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From: Ron Dunnington <rbdunningtons1_at_charter.net>
subject: [Paddlewise] Volvo maintainance
Date: Mon, 13 Jan 2003 11:39:36 -0600
Having owned 3 Volvo's, ''71 240, '73 265 and ''77 240, my expierience is that
the cost of maintainance on an OLDER Volvo is roughly 4 times what is is on
any other car ....., if you take it to a Volvo Dealer and/or use Volvo factory
parts.


Big IF.


If you have a good mechanic that will use "rebuilt" parts, that can lower the
cost considerably. If you have to rely on the dealer for parts and repairs,
you're going to have a heart attack the first time you take it in for anything
routine like a muffler, waterpump or timing belt. 


Last, but not least, the Volvo's reputation for safety was somewhat soiled
recently when the NTSB ranked the new Volvo just "Average" compared to "Above
Average" for 5 or 6 of it's peers in crash tests.


Think Ford Taurus Wagon! 





Ron in MN


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From: John March <jsmarch_at_acpub.duke.edu>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Volvo maintainance
Date: Mon, 13 Jan 2003 15:15:44 -0500
[Moderator's Note: Content unaltered. Excessive quoting (i.e.  headers/footers/sig lines/extraneous text from previous posts, etc.) have been removed. Please edit quoted material in addition to removing header/trailers when replying to posts.]

The newer Volvos are much more expensive to service (like most cars) and 
definitely less crash worthy in the sense of body repair costs due to more 
plastic and thin sheet metal.  We have Volvo's and Saabs (my kayak car is a 
91 Saab 9000), but I'm looking to switch to Subaru.  One more note. Once a 
Volvo or Saab gets to 100K, they get expensive for while. We just put a 
grand into a new clutch for a 93 Saab 9000 with 120K miles. After you dump 
a bunch of money into them, then they go another 100K no problem.  Best to 
ditch them early or keep them for 200K+.

At 11:39 AM 1/13/2003 -0600, Ron Dunnington wrote:
>Having owned 3 Volvo's, ''71 240, '73 265 and ''77 240, my expierience is that
>the cost of maintainance on an OLDER Volvo is roughly 4 times what is is on
>any other car ....., if you take it to a Volvo Dealer and/or use Volvo factory
>parts.

*********************************************************
John S. March, MD, MPH
Professor and Chief, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Duke Child and Family Study Center
718 Rutherford Street
Durham, NC 27705
919/416-2404 (P); 919/416-2420 (F)
Email: jsmarch_at_acpub.duke.edu
Website: http://www2.mc.duke.edu/pcaad

" At this time I seem to have been only like a boy, playing on the sea 
shore whilst a great ocean of truth lay undiscovered before me" ---Sir 
Isaac Newton

*********************************************************

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From: William Lloyd <lloyd_at_execpc.com>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Volvo maintainance
Date: Mon, 13 Jan 2003 15:30:51 -0500
[Moderator's Note: Content unaltered. Excessive quoting (i.e.  headers/footers/sig lines/extraneous text from previous posts, etc.) have been removed. Please edit quoted material in addition to removing header/trailers when replying to posts.]

In the ten years (and 134,000 miles) I had my '90 Toyota Camry wagon, all
that it required was gas, oil & oil filter changes, and one set of spark
plugs.  That's it.  On the road, it averaged 38 mpg.

- Bill

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ron Dunnington" <rbdunningtons1_at_charter.net>
Subject: [Paddlewise] Volvo maintainance


> Having owned 3 Volvo's, ''71 240, '73 265 and ''77 240, my expierience is that
> the cost of maintainance on an OLDER Volvo is roughly 4 times what is is on
> any other car ....., if you take it to a Volvo Dealer and/or use Volvo
factory
> parts.
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From: <firefly_at_eatel.net>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Volvo maintainance
Date: Mon Jan 13 14:03:02 2003
The guys on "Car Talk" (NPR) say that if you change your vehicle's oil TWICE as 
often as the manual recommends the engine will last indefinitely! I am pushing 
100,000 on my Jeep Cherokee, have done all the normal scheduled maintenance, 
without fail. No major problems, and its a good kayak vehicle. I am going to 
push it as long as possible. I am thinking my next vehicle will be the one I 
try to keep forever and see if these guys are right. I will do another post 
here in 30 or 40 years to let you all know if that worked out. <G>  The way 
things are sounding, it will probably be the Subaru.  Marsanne



> We have Volvo's and Saabs (my kayak car is a 
> 91 Saab 9000), but I'm looking to switch to Subaru.  > 
>

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From: Erik Sprenne <sprenne_at_netnitco.net>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Volvo maintenance - Use synthetic oil
Date: Tue, 14 Jan 2003 02:40:34 -0600
Marsanne wrote:
> The guys on "Car Talk" (NPR) say that if you change your vehicle's oil
TWICE as
> often as the manual recommends the engine will last indefinitely! I am
pushing
> 100,000 on my Jeep Cherokee, have done all the normal scheduled
maintenance,
> without fail. No major problems, and its a good kayak vehicle. I am going
to
> push it as long as possible. I am thinking my next vehicle will be the one
I
> try to keep forever and see if these guys are right. I will do another
post
> here in 30 or 40 years to let you all know if that worked out. <G>  The
way
> things are sounding, it will probably be the Subaru.
>
If you want to have the internals of a paddling vehicle's engine last
forever, I highly recommend the use of a synthetic motor oil.

My Mitsu pickup blew a head gasket at 195K miles.  While that was being
replaced, the mechanic checked the piston/crankshaft bearings and found
*absolutely no wear*, which I attribute to exclusive use of Mobil 1 oil for
the entire life of the vehicle.  The oil change interval used with Mobil 1
oil was 8-12K miles.  Changing the oil twice as often as recommended with
regular oil would cost about the same as using synthetic oil, but would be
4-6 times as much work.
I've still got the Mitsu - now at 244K - but mechanical components other
than the engine make it untrustworthy for longer trips.

Erik Sprenne
(who bought a used Camry wagon to replace the Mitsu)

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From: steen <bondos_at_paradis.dk>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Volvo maintenance - Use synthetic oil
Date: Tue, 14 Jan 2003 15:47:36 +0100 (CET)
On Tue, 14 Jan 2003 02:40:34 -0600, Erik Sprenne wrote:

>I've still got the Mitsu - now at 244K - but mechanical components other
>than the engine make it untrustworthy for longer trips.

Well - what's it all worth then.? :-)

Seriously: Any engine maintained according to the manual,
will under normal conditions last longer than it's affordable to
maintain the rest of the car.

Regards
-- 
steen
---



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From: Erik Sprenne <sprenne_at_netnitco.net>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Volvo maintenance - Use synthetic oil
Date: Tue, 14 Jan 2003 14:26:15 -0600
> >I've still got the Mitsu - now at 244K - but mechanical components other
> >than the engine make it untrustworthy for longer trips.
>
> Well - what's it all worth then.? :-)
>
to me, it was worth 10 years of not having to change oil as often - more
time for boating instead of playing grease monkey.

fwiw, the other problems all cropped up in the last 15-20K miles.

Erik

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From: steen <bondos_at_paradis.dk>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Volvo maintenance - Use synthetic oil
Date: Tue, 14 Jan 2003 18:52:56 +0100 (CET)
On Tue, 14 Jan 2003 11:04:51 -0500, William Lloyd wrote:

>changes.  He said that if you want your car's engine to last indefinitely,

>>will under normal conditions last longer than it's affordable to maintain
>>the rest of the car.

I didn't say "indefinitely".......
-- 
steen
---



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From: <jfarrelly5_at_comcast.net>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Volvo maintainance
Date: Mon, 13 Jan 2003 18:43:08 -0500
I once owned a Saab.  Bought it new. It broke so often that at one point I
needed an attorney to threaten the dealership. Ended up selling it for the
amount of the next four  figure repair estimate. It didn't have a kayak
rack.  I threw that in to at least make the appearance of my post being
paddling related.

Jim et al


Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Volvo maintainance


> > Having owned 3 Volvo's, ''71 240, '73 265 and ''77 240, my expierience
is that
> > the cost of maintainance on an OLDER Volvo is roughly 4 times what is is
on
> > any other car ....., if you take it to a Volvo Dealer and/or use Volvo
> factory
> > parts.

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From: td376 <td376_at_mail.anonymizer.com>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Volvo maintainance
Date: Mon, 13 Jan 2003 19:14:25 -0500
I just got rid of a 1986 Volvo 760 Turbo.  250,000 miles, first engine, 
second tranny.  Good gutters for mounting roof racks.  It does take an 
above average amount of maintenance.  Still a good car.

jfarrelly5_at_comcast.net wrote:
> I once owned a Saab.  Bought it new. It broke so often that at one point I
> needed an attorney to threaten the dealership. Ended up selling it for the
> amount of the next four  figure repair estimate. It didn't have a kayak
> rack.  I threw that in to at least make the appearance of my post being
> paddling related.
> 
> Jim et al
> 
> Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Volvo maintainance
> 
>>Having owned 3 Volvo's, ''71 240, '73 265 and ''77 240, my expierience
>>is that the cost of maintainance on an OLDER Volvo is roughly 4 times what is is
>>on any other car ....., if you take it to a Volvo Dealer and/or use Volvo factory
>>parts.

-- 
Jan
td376_at_mail.anonymizer.com


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From: <Kevin50110_at_aol.com>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Volvo maintainance
Date: Mon, 13 Jan 2003 20:08:11 EST
I know this isn't what you're probably looking for, but I'm on my second 
Toyota PU truck (4WD Tacoma) and while they get but 19 to 22 mpg they do 
last. Just change the fluids regularly. My '86 went 333,333. miles, and no, 
that isn't a joke, before it lost a main bearing. Just plain bad luck. I 
think it might have gone 500,000 except for that.  Kevin

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From: <MJKory_at_aol.com>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Volvo maintainance
Date: Wed, 15 Jan 2003 00:32:12 EST
I would like to get a used pickup to haul my kayak, but it seems like a pain 
to figure out an effective way to haul the boat on a PU. How do you do it? 
I've seen ads in Canoe & Kayak for a set of rails that fold down? Has anyone 
out there tried that set-up? Do any of you kayakers that use a PU have a 
recommendation as to the best way to haul a closed deck glass kayak on a PU. 
Seems like most later model PU's don't have rain gutters, so attaching a 
Yakima or similar rack to the cab does not look too inviting. Any 
recommendations as to an ideal model of PU for yak hauling?    

In a message dated 1/13/03 5:09:16 PM Pacific Standard Time, 
Kevin50110_at_aol.com writes:

> I know this isn't what you're probably looking for, but I'm on my second 
> Toyota PU truck (4WD Tacoma) and while they get but 19 to 22 mpg they do 
> last. Just change the fluids regularly. My '86 went 333,333. miles, and no, 
> 
> that isn't a joke, before it lost a main bearing. Just plain bad luck. I 
> think it might have gone 500,000 except for that.  Kevin
> 


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From: Steve Cramer <cramersec_at_charter.net>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Volvo maintainance
Date: Wed, 15 Jan 2003 09:00:22 -0500
MJKory_at_aol.com wrote:

>I would like to get a used pickup to haul my kayak, but it seems like a pain 
>to figure out an effective way to haul the boat on a PU. How do you do it? 
>
I had a 1995 Nissan PU. I put a fiberglass camper shell ("cab-high cap" 
in the trade langauge) over the bed, which also provided dry lockable 
storage. Yakima sells "artificial rain gutters" that bolt to the top of 
the cap. You can then use any rain gutter rack. Biggest problem for me 
was steeling myself to drill eight holes in my new $800 cap. Oh, I also 
opted for the fully-opening-from-the-outside side windows. Well worth 
the cost.

Steve Cramer
Athens, GA


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From: <Harley1941_at_aol.com>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Volvo maintainance
Date: Wed, 15 Jan 2003 09:10:11 EST
In a message dated 1/15/2003 12:37:13 AM Eastern Standard Time, 
MJKory_at_aol.com writes:


> I would like to get a used pickup to haul my kayak, but it seems like a pain 
> 
> to figure out an effective way to haul the boat on a PU. How do you do it? 
> 

I built a wooden rack for the bed of my old 1980 Ford truck. You don't want 
to put a rack on the cab and one on the bed because these two parts move 
independant of each other. 

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From: <Kevin50110_at_aol.com>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Volvo maintainance
Date: Wed, 15 Jan 2003 16:45:12 EST
I will get very serious and tell you I tinker with this and that and you 
could probably buy your vehicle with the $$$ I've put into racks. I 
approached the problem with aerodynamics and gas money in mind. The racks 
should disappear when not in use and so offer no wind resistance. 

Well...........I'm on the mark 2 model and while it works, and it is very 
strong, I'm not entirely happy with it. Mark 2 is the weaker version and I 
think it could  handle 700 pounds or so. Way overbuilt,  however, it will 
securely hold the kayaks when going 80 mph or so. I have am aluminum 
"tonneau" cover on the bed. Attached to that are Yakima rails and bars. Two 
foot verticals oak 1 X 4s boost the height and 2 more bars carry the kayaks. 
Two aluminum braces stabilize the whole thing and snap pins hold it together. 
5 minutes and it's up or down. Not entirely pretty though, and I'm working on 
mark 3, but when you don't need it does disappear and your mpg is back up to 
normal. 

All in all I could have saved a lot of money by just going the commercial 
route, and I think you can fit a rack to the Tacomas cab regardless of the 
absent raingutter. I could have bought a camper shell too and just tossed the 
boats on top and tied them down, but what can I say? I'm afraid to calculate 
the figures on how many miles I'll have to drive without the rack to equal 
the difference in gas money expended. It will have to go up to $5.00 a 
gallon, or I'll have to live to 140 and still have this truck. 

So am I not going for mark 3? You bet I am; I still think I can do it better. 
 Kevin
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