Haha would you believe if I told you that thing IS fom Finland! I saw it for sale at nettiauto I think it was this fall. Bugger if I remember what was the asking price but there were more pictures of it there, the rear window sure is removed for access. The wheelbase would probly make it even more prone to spin than the Clio I got now but that`s part of the fun right? Can`t find any more info on it ATM but will get back to you if I can dig something up.

 

Well....I gotta say, for as ugly as it is, I find it quite sexy. LOL

 

...Yet again the story goes on... was having a bit of trouble deciding should I post this here or in the Trimph thread but figured this was the more logical choice.

So, as the ones that has read the Trump thread know we will be having a second baby by the end of this year so I`ve been looking for something a bit more sensible to drive since the Alfa has proven itself to be every bit worth of their reputation as hugely unreliable. I had a few nibbles before and actually went to test drive a newer model before this but the loan conditions were so ludicrous I decided to back out of that deal. I probably made around 15 offers to different car shops until this one came up and I instantly jumped on it. Turned out the shop actually specializes in exotic cars, the showroom had everything from a wide body heavily tuned Mazda Rx-7 convertible, through some old Cadillacs and jaguars to a real actual top fuel dragster! The owner himself had a bright orange Mustang GT to drive so the Alfa seemed like right at home there, unlike this thing.

So what did I get this time? None other than the one I`ve been drooling after for years and now I FINALLY have it!

Well, kinda...
































































A 2004 Volvo XC70 2,5T AWD Summum Business. Why kinda? Well, I was looking for the newer 2008-> model but they have a very modest and sensible 10k price gap between the different versions, and from what I`ve heard from the guys at VRCF forum (volvo racing club finland) this model is the last "Volvo" in what comes to handling, the newer 2008-> feels totally different and doesn`t have the same feel to it. This thing also has a few funny little details to it: it is actually a USA import model, it has had one previous owner who bought it new and crated it here in 2011 when they moved back here from the states so it has some attributes that the Euro-models do not have.

First off unlike what it shows in the pictures it is NOT silver, it is actually GREEN. The tint in the rear windows also have a faint green tint to them. The central lock has a double-phase feature, the first press opens the driver door, and the second the rest, no euro car has this although it can be programmed in the dealership to do so.



The speedometer is in miles per hour although it has the km/h in the inner rim too, the ODOmeter reading is in miles and the on-board computer in english...



...and the climate control settings are in fahrenheits. It also has a sunroof which is extremely rare in euro models. It doesn`t work right now but I happen to know why: the faulty alarm system disables it so I just have to go to the "blue counter" as we call the dealership in the "club" and software the alarm out, and the sunroof should start to work again.



Never seen one of these in an Euro-car. Should be a garage door remote opener, totally useless to me but a fun detail.



The floormats are also different than in the Euro-models







Full black leathers with ISOFIX locks in the rear as well as the folding kiddy seats. Very picky about that, actually dropped two very good prospects cause they had tan/light grey interior.



The "wood" trims are also different, in the euro-models the color is walnut, never seen a red finish before.

It has had bi-xenons too, but the DOT approved US lights don`t fly here so it has had halogen lights converted to it cause the E-approved xenon lights are ridiculously expensive, might swap them to xenons at some point if I can find a decent priced pair but I don`t do that much dark driving anymore and the Volvo halogens are one of the best out there so I think I`ll manage with these just as well.

Cam belt kit, water pump and all brake discs+pads swapped 300km ago. at 12800EUR I think I did a decent purchase.



Compared to normal euro cars it is HUGE, it even dwarfs the already fairly big Scout in the parking lot. Feels like steering a cruise ship into a grocery store parking space

 

My friend, you did very well. Responsible yet sporty. Nothing wrong with that .

 

The funny thing is that the S80 T6 I had some time ago supposedly had 270hp, this thing has 197hp and it is an awd so some is lost in the differentials, I did some "straight ankle" passings on my way back home and I gotta say by the seat-of-the-pants feel I don`t think this would lose to the T6 at all, either it had lost quite a few ponies during the years or I wouldn`t be surprised if this one was chipped at some point. All I know is it handles like a dream after the Alfa and surely feels every bit like a true Volvo as I know them. The wheels have a slight judder so I gotta take it to a tire shop to get properly balanced but that`s pretty much the only fault if you don`t count the false burned headlamp notification in the dash due to the DOT->E lamps, gotta do a little studying where to plug in bypass resistors to get it sorted.

 

All you need now is a bowls hat......hehe.

 

...and a foldable lawn chair so I can sit in the front yard and wave my fist at the damn moped boys riding past our house through the walkway terrorising the neighborhood

 

...and a rottweiler sitting out front with you.

 

Don't got a rottenwiener but I do have a very fierce b/w cockerspaniel who will lick anyone to death that happens to stumble within his reach