For my first car I bought a top spec Metro with no engine and built an engine for it, but although it is a good little car, and it sounds great, the noise gets a bit much on long journeys, there's no rear seat belts and not a lot of room.
I've always had a a bit of a soft spot for Volvos, and in my line of work I get to drive a lot of different cars, so I knew to replace the Metro I wanted either a 940/960 or 850/70 with air con, so in April this year I bought a 1994 Volvo 850 T-5 Auto. Unfortunately I can't use the T-5 until August when I can swap the insurance.
All this time, a mate of mine who owns another garage has a 1990 Volvo 340 1.7 GL up for sale for £295 on his forecourt, he'd bought it for a courtesy car for a customer to use while he did a big job on their car and then had no use for it. He comes in to work one day on other business and says he's going to scrap the 340 as nobody is interested and he really needs the space in his yard.
I felt that this poor car had to be saved, I have always quite liked the 340 and I had mooched around this one and it didn't look too bad.
Once I had decided to sell the Metro I didn't want to drive it, because if I got a puncture or a chip in the windscreen or anything like that, I'd have to fork out cash for a car I was getting rid of. Strange I know, but that's the way my mind works.
So I go home, do an insurance quote, check with Mrs Disgusted (we are saving for a flat so I wanted her to agree before spending any money). Turns out she is all for it and the quote is reasonable, so I offer Mark £100 for the car (the same as he'd get at the scrapyard), and he's pleased to see it go to a good home. That way I have a car I can use until the T-5 is ready. The car has two months tax and no MoT, so I put it on for an MoT, thinking if it needs anything big I can scrap it and not loose anything. Turns out it doesn't need anything, not even a bulb.
So that evening Mrs Disgusted sees the car and she was, well, disgusted!
First drive of the car, and I am shocked at how well it goes compared to my expectations. The door bins are huge, the space in front of the gear lever is great, and the car drives really nicely. I can completely honestly say that if I tried one before I'd have bought one ages ago, and remember I drive a lot of different cars.
I've had a bit of a play in a gravel car park as well, and it's great fun
After a couple of journeys, Mrs Disgusted is very impressed as well and she's going to have it as her first car as she is learning to drive, so it won't have to go when I start using the T-5, so I will have both- yay Sorry to ramble on, here are some pictures:
Start by checking the actuator in the drivers door. Bargain, though!
