SOT: Update on my car saga (kinda long)

[tim]

Well gentlemen, I have an update to my story. For the benefit of latecomers, the saga deals with the loss of my 540i due to a crash, the dealings with the insurance company, and the subsequent search for a suitable replacement vehicle.

Anyway, I bet a bunch of you are wondering what your car is worth to your insurance company. In my case, after the body guy totalled it, the main office sent out one of their adjusters to confirm it and price the payoff. I spoke to him personally and asked what method they used. He said they used a multifactor pricing model that includes blue book type valuation scoring with a 1-5 condition adjustment plus a mileage adjustment. This score is then indexed against local price listings for comparable cars, and the market price for the parts salvage. In my case the grand total came out 11400 less deductible for a formerly mint '95 540i. More than I expected, but, uncannily accurate; as I soon discovered in my car search for an exact replacement. The salvage was bought by Copart, and I'm sure for those that have access to their system, it could be found. PM me for the VIN if you're serious.

Let me first say that I live in a crummy area to find a nice 10 year old car. The Northeast is freakin' brutal on cars, and as I discovered: you can make a 540 adequate in snow and icy conditions, but you can't really make it a good snow and ice car. Those who have perfect ones, tend to keep them garaged all winter, and they ain't sellin. I saw a total of about 10 535's and 540's with 150mi or so of my location. All were advertised as mint, excellent, whatever. I could write another thread about the sheer comedy of some of these meetings. To put it charitably, most of these cars were practically wrecks by my standards. I had some cars pulling codes from every single subsystem. In case any of these people are board members, i'll spare further detail. But it was bad.

There was another problem. It became painfully clear on some of these snowy voyages to see cars, that I needed a real winter car. My 540iT is better than the 540 sedan, and has DSC, but it ain't great folks. The dodge stratus I have as a rental is a snowmobile by comparison. I need a wintermobile with snow tires, front wheel drive and all that good stuff. Then I met Mark, our local version of Bill R, a Volvo indy, that does a used sales business. He has a loyal local following, as he started off in the neighborhood as a teen, fixing up cars and selling them. He has a big following now, and about 5 mechs in his shop and about 25 cars on the lot.

My wife and I drove a 2002 Volvo V70 on his lot, with the "yankee package"- normally aspirated 2.4l I5, cold weather package, and premium package(leather, sunroof, some other stuff). An odd combination I'm told- but quite common around here where no premium is placed on speed performance, but rather on snow traction and gas mileage. BTW this thing gets mid 20's local and over 30mpg hwy. Slate with sand leather. 60k mi, just 6mo off factory warrantee. Mark put on new rotors and pads, reconditioned oem alloys, did timing belt, multi belt, tranny flush, plugs, oil and gave a nice buff. He gave me a 3 month bumper to bumper, and a one year/12k engine and drivetrain warrantee at his shop which is his standard policy. I'm the second owner, and the first owner traded it to him for a XC90. 14k drive off is what I paid.

I was pretty dubious at first, as I had a 240 and I know firsthand what 168hp feels like in a 3500lb car. I have to say I was stunned at how nice the new style drove. They have a computer controlled 5sp automatic in it now, which was really really good at giving it some pep. It also has a winter driving mode, and some other system, and this car is simply unbelievable in snow. I also drove their AWD version of the same car with the low pressure turbo, and frankly I found the front wheel drive superior. Their version of AWD only powers the rears when the fronts slip. The handling suffers (IMHO) and turning radius widens considerably. It has higher clearance, but after checking both out in real life snow situations I concluded that I did not want the maintenance hassle of either the turbo or the AWD system. My wife could care less about speed, and is all too happy to turn the reigns of the 540iT back over to me.

All's well that ends well, right?

Whaddya think?

[genphreak]

Well gentlemen, I have an update to my story... My wife could care less about speed, and is all too happy to turn the reigns of the 540iT back over to me. All's well that ends well, right?

Whaddya think?

Well its practical... well engineered, economical and nicely made. Comfortable? Dunno if I can come up with much else- boy I'd miss a 540 driving (off the snow). Me coming from Oz; surely if you have a 540 you just put serious snow tyres/studs on it and go easy on the throttle? Perhaps though you have to avoid driving it much in the snow. (ie be practical) I mean, a car designed for handling & acceleration at speed cannot be good for snow.

Explanation for my wryness; Here in Australia Volvo's have the worst possible reputation as we don't have snow, just high heat. Mostly only scared people buy them (changing now), so other driver's regard them (along with cyclists) as being generally obstructive and too incompetent to be sharing the road.

[tim]

Seen this? http://www.reangle.com.au/

Top left- "Herd of Cows"

Funny.

[DanDombrowski]

Well Tim,

I like the color (both interior and exterior). Looks like a nice car. I don't think I could ever drive a fwd slower car, but thats just me. If I were in the snow, I'd be singing a different tune.

Looks like a nice car, a nice deal, and it also sounds like you got it in un-neglected condition. Good luck with it!

Oh, and a 240 with 168HP? You must have had a turbo. A big turbo

[tim]

Well Tim,
Oh, and a 240 with 168HP? You must have had a turbo. A big turbo

Right you are Dan, 168 is what they get out of it now. Not like its going to win any road rally, mind you. But the wife's problem now in general.

My 240 had the round air filter on top of the carb held on with a wingnut, so you could take it off easy, spray ether down the throttle body while someone cranked it to get it to start up. And hope nothing caught fire. And it wouldn't stop either.

[Anthony (M5 in Calgary)]

Well its practical... well engineered, economical and nicely made. Comfortable? Dunno if I can come up with much else- boy I'd miss a 540 driving (off the snow). Me coming from Oz; surely if you have a 540 you just put serious snow tyres/studs on it and go easy on the throttle? Perhaps though you have to avoid driving it much in the snow. (ie be practical) I mean, a car designed for handling & acceleration at speed cannot be good for snow.

.

Good snow tires and any car is good in the snow. I just put a set of Nokian RSi on the M5 and it is, as Tim said, a snowmobile now. I annoyed a guy in a Jeep the other day by beating him across the lights - he thought his AWD would put him ahead...

[MJ535]

Both my bimmers do fine in the snow. The 540/6 has ASC and 4 dunlop 17-inch snows and does quite well. The 535 is actually quite fun in the snow with a fresh set of blizzaks and a limited slip rear (no asc).

Mark

[Zeuk in Oz]

As an expat Swede who has owned 4 Volvos (and 2 Saabs) from new including an AWD 850 all I can say is be careful !

Whatever you do, stay away from Volvo Inc as much as possible - if they are anything like Volvo Australia they are bastards.

Here in Oz the corporate structure is personed by idiots.

I had some serious problems with my 850 caused by a space-saver spare tyre supplied from new by the dealership that was the wrong diameter - it destroyed my entire drive train and everything was eventually replaced over an 18 month period during which I was without the car for about 6 months.

All I can say is drive it, service it yourself or at an indy but don't go near Volvo.

It is quite clear to me that their engineering people no longer have a clue and thier products are getting more and more average.

Still, the V70 is OK but nothing like an e34 when it comes to handling and roadholding on the dry so be careful when summer comes.

[tim]

Still, the V70 is OK but nothing like an e34 when it comes to handling and roadholding on the dry so be careful when summer comes.

Dude, that's the wife's problem now!

She's the one who made the call. I get the Touring now (until I crash this one!) Plus she's a real estate agent and she feels like the volvo will be less intimidating for driving customers around.

My e39 540iT will lay down two black smokies for 100 ft all summer long. As much as I loved the m60 in my e34, it could never touch the m62 for power despite what the benchmark specs say.

For the winter, the touring's got the blizzak revo's but I don't care what anyone says, a front wheel drive with snow tires beats a rear drive with snows. Even with DSC. And with chains on.

[Johntee540]

That's a scream! - JT