"HondoyotaE38: A Japanese and German Collab...wait a minute" (hondoyota)
10/21/2019 at 19:01 • Filed to: Necessary car shopping with Hondoyota
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"HondoyotaE38: A Japanese and German Collab...wait a minute" (hondoyota)
10/21/2019 at 19:01 • Filed to: Necessary car shopping with Hondoyota | 0
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Well, Kinja mobile posting is a train wreck. Anyways, I found one with a clean title, 118k miles, auto for only $1k obo on OfferUp. Body looks to be in good shape save for some scratches, fading and small dings. It needs a battery and front wheel bearings. Interior is a little dirty but all there. Honestly it’s in overall good shape and just needs a deep cleaning and basic restoration, which I can do. The labor for the front wheel bearings can be done by myself and my classmates in the tech garage at my school, so the only cost expended would be on the part itself. Here’s a shitty cropped pic from the website since every time I post a link the car online it seems to sell soon after. I like to dub the se completely coincidental happenings as the “Local Lurker Attacks”. Anyways, would it be wise to pick this one up? What are some things that I should be careful of and potentially wallet crushing problems that are common at this mileage/with these cars ? Also, how offending is it if I were to take him up on the OBO and offer around $600-700? I appreciate the help, this could be my first car/"project".
VajazzleMcDildertits - read carefully, respond politely
> HondoyotaE38: A Japanese and German Collab...wait a minute
10/21/2019 at 19:06 |
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I don’t know much about Volvos except a little about 2004 S60Rs... just wanted to say I think we’re still following each other on Insta and it’s nice to see you, and I think you were in Auto tech training? How’s that going?
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HondoyotaE38: A Japanese and German Collab...wait a minute
> VajazzleMcDildertits - read carefully, respond politely
10/21/2019 at 19:12 |
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Yep, I’m on IG and we follow each other. It’s good to see you too man, and Auto tech training has been the best. After years of uncertainty and jumping schools, I’ve finally found the right school with all my friends and what I want to do. Plus it’s well established, having been around for 15+ years. However, the admin has it out for our automotive tech class and they’re trying to lower the class from 2 years to only 1 which prevents the necessary hour requirement for certification. We are pushing and doing every we can to get it right and so far it’s looking good for us, with nearly a whole school’s worth of signatures on the petition for the 2nd year. It seems like bad luck follows me but honestly I’m so used to it now that I’m fine in knowing what to do about it. Plus, I’ve learned a LOT in this past few months and I have literally all the friends for once and so even though not all is 100%, there's a lot to look at on the bright side. Hope you yourself are doing alright, and it's nice to be back here again.
This is what we'll show whenever you publish anything on Kinja:
> HondoyotaE38: A Japanese and German Collab...wait a minute
10/21/2019 at 19:14 |
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I assume that anything advertised on Offerup or Letgo is being posted by literal armed robbers, more often than not.
No advice on the car, but maybe m eet some where public, like the police station parking lot.
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VajazzleMcDildertits - read carefully, respond politely
> HondoyotaE38: A Japanese and German Collab...wait a minute
10/21/2019 at 19:17 |
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Cheers buddy hope you get that certification requirement locked down.
BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind
> HondoyotaE38: A Japanese and German Collab...wait a minute
10/21/2019 at 19:18 |
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I’ve done a little work on Volvo’s of that era, nothing spectacularly egregious you need to look out for specifically, but just keep in mind:
* what kind of maintenance did the PO do? If it’s that dirty inside...eh. Volvo interiors aren’t super durable, but still.
* likely all the suspension is going to need work (bushings, engine mounts, etc). Budget time and money accordingly.
* they tend to consumer oil, keep it topped off
* valve covers also tend to leak around that mileage.
Nothing you can’t handle, and nothing unusual for a high mileage car. Good luck!
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HondoyotaE38: A Japanese and German Collab...wait a minute
> BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind
10/21/2019 at 19:21 |
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Sounds good. The money is what I am worrying about most hence the low offer I'm thinking of throwing out, otherwise labor and such is taken care of by me and my teacher/class. For extra insurance we will get it PPI'd to see exactly what's wrong and if it's more than the seller documented.
Amoore100
> HondoyotaE38: A Japanese and German Collab...wait a minute
10/21/2019 at 19:28 |
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N o. Great little cars, quite a maintenance headache if you’re not used to Volvo’s (and sometimes even if you are) . Our ‘05 V50 2.4i’s been towed at least three times in the past two years and while it’s definitely a bit of a beater, I’d say they are pretty petulant beasts even as far as Volvos are concerned. Some odd cost-cutting since this was the cheapie of its era and developed with more than a little of Ford’s penny-pinchin g I presume—the headliner in ours is coming down and I’ve never seen such poor paint quality on any other Volvo. Past that, I think the fact that they’re cheaper means that they live much harder lives as I’ve heard of quite a few engine failures in P1 cars like these despite the same power- plant family being super solid in all the larger cars. Ours has had a myriad of odd electrical faults too which our really good Volvo guys have just had a bear trying to figure out. I want to say that ours is special because it’s a very early production car which might be part of its issues, but I’ve heard a lot of horror stories of similar ones too from later years . Interestingly enough, I’ve never heard any issues from the facelifted cars (post-2010? I think) which either means they’re better or they’re just still too new to have those issues. I don’t want to drive you away necessarily, but in the case of ours I think only us, the most devoted of Volvo people, would have kept it for as long as we have and if you or your family are n’t like that, I don’t think it’s the greatest introduction to the brand. If you can find one I think a low spec V70 from around that era would be a safer buy if it’s clean, but as always, don’t expect Japanese reliability.
coqui70
> HondoyotaE38: A Japanese and German Collab...wait a minute
10/21/2019 at 19:30 |
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Also this was about the time Ford owned Volvo so a lot of part-bin commonality.
RacinBob
> HondoyotaE38: A Japanese and German Collab...wait a minute
10/21/2019 at 19:30 |
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I recall that this car shares DNA with the Ford Focus of the day. Also, try Mother’s headlight buffing kit for those headlights. If you do, cover everythng around as the spray from the buffer is a pita to clean up!
PS- If the owner appears to have maintained the car well, if it has decent tires and regular maintenance, I wouldn’t quibble on the price. It’s not like you would find another if well maintained. Though granted, anybody that has lived with those headlights probably hasn’t given a hoot about adding, much less changing oil......
4kc
> HondoyotaE38: A Japanese and German Collab...wait a minute
10/21/2019 at 20:01 |
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Strut mounts
Engine/trans mounts
Muffler mounts
Change the ”lifetime” transmission fluid they tend to die early compared to the rest of the car
If wheel bearings are actually bad ya probably need to do the brakes while you’re under there
Its never “just a fuse” or “just a relay” on volvos , generally ya gotta actually replace whatever doesn’t work.
Expect to spend at least a grand a year on parts alone even in perfect shape
promoted by the color red
> HondoyotaE38: A Japanese and German Collab...wait a minute
10/21/2019 at 20:12 |
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It’s a glorified Belgian Focus. While the Volvo world is big and support vast, these cars never quite saw the same kind of universal love as whiteblock & redblock cars but everything you need is just a button click away at FCPEuro or IPD or you could dig for interchangeable
parts between the Mazda3 & Ford Focus.
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Amoore100
> 4kc
10/21/2019 at 20:34 |
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This. Volvo s are reliable in that we’ve never really been inconvenienced by them failing to provide transportation (mostly) , but parts are expensive and tend to go all at once.
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Amoore100
> Amoore100
10/21/2019 at 20:39 |
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As a follow-up, this is a better bet IMO as far as Volvos go if you’re interested in that route: non-turbo, late production P2 V70—about as solid as they come.
It’s actually a really gorgeous example, but again, keep in mind that any Volvo is going to be an old European car: parts will fail, and they will be expensive.
Snuze: Needs another Swede
> HondoyotaE38: A Japanese and German Collab...wait a minute
10/21/2019 at 20:56 |
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Tons of good advice in here so far.
About 2 months ago I bought a 1996 Volvo 850 for $400. Body is super clean and straight for the age, ran and drove OK, but the interior is shot and I don’t think it ever got much maintenance besides oil changes.
So far Im about $700 in (not including purchase price). That has netted me a fluid change, new spark plugs, air filter, timing belt, water pump, serpentine belt, struts/shocks, motor mounts, as well as a shifter, dash, and door cards from a junkyard. I also spent $200 on wheels/tires though that wasn’t a necessity. I still need to do end links and CV axles on mine, so another $200 or so. It also needs seats but damn they are hard to find in good shape. I also had to do some minor crap to get it through inspection like weld up a leak in the exhaust and put tag light bulbs in it.
One nice thing is they (at least the older P80 chassis) are fairly easy to work on. Id never done a timing belt before, it honestly scared me a bit because you can potentially ruin your engine, but it actually ended up being relatively easy. The S wedes also seem to know how to combat corrosion issues - my car was a PA car, they use a lot of road salt up there, and it has virtually no rust underneath aside from on the exhaust system.
Make a reasonable offer and see where it goes. I think you could do a lot worse for a first car / project car. One thing to look into is service history. See if the timing belt has been done - its not too hard since youre in autotech school and have access to a shop, but it is about $250 in parts. Also see if the trans has been serviced. If not Id recommend doing some incremental fluid changes on it over time.
Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom
> HondoyotaE38: A Japanese and German Collab...wait a minute
10/21/2019 at 21:03 |
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It probably reeks of pickled herring and meatball farts?
MKULTRA1982(ConCrustyBrick)
> promoted by the color red
10/22/2019 at 01:59 |
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Because the white and redblock cars make me tingly in my tummy
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HondoyotaE38: A Japanese and German Collab...wait a minute
> Amoore100
10/22/2019 at 17:25 |
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Small problem with this: I’m too broke to spend $3300 compared to a grand or less.
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Amoore100
> HondoyotaE38: A Japanese and German Collab...wait a minute
10/22/2019 at 19:57 |
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Totally valid, in which case I don’t think a modern Volvo is the best bet. (Please, I don’t mean any of this the wrong way, I just want you to avoid mishap) An old brick, on the other hand...
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HondoyotaE38: A Japanese and German Collab...wait a minute
> Amoore100
10/22/2019 at 20:36 |
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No yeah you’re good man, I’m just saying I have a tight ass budget and if the car isn’t worth it then that’s totally fine lol. Besides, I ’m hoping to find a nice manual Civic that’s hasn’t been beat within an inch of its life so I could keep it, with this I was probably just gonna flip it or something.