480 on AutoTrader

Post by WillC9303 » Thu Feb 16, 2023 10:43 pm

Welcome to the forum :D

This particular car has been on Auto Trader for quite a long time now. However, I will give you the TL;DR first, It's not worth 5k!

No doubt some more experienced 480 owners will be able to give you more info, or even tell you how wrong I am, but this is what I have noticed from that car:
  • Rear arches & lower sills have started to go - by far the most common place for rust on a 480, however something I'd expect at the 2-2.5k price point.
  • Both front+ rear bumpers are missing the black stripe (seen on the side moulding). Suggests they've been resprayed at some point, but why? Also, the front bumper seems to have a big scuff on it...
  • Speaking of the bumpers, the rear bumper bar that sits behind the bumper skin has a reputation for horrendous rot. The front as well, but less so. If you get a chance to see the car in person, get underneath and have a good poke. The last thing you want is your rear bumper falling off on the drive home :lol: The condition of the bumper bars could give you a clue as to why the bumpers have been resprayed.
  • Interior in remarkably good nick, apart from the sagging rear headliner (again, very common issue). The driver's seat bolster has very little wear.
  • Rear light lenses and front DRLs badly faded, however not cracked, which is a good thing. While easily polished back to shiny, I'd still expect them to be slightly better for 5k............
  • 64k miles is very good for one of these cars. It looks like the mileage issue was caused by a careless MOT tester when entering the mileage. I'd personally be fuming at that if I was the owner. Doesn't really affect the car, though.
  • Being a later ES, It should have more reliable electrics as well as the slightly more refined and torquey 2.0 engine.
I get it's from a dealer, but 5k is way too much, hence why it's been for sale for so long. I'd realistically say this car is around the £3,000 mark max.
The colour is Peacock Green, but looks much more blue-ish in person.
William

1993 2.0i Limited Edition

480starter
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Re: Volvo 480 on AutoTrader

Post by 480starter » Thu Feb 16, 2023 11:30 pm

Thank you for your synopsis Will.. much appreciated!

I must say, it's a shame - I would love to purchase a 480, especially in this colour. Embarrassingly, I'm not incredibly mechanically inclined (although I intended to amend this with the purchase of a new car!). Would you say that this car could quickly turn into a burning money pit? I am set on purchasing a 480, however I am curious to know your opinion on if I'd be biting off more than I can chew.. :?

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WillC9303
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Re: Volvo 480 on AutoTrader

Post by WillC9303 » Fri Feb 17, 2023 12:09 am

You're welcome :D

Assuming the dealer isn't hiding anything major about the car, I can't see any reason as to why it would be a money-pit. The biggest expense I can see is the rear arches will need welding in order to preserve the car. That will probably free you of several hundred £££ depending on the body shop. Volvo 480s have an unfair reputation for being somewhat unreliable. However, most of the problems people experience are to do with the electrics (such as the pop-up lights and Info centre) or water ingress through the rear glass hatch and rear lights. While the 480 has electric everything pretty much, they're simple enough that most things that do go wrong will be easy fixes, such as dodgy connections or bad earths. Mechanically speaking, 480s are very solid. The running gear is related to many 90s Renaults such as the Laguna and Espace and are very reliable as long as they are well maintained (lots of service history will be useful here) While for the price it should be a lot better, it's in a much better state than a lot of 480s. The no-advisory MOT is a sign of that.

I can relate to your concerns about not being mechanically minded. I'm 19 and I bought my 480 as my first car just over a year ago. The few electrical issues I've experienced have been relatively minor (and quite therapeutic to fix :lol:) and I haven't had any significant mechanical issues so far (the routine timing belt and water pump change is a bit of a pig). In truth, my biggest battles by far have just been seized bolts and screws. I have learned a lot about mechanics along the way, though. It's been a great learning experience.

Peacock Green is quite a rare colour, as it was only sold for the last 3 model years (1993,94 & 95). If you're really set on that colour, it doesn't hurt to go down and look at the car and see how much you can get the dealer to budge on price. Although the days of being choosy about the colour when purchasing a 480 are long gone due to their rarity.

It's certainly not a bad example - far from it - the issue really isn't the car, but more the price.
Last edited by WillC9303 on Fri Feb 17, 2023 12:23 am, edited 1 time in total.
William

1993 2.0i Limited Edition

480starter
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Re: Volvo 480 on AutoTrader

Post by 480starter » Fri Feb 17, 2023 12:23 am

Will - you've been fantastic. I too am looking at this for a first car and it seems like something that could be a very exciting project for myself. However I am in agreement about the price. I may go and take a look in person and report back RE: Rust ETC.

Have a lovely evening mate :D

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dragonflyjewels
480 Is my middle name
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Re: Volvo 480 on AutoTrader

Post by dragonflyjewels » Fri Feb 17, 2023 8:24 am

Hello and welcome. As has already been said, this ES is very over priced and I doubt the dealer will be willing to reduce it to a realistic level.

You might want to think about buying a rescue car. If you haven't found information about our rescues yet, have a look on here. It's been quiet over the winter but work will start again once the weather improves. R9 is likely to be the next one ready for rehoming, and is also a late ES. Currently it's with dcwalker who can give you a better idea of condition, I think no worse than the Auto Trader one and maybe better. The price will be a LOT less.

Perhaps once you have a 480 you will join us on one of our meetings - we are a very friendly lot and always pleased to have new members.
Sylvia

Snazzy - 1993 Paris Blue ES red dipstick 2.0i bought 2001
Lethal Lily - 1991 White Turbo
Paris the Unicorn - 1991 Paris Edition
hubby has
Sven - 1994 Racing Green GT
Evil Eva - 1992 Paris Blue Turbo

no previous 480s - can't bear to sell any

480starter
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Re: Volvo 480 on AutoTrader

Post by 480starter » Fri Feb 17, 2023 2:59 pm

Thank you for the warm welcome - digging through some other posts on here I can already tell this is a very knowledgeable and welcoming community, so I appreciate it hugely.

I may consider a rescue car - are there any current rescues for sale? Unfortunately I am in absolute agreement about the dealer probably not wanting to budge to a reasonable price, although it won't stop me from trying :lol:

If luck permits I would absolutely love to eventually join you all at a meetup - I can tell these are special cars.

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dragonflyjewels
480 Is my middle name
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Re: Volvo 480 on AutoTrader

Post by dragonflyjewels » Fri Feb 17, 2023 3:56 pm

No rescue cars available at the moment. They are usually spoken for before they are ready. but so far no-one has asked for R9 (Bluebell)
Sylvia

Snazzy - 1993 Paris Blue ES red dipstick 2.0i bought 2001
Lethal Lily - 1991 White Turbo
Paris the Unicorn - 1991 Paris Edition
hubby has
Sven - 1994 Racing Green GT
Evil Eva - 1992 Paris Blue Turbo

no previous 480s - can't bear to sell any

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dragonflyjewels
480 Is my middle name
Posts: 1584
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2010 10:38 am
Location: Norfolk

Re: Volvo 480 on AutoTrader

Post by dragonflyjewels » Fri Feb 17, 2023 3:56 pm

No rescue cars available at the moment. They are usually spoken for before they are ready. but so far no-one has asked for R9 (Bluebell)
Sylvia

Snazzy - 1993 Paris Blue ES red dipstick 2.0i bought 2001
Lethal Lily - 1991 White Turbo
Paris the Unicorn - 1991 Paris Edition
hubby has
Sven - 1994 Racing Green GT
Evil Eva - 1992 Paris Blue Turbo

no previous 480s - can't bear to sell any

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dcwalker
480 Is my middle name
Posts: 1522
Joined: Sun Sep 16, 2012 12:30 pm
Location: York

Re: Volvo 480 on AutoTrader

Post by dcwalker » Fri Feb 17, 2023 7:31 pm

Hello 480starter and welcome!

Will has given a good synopsis of that 480 and I'm not going to really add anything nor disagree with him. What I will say is that interest in the 480 is on the increase and so, at last, are their values - but on the back of that some dealers are asking highly inflated prices...

I think this is a good example of that. It's been on AT for ages with no dropping of price, which suggests the dealer is determined to achieve that sort of money. Personally - although I doubt anyone on here will strongly disagree with me - I believe we are still at the stage where it'd need to be a truly immaculate 480 in all respects to be worth buying at £5,000.

Rescue cars - as Sylvia has said R9 (Bluebell) is with me; work stalled for the winter but I need to start on her again. Next job is a new clutch. She is Paris Blue, a 1993 2.0i ES. Key thing is she's structurally sound and, by the time she moves on, will have been fully sorted. All the new owner will want to look at - with no need to rush - is the roof paintwork.

There is a thread on here which I must update! But if you would like to know more happy to chat - I'll PM you with contact details.

There are a couple of people have shown interest but it is by no means certain that anything will come of that; subject to this the car remains available....

Best of luck!

David
Current: 1994 480 GT, 1996 460 CD & 1997 440 LE with lots of optional extras & 2007 V50 SE Sport
Previous: Celebration 331 (re-homed with Richard S), Celebration 467 (returned to Martin Mc); Celebration 346 (re-homed with Alan480); Celebration 269 (scrapped abandoned project), Celebration 73 (sold on after 6 years), 1992 ES, 1988 ES - and numerous other non-480 Volvos!

480starter
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Re: Volvo 480 on AutoTrader

Post by 480starter » Sat Feb 18, 2023 2:16 pm

Messaged you back :D, cheers David

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dcwalker
480 Is my middle name
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Re: Volvo 480 on AutoTrader

Post by dcwalker » Sat Feb 18, 2023 2:51 pm

480starter wrote:
Sat Feb 18, 2023 2:16 pm
Messaged you back :D, cheers David
And likewise!
Current: 1994 480 GT, 1996 460 CD & 1997 440 LE with lots of optional extras & 2007 V50 SE Sport
Previous: Celebration 331 (re-homed with Richard S), Celebration 467 (returned to Martin Mc); Celebration 346 (re-homed with Alan480); Celebration 269 (scrapped abandoned project), Celebration 73 (sold on after 6 years), 1992 ES, 1988 ES - and numerous other non-480 Volvos!

just_somebody
480 Newbie
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Re: Volvo 480 on AutoTrader

Post by just_somebody » Sat Feb 18, 2023 5:12 pm

480starter wrote:
Sat Feb 18, 2023 2:16 pm
Messaged you back :D, cheers David
Hi there, as a proud owner of a Rescue Car I can vouch for them. I would definitely recommend buying one to anyone on the lookout for a 480 as they have been sorted by people who know them inside out and gives great piece of mind. The work and effort that goes into them are second to none.

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dcwalker
480 Is my middle name
Posts: 1522
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Re: Volvo 480 on AutoTrader

Post by dcwalker » Sat Feb 18, 2023 5:56 pm

just_somebody wrote:
Sat Feb 18, 2023 5:12 pm
480starter wrote:
Sat Feb 18, 2023 2:16 pm
Messaged you back :D, cheers David
Hi there, as a proud owner of a Rescue Car I can vouch for them. I would definitely recommend buying one to anyone on the lookout for a 480 as they have been sorted by people who know them inside out and gives great piece of mind. The work and effort that goes into them are second to none.
Thanks for that vote of confidence, which is very much appreciated :D
Current: 1994 480 GT, 1996 460 CD & 1997 440 LE with lots of optional extras & 2007 V50 SE Sport
Previous: Celebration 331 (re-homed with Richard S), Celebration 467 (returned to Martin Mc); Celebration 346 (re-homed with Alan480); Celebration 269 (scrapped abandoned project), Celebration 73 (sold on after 6 years), 1992 ES, 1988 ES - and numerous other non-480 Volvos!

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