Ridden Hard & Put Away Wet

indnajns »

You boys are silly. Lots of cars can last a quarter million miles if someone pampers them. But what about a car that has been through the wringer and then some?

I bought this poor thing off ebay. My dad and I have bought about 6 cars off ebay. Those bought below the Mason-Dixon line have been as described or even better. Those from above … well, let’s just take this poor 850 as an example. Nothing was mentioned about the blown shocks (no really – BLOWN. the passenger side had actually shot through the deck lid and left a gaping hole), the broken engine mount, the missing air duct hose, or all the creaks, groans, pops, noises, bouncing, etc that make for such an interesting ride. There was mention of the AB light being on. On the positive side, it still has cold AC (How?? one might wonder) and there’s no rust.

She arrived with no fuel, no oil(!), bouncing like a bowl of jello, with over 200K miles on the odometer and a title that said I was the SECOND owner. The first owner must’ve been married to that little ol’ lady from Pasadena. There’s dents in the roof where something was tied down hard. Back shocks have since been replaced, but the front ones still creak and pop.

Then there’s the “fishing trip incident”. The radiator was leaking. So, we pulled it off, decided it couldn’t be fixed (plastic tanks), ordered a new one (metal tanks), and installed it. This was in July. I drove it for a month, mostly interstate travel, no problem. Then I decide to take the kid fishing. Up at a lake on a mountain top. 7 miles straight up a 1/2 lane dirt road. As Arlo Guthrie says, “on one side of the road, there was a mountain. on the other side, there was just a cliff.” Luckily, we didn’t go off the cliff. But, I was watching the road so hard I didn’t notice the temperature gauge. Not quite to the top, I notice steam. “Oh, that’s not good.” Gauge is pegged. Pull over, wait an hour, add creek water (engine was BONE dry), listen to kid fuss about not getting to fish, creep back down the mountain UNDER THE CAR’S OWN POWER.

Now, let me break in here and say, if this had been my Ford Probe (which I love dearly), we would’ve had to have been towed off the mountain. BUT — this Volvo is still going, 9 months later! Turns out we had missed plugging back in one of the fan relays and since I had been driving on the interstate, the engine had stayed cool. 20 mins of 1st & 2nd gear is what got me into trouble. We know either the head is warped/cracked or the gasket is blown because there’s a cylinder now with no compression. It’s get up and go is fine to someone who didn’t drive the car before the meltdown, but I can tell the difference. The engine light is on, of course, because I melted every sensor on the poor thing. And … I’ve seen the dreaded brown sludge on the dipstick indicitive of water in the oil. However, an oil change produced NO water and oil black as ink, and the radiator fluid doesn’t go down. Figure that one out.

So, since I’m out of a job at the moment, and the thing still gets me from point A to point B, we keep rolling along. It’s my only transportation at the moment (Probe died, forcing the purchase of this car) and I haven’t been late anywhere yet. (knocking on all available wood here) We drive 150 miles one way about once a month to see my folks, taking the kid and the dog and way too many suitcases.

My point in all this? I doubt I’ll ever drive another make of car. I’m afraid Detroit isn’t going to get any help from me. They couldn’t begin to dream about building a car that could withstand what this poor thing has been through. And it keeps on going! Have I replaced some stuff? (like the fuel pump, shocks, radiator, heat exchanger, and of course, the brakes) Of course. The car has 239K+ miles on it. But it keeps on hanging in there. Of course, it may be that my guardian angel is the only thing keeping it on the road, but whatever it is, I’ll take it. And yes, if I ever get the cash, I’ll rebuild the engine. I’ve got a kid who’ll be wanting to drive here in a few more years. (I feel a heart attack coming on!) I think this will be a fine starter car for him.
Assuming I’m done with it by then.Takes a licking and keeps on ticking!