RollingThunder
Saturday 8th August 2009, 12:03
Well, I finally picked up my 'new' 855R yesterday and what a baptism of fire that was! I left Dover at around 12:30 lunchtime, and had only got as far as the Watford Gap services by 6PM!
The M25 was absolutely mad - it was a scorcher of a day and cars were falling by the wayside all afternoon - even an 08 Focus blew its coolant all over the carriageway. I was thinking 'I'm going to be next' for hour after hour, but my baby just kept idling away with the gauge absolutely stuck halfway. She was starting to idle a bit raggedly, but after a 4 hour stop-start traffic jam in that heat its to be expected. Some NINE HOURS after leaving Dover I finally got home - and the car hadn't missed a beat. She's a beaut and is definitely a keeper!
A few issues have come to light, as you'd expect for a 13 year old car. The red paintwork has gone a bit pink in places, as is usual for the 850. The tailgate struts are on their last legs and only just hold the tailgate open. The lambda lamp came on about 10 mile out of Dover. The brake fluid needs a change - while the brakes are fine and passed the MoT test last week, they were starting to fade in the traffic jam. The steering pulls ever so slightly to the right - I'm guessing its simply tyre pressures causing this as its so slight. Oh, and the air con doesn't work - no surprise there as I haven't had a Volvo with working aircon yet!
And thats about the sum total of the bad bits! The good bits are very good indeed - its just had new brake discs, new pads, new tyres, and a professional interior valet. It has a few bits that weren't mentioned - a Volvo Alarm\immobiliser, a load cover blind, retracting load bay nets, the upholstery had UltraGuard when new so its absolutely perfect. Its also had main dealer servicing upto about 70k miles and has only done an average of 5k annually for the last 5 years! It has an extensive service history and every MoT certificate from new proving its mileage. As you can imagine, it drives perfectly. I'm stunned and in love
I popped over to the local castle this morning (as you do) and took a few piccies. Sadly the camera got a bit confused at the lighting - perhaps I shouldn't have tried to be so arty
Anyway, here she is in all her glory - I'll be T-cutting her this weekend to get her shiny red once again, and will give her a full service in the next few weeks, including that awkward PCV system renewal. The timing belt was done at 80k by an independent, but I think I'll change it myself anyway just for peace of mind.
The M25 was absolutely mad - it was a scorcher of a day and cars were falling by the wayside all afternoon - even an 08 Focus blew its coolant all over the carriageway. I was thinking 'I'm going to be next' for hour after hour, but my baby just kept idling away with the gauge absolutely stuck halfway. She was starting to idle a bit raggedly, but after a 4 hour stop-start traffic jam in that heat its to be expected. Some NINE HOURS after leaving Dover I finally got home - and the car hadn't missed a beat. She's a beaut and is definitely a keeper!
A few issues have come to light, as you'd expect for a 13 year old car. The red paintwork has gone a bit pink in places, as is usual for the 850. The tailgate struts are on their last legs and only just hold the tailgate open. The lambda lamp came on about 10 mile out of Dover. The brake fluid needs a change - while the brakes are fine and passed the MoT test last week, they were starting to fade in the traffic jam. The steering pulls ever so slightly to the right - I'm guessing its simply tyre pressures causing this as its so slight. Oh, and the air con doesn't work - no surprise there as I haven't had a Volvo with working aircon yet!
And thats about the sum total of the bad bits! The good bits are very good indeed - its just had new brake discs, new pads, new tyres, and a professional interior valet. It has a few bits that weren't mentioned - a Volvo Alarm\immobiliser, a load cover blind, retracting load bay nets, the upholstery had UltraGuard when new so its absolutely perfect. Its also had main dealer servicing upto about 70k miles and has only done an average of 5k annually for the last 5 years! It has an extensive service history and every MoT certificate from new proving its mileage. As you can imagine, it drives perfectly. I'm stunned and in love
I popped over to the local castle this morning (as you do) and took a few piccies. Sadly the camera got a bit confused at the lighting - perhaps I shouldn't have tried to be so arty
Anyway, here she is in all her glory - I'll be T-cutting her this weekend to get her shiny red once again, and will give her a full service in the next few weeks, including that awkward PCV system renewal. The timing belt was done at 80k by an independent, but I think I'll change it myself anyway just for peace of mind.