A mate is selling his S60 and has offered me first refusal.

2001 2.0T S on a 51 reg in Maya Gold
124k with a full Volvo history to 110k. Now 4k overdue a service.
11 months MOT
Timing belt done in the 90k service at a Volvo dealer.
New clutch (Volvo dealer) and new alternator (local indie auto spark) in the last 10,000 miles.
Drives absolutely A1 - engine is smooth, very punchy, sounds lovely under load, has bags of grunt and there are no nasty clonks or wandering on the road. A couple of minor trim creaks only. Otherwise quiet and refined.
Good spec - all electrics, part leather, radio/CD, cruise, air-con (all working)

Things wrong with it:
It's falsely reporting a blown sidelight bulb
One of the boot lid struts is broken
Minor scuffing on bumper corners.
Shortly in need of two front tyres.

It's going in Autotrader at £2800, but he's offered it to me for £2,500

My concerns are:

120k on a turbo petrol engine. It drives well, but how long before it's going to need a turbo?
I know nothing about these cars in terms of what goes wrong with them, what to look for, and what they cost to service and run.
Fuel economy. He really doesn't care about this and genuinely doesn't monitor it. What can I expect from it on a gentle motorway run? It's not going to be a diesel Mondeo, but neither does it go (or sound) like one. Could I get 35 mpg out of it on a gentle commute?

Strikes me as a heck of a lot of car fo £2500. What do you reckon? It's not a car I've considered, but you know what it's like when something comes up at what seems like a decent price and you know the recent history of it....

Cheers
DP

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Hello,

Just had car serviced and mechanic says the fuel pump has a leak underneath: he said its diifficult to see where it is coming from. He said it needs to go to a specialist to be repaired and will cost a lot of money, at least £300. I feel a prat as I have just bought the car! Anyway, does anyone have an idea of how much it will cost: is pump replaced, or repaired?

Thanks in advance for any help and advice.

Paul Read more

I've recently bought (from a dealer) a 53 plate Focus Tdci estate but find the brakes fairly soft and not all that sharp/efficient. Previous car was a 306hdi and the brakes on this were lovely and solid and were really good. The Focus brakes just seem to be a bit poor really in comparison.

Have other owners found this? Can it be improved? On the Pug I found that certain makes of brake pads with different compounds varied in feel and efficiency, the Focus has Ford pads fitted front & rear (rear discs on this car) and I'm debating about changing them. I have bled the brakes & the fluid is clean with no air bubbles.

thanks

chris Read more

Well in my defence, it was all down to the wife, One of those well intentioned Xmas pressies which seemed destined to languish unused in my garage along with all the rest.....

Anyway today I got so fed up with the state of my trusty MPV which looked like a tip that I decided to clean it for the first time in about 6 months. I'd already started untangling the coiled hose when I saw the Proshine box. The lazy lobe of my brain told me to try it - it had to be better than water, shampoo, wax etc. etc. on a bright but freezing day after all. Deeply cynical about its ability to clean off all the grime without scouring the paint I decided to try it on the rear bumper which has had one of two scrapes and where any damage to the paint wouldn't notice too much. I sprayed it on, rubbed it in with a microfibre cloth and wiped it over with another...... The result was truly amazing!!! It cut through all the dirt and left a wonderful glossy shine where previously there'd been months of grime. Encouraged, I decided to try it on one of the rear side panels and again it cut through the grime, tar spots etc. and restored the finish to what looked almost a showroom standard. I carried on and finished the entire car in about and hour, including the awkward roof which to my shame I think I've only ever cleaned properly once in the 4 years I've owned the vehicle. This bit took a bit longer and required 2 applications to remove some really tough dirt but the result was just as good. Not only did the Spray & Shine leave the paintwok looking great, the chrome, glass, black trim and clear plastic lights have come up shinier than I've seen them since I got the car and entirely scratch free so far as I could see in the hazy sunlight.

I've always been very cynical about 'miracle' motoring products but having now tried it I can honestly say that it's fantastic stuff. No more hoses, gallons of wasted water and those annoying calcium residue drying marks for me - I'm sticking to this stuff and will have no hesitation in using it on the wife's new Focus.

For those who may be interested she got it via a tv shopping channel and it cost about £20 for 2x32oz bottles which, judging by how much I used today, I reckon will do my MPV about 6-8 times. A great product and excellent value for money I'd say, especially if we have another dry summer. Read more

Ten days ago, I parked my car in a residents' parking space in Westminster - in W1 (for which I have a valid parking permit).

This morning I noticed the car had two parking tickets on it. I had managed to park partly on a spot which had a single yellow line between two areas of residents' parking. It was dark and the portion of the yellow line I had parked on was so badly worn that it is scarcely visible.

I consider myself hugely lucky only to have received two tickets - on 11th and 12th, and not to have been towed away.

Equally, how often can one receive a penalty ticket? Every time a parking attendant passes? More often? And how come no other of those rather efficient parking attendants in Westminster managed to give me a ticket during this period?

::Fuming:: Oh yes, and I get to pay the congestion charge too for the privilege of moving my car this morning.
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