Volvo 960 Estate
Discussion
Had a 960 3.0L estate as a tip/tow car about 10 years ago. MPG was 18-20 whether towing, cruising or hooning.
Had a LSD which made wet roundabouts/snow hilariously good fun. Proper barge handling, lovely comfy seats and that feeling of robustness. 24v straight-six engine is turbine smooth, watch out for the water pumps failing.
Had a LSD which made wet roundabouts/snow hilariously good fun. Proper barge handling, lovely comfy seats and that feeling of robustness. 24v straight-six engine is turbine smooth, watch out for the water pumps failing.
Christ you really did work it hard. Good pics though.
I'm not intendending to work mine quite as hard but I'll be driving it to work everyday which is about 40 mile in total with a 300 mile round trip to Wales and back every few months.
Obviously when I can I'll be taking advantage of its massive boot too.
I'm not intendending to work mine quite as hard but I'll be driving it to work everyday which is about 40 mile in total with a 300 mile round trip to Wales and back every few months.
Obviously when I can I'll be taking advantage of its massive boot too.
Had an L reg 960 3 litre with autobox, had one huge bill!!! The gearbox oil cooler is part of the radiator pack and the radiator rotted out on the join between the two resulting in gearbox oil in the coolant and coolant in the gearbox!!!! Only real issue we had, and it was a great motorway cruiser, very relaxed.
We noticed coolant level dropped, but we had just done a fast 200 mile journey, so didn’t think too much of it and topped coolant up, about a week later gearbox was a bit sluggish, then gearbox packed up, wouldn’t engage gear, car on hard shoulder.
I don’t know if you can spot it on the radiator, but if I bought one now, I’d change radiator pack just after purchase unless there was paperwork to say it had recently been done. Bill was £2500 and that was 16 years ago (still smarts now!!!) and that was with a recon gearbox from Volvo!!!
I don’t know if you can spot it on the radiator, but if I bought one now, I’d change radiator pack just after purchase unless there was paperwork to say it had recently been done. Bill was £2500 and that was 16 years ago (still smarts now!!!) and that was with a recon gearbox from Volvo!!!
I currently run a 960 as my daily, I have had it for about 2 years now and done 20k miles in that time in it. Its passed all its MOTs first time and just needed a couple of bulbs and suspension bushes until about a month ago, so its been very reliable. Unfortunately last month I noticed i was losing coolant, and it turned out it was from the headgasket, which seems to be becoming slightly more common as these cars get older, apparently the headgasket becomes brittle and eventually goes. I've just finished rebuilding my engine with a new gasket set and bolts and that cost me about £150 so not too bad if you can do the work yourself.
The other thing to look out for is the nivomat shocks on the rear suspension. The estates had it as standard from 95 I think, and its a self levelling system. When they need replacing, they are £300 each! Luckily mine hasnt needed this doing yet, but I have found there are conversion kits around to convert it back to normal springs and shocks which are much cheaper.
The main cost with a car like this is fuel - on runs to work and back i average about 22mpg with mixed driving, although this drops in winter to around 20. I've seen 29mpg out of it on a run which seems to be the maximum it will do!
The other thing to look out for is the nivomat shocks on the rear suspension. The estates had it as standard from 95 I think, and its a self levelling system. When they need replacing, they are £300 each! Luckily mine hasnt needed this doing yet, but I have found there are conversion kits around to convert it back to normal springs and shocks which are much cheaper.
The main cost with a car like this is fuel - on runs to work and back i average about 22mpg with mixed driving, although this drops in winter to around 20. I've seen 29mpg out of it on a run which seems to be the maximum it will do!
Cheers for that info Paulo
How do you find running it as a daily?
I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the head gaskets are starting to get brittle. The cars are getting on for 25years old. I have also heard that the Nivomat suspension can be pricey but again these motors are old so we can't be too harsh on them. 🙉
Cheers
How do you find running it as a daily?
I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the head gaskets are starting to get brittle. The cars are getting on for 25years old. I have also heard that the Nivomat suspension can be pricey but again these motors are old so we can't be too harsh on them. 🙉
Cheers
I find it a great car as a daily. Its a very relaxed car to drive... the seats are like armchairs and the ride is good to waft along the motorway. It handles ok on b roads for what it is, its not a sports car obviously so you have to accept it wont be driven like one! I've never driven another automatic, but I get the feeling that with only 4 gears its pretty old fashioned now and it dulls the performance, but once you are up to speed its plenty quick enough for overtaking etc. particularly with sport mode (lol!) enabled.
To be honest, I cant think of another 25 year old car that would be a more sensible daily driver. The build quality on them is really good, they were galvanised as well, so there's no rust anywhere on them. Mine is used all year round to go to work, tip runs, delivering furniture for friends and all sorts, and it never misses a beat.
If theres anything specific you want to know just ask
To be honest, I cant think of another 25 year old car that would be a more sensible daily driver. The build quality on them is really good, they were galvanised as well, so there's no rust anywhere on them. Mine is used all year round to go to work, tip runs, delivering furniture for friends and all sorts, and it never misses a beat.
If theres anything specific you want to know just ask
Mine is a 2 owner car that has now done 130k miles, which is still low mileage for one of these 240k wouldn't put me off as long as its been looked after.
I would start by checking the MOT history and seeing if there was anything mentioned on that, that would be a good place to see what has been done (or not done) to it over the last few years too. Other than the headgasket and nivomats I cant really think of anything model specific that I would check, just the usual checks when buying a car!
If you can, find out if the car has had a gearbox flush. It should shift smoothly between gears, mines beginning to get a bit clunky so it needs doing. Volvo declared the gearboxes sealed for life, so the gearbox fluid was never changed on a service schedule, but of course that's never going to work, and they do need the fluid changing in them! Timing belts for the 95 on cars need changing every 70k miles, but on the earlier ones I think it is 40k miles, maybe something to consider if this is an early one. Changing the timing belt on one of these is easy though, there's loads of room in that engine bay!
240k wouldn't put me off as long as its been looked after. I would start by checking the MOT history and seeing if there was anything mentioned on that, that would be a good place to see what has been done (or not done) to it over the last few years too. Other than the headgasket and nivomats I cant really think of anything model specific that I would check, just the usual checks when buying a car!
If you can, find out if the car has had a gearbox flush. It should shift smoothly between gears, mines beginning to get a bit clunky so it needs doing. Volvo declared the gearboxes sealed for life, so the gearbox fluid was never changed on a service schedule, but of course that's never going to work, and they do need the fluid changing in them! Timing belts for the 95 on cars need changing every 70k miles, but on the earlier ones I think it is 40k miles, maybe something to consider if this is an early one. Changing the timing belt on one of these is easy though, there's loads of room in that engine bay!
A 2 owner car with 130k on jeeez that's the dream.
Any pictures?
The one I'm thinking of is on a P so it's a 96 car. I'd get the timing belt as a matter of course anyways and yeah would obviously ask about the gearbox flush and the Nivomats.
It's a bloody good price and the MOT history is pretty good.
Any pictures?
The one I'm thinking of is on a P so it's a 96 car. I'd get the timing belt as a matter of course anyways and yeah would obviously ask about the gearbox flush and the Nivomats.
It's a bloody good price and the MOT history is pretty good.
Its low miles and mechanically its in pretty good condition but it wasn't too expensive because Its got a few scrapes on the bumpers, and the previous owners dog had chewed/broken a few bits of plastic trim around the boot! I'm slowly getting round to replacing the chewed bits!
I cant work out how to embed picture from imgur into this post, but heres a link to some pics
https://imgur.com/gallery/UeIiKnv
As a previous poster said, they are great for moving stuff! There's half a kitchen, bits of masonry, a window and loads of rubbish in the back of it in the last pic lol!
I cant work out how to embed picture from imgur into this post, but heres a link to some pics
https://imgur.com/gallery/UeIiKnv
As a previous poster said, they are great for moving stuff! There's half a kitchen, bits of masonry, a window and loads of rubbish in the back of it in the last pic lol!
paulodivichio said:
Its low miles and mechanically its in pretty good condition but it wasn't too expensive because Its got a few scrapes on the bumpers, and the previous owners dog had chewed/broken a few bits of plastic trim around the boot! I'm slowly getting round to replacing the chewed bits!
I cant work out how to embed picture from imgur into this post, but heres a link to some pics
https://imgur.com/gallery/UeIiKnv
As a previous poster said, they are great for moving stuff! There's half a kitchen, bits of masonry, a window and loads of rubbish in the back of it in the last pic lol!
Looks very tidy mate, if a little dirty. I like the colour can't say I've seen many for sale in that shade. I cant work out how to embed picture from imgur into this post, but heres a link to some pics
https://imgur.com/gallery/UeIiKnv
As a previous poster said, they are great for moving stuff! There's half a kitchen, bits of masonry, a window and loads of rubbish in the back of it in the last pic lol!
It's the size of them and the bargyness that appeals to me.
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