Due to a recent tragic accident involving a friend, I am looking for a
safe car for my wife and 11 month old daughter. I am pretty well
informed on cars, but don't know squat about Volvos, other than they
are known for safety.
Ideally, I would prefer a diesel wagon. I hear, though, that with
recent changes in diesel fule standards, that older diesel cars not
designed to run on the cleaner fuel will have problems. I'm actually
hoping to use biodiesel, but that's another story.
Could someone please shed some light on the model naming convention
that Volvo uses? I know with Mercedes, when I see a "D" in the name,
it's a diesel. I'm scrolling through hundreds of ads for Volvos, and
need to narrow my search to wagons only, and prefarably diesel, and a
real bonus would be a manual transmission. Also, what kind of gas
mileage are Volvo wagaons known for? Thanks for any advice you can
give.

RoadHunter wrote:
> Due to a recent tragic accident involving a friend, I am looking for a
> safe car for my wife and 11 month old daughter. I am pretty well
> informed on cars, but don't know squat about Volvos, other than they
> are known for safety.
> Ideally, I would prefer a diesel wagon. I hear, though, that with
> recent changes in diesel fule standards, that older diesel cars not
> designed to run on the cleaner fuel will have problems. I'm actually
> hoping to use biodiesel, but that's another story.
> Could someone please shed some light on the model naming convention
> that Volvo uses? I know with Mercedes, when I see a "D" in the name,
> it's a diesel. I'm scrolling through hundreds of ads for Volvos, and
> need to narrow my search to wagons only, and prefarably diesel, and a
> real bonus would be a manual transmission. Also, what kind of gas
> mileage are Volvo wagaons known for? Thanks for any advice you can
> give.
>


Where are you located? If you're in North America your options are very
limited, the Diesel engine was used in a small number of 200 and 700
series cars for just a few years so they're very rare in running condition.

If you're in Europe then you're lucky to have quite an assortment, your
other criteria depends on the year, for a Diesel wagon using the old VW
inline 6 I hear people get about 30-32 US mpg on the highway so not
great, the gasoline models get anywhere from 22-30 depending on
configuration. UK gallons are different so the numbers will be skewed there.

I run a 1997 diesel manual V70 (estate / wagon) and when on the motorway
(highway / interstate) at 75 mph cruising I get about 48 mp (UK) g. Tankful
to tankful this drops to around 40 mp(UK)g. Driving style is "brisk" but not
"loony".... and when driving "carefully" these are improved by 5 to 10
mp(UK) g.

Putting acetone at the rate of around 1 part per 1000 (1ml or cc per litre)
does seem to improve things by about 5 to 15% but still experimenting. This
is all with low sulphur diesel - biodiesel is rare to unavailable around
here.

I know someone who has used vegetable oil at up to 25% with no known mpg /
performance changes - good since it is half the price of diesel here.
(99p/litre)

Nick

I'd have to side with James. I've recently purchased a 1987 740 GLE,
gas, in-line 4 cylinder. I've heard that the older diesels are prone to
expensive maintenance here in the US.

The gas engine, typically the in-line 4 cylinder - is robust and
economical. It won't blow you back in your seat, but it will provide
enough power at around 28-30mpg on the highway.




RoadHunter wrote:
> Due to a recent tragic accident involving a friend, I am looking for a
> safe car for my wife and 11 month old daughter. I am pretty well
> informed on cars, but don't know squat about Volvos, other than they
> are known for safety.
> Ideally, I would prefer a diesel wagon. I hear, though, that with
> recent changes in diesel fule standards, that older diesel cars not
> designed to run on the cleaner fuel will have problems. I'm actually
> hoping to use biodiesel, but that's another story.
> Could someone please shed some light on the model naming convention
> that Volvo uses? I know with Mercedes, when I see a "D" in the name,
> it's a diesel. I'm scrolling through hundreds of ads for Volvos, and
> need to narrow my search to wagons only, and prefarably diesel, and a
> real bonus would be a manual transmission. Also, what kind of gas
> mileage are Volvo wagaons known for? Thanks for any advice you can
> give.

I live in Portland, Oregon. Here are some listings for diesel wagons:

1982 Volvo 245 diesel, remarkably good condition for its age. 4 speed
manual trans. with overdrive, rebuilt engine with warranty, upgraded
seals in injection pump, biodiesel ready. Price reduced, for more info
call me (Chris) @503-263-2766

Nice 1982 Volvo 245 Wagon,4 speed with overdrive manual transmission,
fresh rebuilt engine with warranty, biodiesel ready, 196k miles on car,
well taken care of. A/C, p/s power locks.
Reply to: sale-180388893@craigslist.org

Very nice '85 Volvo diesel wagon, auto trans, sunroof, low miles on
quality rebuilt engine, biodiesel ready. Chris@ 503-263-2766

I found these listings on Craigs list. It has been said that if someone
wants to sell a real lemon, they can find a real idiot to buy it on CL.
Buyer beware. Just make sure you get a prepurchase inspection of the
vehicle before you purchase it, no matter who you buy it from.

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
RoadHunter <roadhunter@gmail.com> wrote:

> Due to a recent tragic accident involving a friend, I am looking for a
> safe car for my wife and 11 month old daughter. I am pretty well
> informed on cars, but don't know squat about Volvos, other than they
> are known for safety.
> Ideally, I would prefer a diesel wagon. I hear, though, that with
> recent changes in diesel fule standards, that older diesel cars not
> designed to run on the cleaner fuel will have problems. I'm actually
> hoping to use biodiesel, but that's another story.
> Could someone please shed some light on the model naming convention
> that Volvo uses? I know with Mercedes, when I see a "D" in the name,
> it's a diesel. I'm scrolling through hundreds of ads for Volvos, and
> need to narrow my search to wagons only, and prefarably diesel, and a
> real bonus would be a manual transmission. Also, what kind of gas
> mileage are Volvo wagaons known for? Thanks for any advice you can
> give.

Where are you geographically? The fact that you refer to 'Wagon' rather than
'Estate' suggests that you are probably in North America rather than Europe.

What age of car are you looking for? This makes quite a difference because
Volvo did a major re-vamp of their model naming in the late 1990's which
makes it much easier to identify a wagon/estate car.
--
Cheers,
Roger
______
Email address maintained for newsgroup use only, and not regularly
monitored.. Messages sent to it may not be read for several weeks.
PLEASE REPLY TO NEWSGROUP!

austjeremy@hotmail.com wrote:
> I live in Portland, Oregon. Here are some listings for diesel wagons:
>
> 1982 Volvo 245 diesel, remarkably good condition for its age. 4 speed
> manual trans. with overdrive, rebuilt engine with warranty, upgraded
> seals in injection pump, biodiesel ready. Price reduced, for more info
> call me (Chris) @503-263-2766
>
> Nice 1982 Volvo 245 Wagon,4 speed with overdrive manual transmission,
> fresh rebuilt engine with warranty, biodiesel ready, 196k miles on car,
> well taken care of. A/C, p/s power locks.
> Reply to: sale-180388893@craigslist.org
>
> Very nice '85 Volvo diesel wagon, auto trans, sunroof, low miles on
> quality rebuilt engine, biodiesel ready. Chris@ 503-263-2766
>
> I found these listings on Craigs list. It has been said that if someone
> wants to sell a real lemon, they can find a real idiot to buy it on CL.
> Buyer beware. Just make sure you get a prepurchase inspection of the
> vehicle before you purchase it, no matter who you buy it from.
>


Those will have the Volkswagen inline 6. They're 85 HP in a 3300 LB car,
if you can deal with a 0-60 time of around 21 seconds you can squeeze
slightly better mileage out of one than the gasoline engine. I
*strongly* recommend a manual transmission though, and keep in mind that
maintenance is much more expensive than the gas engine. Some parts are
common VW stuff, others are nearly impossible to find and it can take
quite a bit of calling around before you'll find a mechanic willing to
touch it. Portland OR is about the best place to be for that though,
it's swarming with older Volvos, you might get lucky and find one of
those crust old Volkswagen guys who've been working on them since the
70's, they'll know how to work on that motor which most Volvo mechanics
these days have probably never encountered. Notice every one of those
has a freshly rebuilt engine, even the one that has "low miles". IIRC
they were sold in North America from 1981 until 1985.

In article <OmYtg.187$us.34@trnddc04>, jamessweet@hotmail.com says...
> austjeremy@hotmail.com wrote:
> > I live in Portland, Oregon. Here are some listings for diesel wagons:
> >
> > 1982 Volvo 245 diesel, remarkably good condition for its age. 4 speed
> > manual trans. with overdrive, rebuilt engine with warranty, upgraded
> > seals in injection pump, biodiesel ready. Price reduced, for more info
> > call me (Chris) @503-263-2766
> >
> > Nice 1982 Volvo 245 Wagon,4 speed with overdrive manual transmission,
> > fresh rebuilt engine with warranty, biodiesel ready, 196k miles on car,
> > well taken care of. A/C, p/s power locks.
> > Reply to: sale-180388893@craigslist.org
> >
> > Very nice '85 Volvo diesel wagon, auto trans, sunroof, low miles on
> > quality rebuilt engine, biodiesel ready. Chris@ 503-263-2766
> >
> > I found these listings on Craigs list. It has been said that if someone
> > wants to sell a real lemon, they can find a real idiot to buy it on CL.
> > Buyer beware. Just make sure you get a prepurchase inspection of the
> > vehicle before you purchase it, no matter who you buy it from.
> >
>
>
> Those will have the Volkswagen inline 6. They're 85 HP in a 3300 LB car,
> if you can deal with a 0-60 time of around 21 seconds you can squeeze
> slightly better mileage out of one than the gasoline engine. I
> *strongly* recommend a manual transmission though, and keep in mind that
> maintenance is much more expensive than the gas engine. Some parts are
> common VW stuff, others are nearly impossible to find and it can take
> quite a bit of calling around before you'll find a mechanic willing to
> touch it. Portland OR is about the best place to be for that though,
> it's swarming with older Volvos, you might get lucky and find one of
> those crust old Volkswagen guys who've been working on them since the
> 70's, they'll know how to work on that motor which most Volvo mechanics
> these days have probably never encountered. Notice every one of those
> has a freshly rebuilt engine, even the one that has "low miles". IIRC
> they were sold in North America from 1981 until 1985.
>
Since the NOx waiver (renewal) ran out in 1984 the maximum number of
units were built until about may of 1985 but they all carried the 1984
year model designation. The first D24 motor was in the 1980YM. The
original waiver was for the first year only. 1981YM diesels in US trim
don't exist. The D24T motor in the P70 chassis ran until 1986.

Bob
--
The goal when driving is to miss the maximum number of objects.

In article <1152851973.994533.102550@h48g2000cwc.googlegroups .com>,
RoadHunter <roadhunter@gmail.com> writes
> Due to a recent tragic accident involving a friend, I am looking for a
>safe car for my wife and 11 month old daughter. I am pretty well
>informed on cars, but don't know squat about Volvos, other than they
>are known for safety.
> Ideally, I would prefer a diesel wagon. I hear, though, that with
>recent changes in diesel fule standards, that older diesel cars not
>designed to run on the cleaner fuel will have problems. I'm actually
>hoping to use biodiesel, but that's another story.
> Could someone please shed some light on the model naming convention
>that Volvo uses? I know with Mercedes, when I see a "D" in the name,
>it's a diesel. I'm scrolling through hundreds of ads for Volvos, and
>need to narrow my search to wagons only, and prefarably diesel, and a
>real bonus would be a manual transmission. Also, what kind of gas
>mileage are Volvo wagaons known for? Thanks for any advice you can
>give.
>
I bought a 4 month old manual V70 TDI new (6000 miles) in 1997.

TDI means (I think) Turbo Diesel. It certainly has a turbo, which cuts
in at about 2000 RPM and gives you a kick in the back. Very useful for
overtaking.

Not a lot has gone wrong with it, it needed a new steering lock at about
80000 miles and a new window control switch at about 50000. And a few
new tyres and bulbs.

I sometimes tow a long trailer weighing about 1200lbs, no problems in
keeping up 70 mph, not that I do.

I recently did a trip to London and back, it returned 53 mpg. I keep the
speed down to 55mph and drive fairly conservatively, using the energy
wasting brakes as little as possible. When my wife drives it, that
figure goes down to about 42.

Its the best car I have ever had. I thought about replacing it with
something newer, but later models are based on the S80 rather than the
older pattern. Also they are Fords now and that might affect the issue.

Hope this is helpful. It may be that TDI means something different
outside the UK.


--
Mike Lindsay

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Mike Lindsay <mike@sailplane.demon.co.uk> wrote:

>
> TDI means (I think) Turbo Diesel.


I *think* it means Turbo Diesel with Inter-cooler.
--
Cheers,
Roger
______
Email address maintained for newsgroup use only, and not regularly
monitored.. Messages sent to it may not be read for several weeks.
PLEASE REPLY TO NEWSGROUP!