June/july of this year saw me needing to replace my Volvo S40 , Xreg,
lovely Small volvo , 1.8vvt engine with a 5speed adaptive autobox
id had that S40 for 9 years, spent far too much on it over the time and it was looking like i was going to need to spend 4x the re-sale value of the car JUST getting the rust on the body sorted.
Unlike Volvo's to rust, but close inspection had revealed it had both front wings replaced with pattern parts, the bonnet replaced , the boot lid replaced and a re-spray with blending in on the front doors and rear 1/4's
the clear coat was failing on the bonnet, the wings passenger front door, boot lid and the A pillars,,
So armed with,, next to zero funds, and a "needs" list
A/ Newer without rust
B/ volvo
C/ petrol
D/ auto
and a "would be nice if possible"
a/ A/c
b/leather
c/ estate
off i went on the replacement hunt
saw a couple of "that might be ok" cars and went off to view
Volvo S80 2.4 petrol, auto, full climate/leather SE lux spec (all the toys + then some) Snags being
it hadnt been moved for a year, since the last mot, Dire need of a full service, 4 new tyres , about 3months worth of cleaning on the outside and inside due to mould/green growing things, lichen algae and 12months of whatever landed on the car, £400 for the car,, about £950 in parts to get it to a point that it Could go for a mot to find out how much more £,,, "PASS"
Volvo S60 2.0t
stunning car, seller very helpful, even phoned me while i was on the way to view it, after agreeing the time with him to say "someone's just bought it, they phoned after you did but got here first"...
Then This pops up on autotrader,
[/URL][/IMG]
Volvo V50 2.4i SE , geartronic 04 reg 120k miles
a check of the paperwork, the receipts for its service's (partial Volvo main dealer + indy the rest)
general check of the car
test drive,, "mine"
[/URL][/IMG]
2.4i engine, geartronic box, full climate control, cruise full leather, load space cover, boot liner (lifted to reveal manky boot carpeting), MANKY car mats shocking paintwork auto dimming mirror, High performance radio/6 cd player
mechanically the car was 100% , MOT advisorys for the last few years were "bulb out" type ones or other simple consumables (wipers/etc)
the above pics give you some idea of the state of it
"project mank removal" starts
sadly i dont have many photos of the True state of the horrors i have found so far mainly due to "erk i dont want to look Too close"
When lifting the rear drivers foot mat to be greeted by sight of "crusty creamy spikey carpet" pausing to get a camera and document the " really dont want to look THAT close " or grab the Vax carpet washer and get stuck in removing "IT" , while telling myself it "has" to be just a spilt milkshake ,, not toddler chuck, the BAD two car mats go in the bin, This being the 2 cleanest of the mats , kept to use as kneeling/etc tools while dealing with the car,
and the cars carpeting gets wash #1
looking a lot better with brand new car mats on Clean carpeting
while doing the carpets i notice the cup holders between the front seats look in need of a clean, so lifting the rubber mat and noticing some marks around the trim edges and the holes in the base of the rounds i unclip and remove the cup holder insert
the cup holder insert itself was As bad that went in the utility sink while i delt with the car,
mopping up with tissue, (glad i was wearing latex gloves) and applying Gtechnic I2 "tri-clean" Liberally, and scrubbing away with tissue paper,
"phew"
i Still have not started on
The leather seats, the carpet under the rear seats, or the boot, never mind the paintwork/glass and trim
80grit sand paper would be smoother than the paintwork at this point
(more updates to follow, still playing catchup with the work done/ongoing and sadly not That many "before photos")
lovely Small volvo , 1.8vvt engine with a 5speed adaptive autobox
id had that S40 for 9 years, spent far too much on it over the time and it was looking like i was going to need to spend 4x the re-sale value of the car JUST getting the rust on the body sorted.
Unlike Volvo's to rust, but close inspection had revealed it had both front wings replaced with pattern parts, the bonnet replaced , the boot lid replaced and a re-spray with blending in on the front doors and rear 1/4's
the clear coat was failing on the bonnet, the wings passenger front door, boot lid and the A pillars,,
So armed with,, next to zero funds, and a "needs" list
A/ Newer without rust
B/ volvo
C/ petrol
D/ auto
and a "would be nice if possible"
a/ A/c
b/leather
c/ estate
off i went on the replacement hunt
saw a couple of "that might be ok" cars and went off to view
Volvo S80 2.4 petrol, auto, full climate/leather SE lux spec (all the toys + then some) Snags being
it hadnt been moved for a year, since the last mot, Dire need of a full service, 4 new tyres , about 3months worth of cleaning on the outside and inside due to mould/green growing things, lichen algae and 12months of whatever landed on the car, £400 for the car,, about £950 in parts to get it to a point that it Could go for a mot to find out how much more £,,, "PASS"
Volvo S60 2.0t
stunning car, seller very helpful, even phoned me while i was on the way to view it, after agreeing the time with him to say "someone's just bought it, they phoned after you did but got here first"...
Then This pops up on autotrader,
Volvo V50 2.4i SE , geartronic 04 reg 120k miles
a check of the paperwork, the receipts for its service's (partial Volvo main dealer + indy the rest)
general check of the car
test drive,, "mine"
2.4i engine, geartronic box, full climate control, cruise full leather, load space cover, boot liner (lifted to reveal manky boot carpeting), MANKY car mats shocking paintwork auto dimming mirror, High performance radio/6 cd player
mechanically the car was 100% , MOT advisorys for the last few years were "bulb out" type ones or other simple consumables (wipers/etc)
the above pics give you some idea of the state of it
"project mank removal" starts
sadly i dont have many photos of the True state of the horrors i have found so far mainly due to "erk i dont want to look Too close"
When lifting the rear drivers foot mat to be greeted by sight of "crusty creamy spikey carpet" pausing to get a camera and document the " really dont want to look THAT close " or grab the Vax carpet washer and get stuck in removing "IT" , while telling myself it "has" to be just a spilt milkshake ,, not toddler chuck, the BAD two car mats go in the bin, This being the 2 cleanest of the mats , kept to use as kneeling/etc tools while dealing with the car,
and the cars carpeting gets wash #1
looking a lot better with brand new car mats on Clean carpeting
while doing the carpets i notice the cup holders between the front seats look in need of a clean, so lifting the rubber mat and noticing some marks around the trim edges and the holes in the base of the rounds i unclip and remove the cup holder insert
the cup holder insert itself was As bad that went in the utility sink while i delt with the car,
mopping up with tissue, (glad i was wearing latex gloves) and applying Gtechnic I2 "tri-clean" Liberally, and scrubbing away with tissue paper,
"phew"
i Still have not started on
The leather seats, the carpet under the rear seats, or the boot, never mind the paintwork/glass and trim
80grit sand paper would be smoother than the paintwork at this point
(more updates to follow, still playing catchup with the work done/ongoing and sadly not That many "before photos")