Need advice from all enthusiasts (cheap foriegn car questions)

Antecer · 8 Mar 2008 at 14:56

Hey all,

I am currently in Sweden and am thinking of buying a left hand drive 1991 volvo 740 GL.

Just to give you some info,I know little about cars, their running costs and what to do when they act up.

However what I want is a cheap car which wont ruin me financially, I'm a student, and so this means the car has to be well below 1000 pounds, and running costs like insurance and road tax will need to be low.

If this car develops a fault, is this likely to cost me a few hundred pounds?

So far, what I know about this car is:

- It a 1991 Volvo 740 GL
- Steering apparently pulls slightly to the right (when you brake) otherwise fine apparently)
- New snow tires fitted, and a set of summer tires provided
- Muffler is broken and hence it sounds like a rally car, but this'll be fixed if and when I chose to buy the car
- Power steering, Alloys,front elec windows,abs
- done approx 380,000km
- seems to have a huge service history in somewhat grubby selection of service reciepts from volvo dealer, dating back years and years (all in swedish writing)

The car is for sale at the equivelent of 650 pounds

What do you think, does this sound like a good deal for my needs of a cheap car which wont cost me an arm and a leg in fuel, insurance (am 24 but no 'no claims bonus')

Also whats the deal if I wanna insure it to drive it here in sweden, and then what happens with road tax, and insurance soon as I take it into europe and/or england?

Lastly and I hope finally after this jumble of information, will this car just drink petrol in a town city driving? Just to clarify I want the cheapest reliable safe car to run and insuure, and want to know, if while this might not be the most fuel effiecient car, that it at least is reasonable on fuel, cheap to run and insure, and also when it has problems i can get it repaired, and get parts cheap.

I have never owned my own car, and therefore have no idea about what garages can charge, for example, what can I expect if the exhaust packs up? well over a 100 quid including labour?

Thoughts please guys, your knowledge will help me tons

(Pic coming soon)

[TR]SweetSpotOz · 8 Mar 2008 at 14:58

Antecer · 8 Mar 2008 at 15:03

Thanks, yeah I initially thought that it was a bit steep price, but looks in good nick with no rust I could see, and apparently here I wont do much better for the price, but that's up for debate I guess

atpbx · 8 Mar 2008 at 15:04

Be expensive to fix.
That car has done 237500 miles. its going to have very little left in it.
But then i suppose for £650 thats the market you are in.

I'd save a little more.

Scania · 8 Mar 2008 at 15:06

£400 too much imo.

Antecer · 8 Mar 2008 at 15:07

Damn, I initially thought the milage was a lot too, but I heard these volvos are built like tanks and can go the distance? However I know there's only so much you can expect before the car has seen better days, do we think this car is in its last few years before major work needs to be done?

atpbx · 8 Mar 2008 at 15:10

Antecer said:
Damn, I initially thought the milage was a lot too, but I heard these volvos are built like tanks and can go the distance? However I know there's only so much you can expect before the car has seen better days, do we think this car is in its last few years before major work needs to be done?

If they were built like the millennium falcon then 237,500 miles wouldnt be anything to worry about, but, seeing as its tanks they are built like 10 times round the world is quite a long way.

Antecer · 8 Mar 2008 at 15:15

atpbx said:
If they were built like the millennium falcon then 237,500 miles wouldnt be anything to worry about, but, seeing as its tanks they are built like 10 times round the world is quite a long way.

LOL! then that's a shame, What car would you recommend thats the best value for money and cheap as chips if stuff goes wrong and such

DannyW · 8 Mar 2008 at 15:18

no mondeos over there?

Lopéz · 8 Mar 2008 at 15:25

Don't worry about pulling to the right, my 940 pulls to the left a fair bit. Volvos suffer quite badly from wear in the bushes (because they are heavy) and sticky calipers.

Mine has been pulling left for about 3 years according to the previous owner but it still passes the MOT just fine.

Mine is a 2.3 8v manual and it likes a sip. I get about 20 mpg running to work and back. Autos are thirstier again.

~With regards to the value, I believe the market for used old cars is stronger over there so you may struggle to get a £150 "taxed and tested" car.

atpbx · 8 Mar 2008 at 16:58

Antecer said:
LOL! then that's a shame, What car would you recommend thats the best value for money and cheap as chips if stuff goes wrong and such

Well as you are in sweden A Volvo would be a good bet, but a small one, not a barge.
The 3XX series.

Fords are cheap to keep in consumables, but just as expensive as everything else (nearly) if big things go wrong.

At this end of the market you need to have some kind of mechanical knowledge to get buy as you will end up forking out as much as a decent car keeping them running if you cant do small jobs yourself.

Antecer · 8 Mar 2008 at 17:22

alright, well seeing as I've never been taught how to do any small things like oil change and such, or even know what area to target when something goes wrong, how might I start to get clued up? Oh and i'd appreciate it if the reply was more than 'google is your friend' lol