Beaglemobile is Ill.

[Beaglemom3 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Beaglemom3]

The other day I drove up my neighbor/friend's driveway and she said, "your muffler is awfully loud". So, I took it to my mechanic for an oil change, a recharge of the A/C and asked him to take a look at the exhaust system.

Holy Frijoles ! What I thought was just a minor clamp or pan thingie, turns out to be an entire system; catalytic converter, sensors, everything at
$2700. I can post the itemized estimate if needed.

I am going to get three more estimates on Monday.

Now, here's the thing. I like to keep my cars for a long time and this one is 11 years old. It's a 1997 850 Volvo (non turbo) Wagon with 175K on it. Sticker is good through end of May 2009.

The catalytic converter was priced at $1200, so I asked my mechanic if there was such a thing as a salvaged/rebuilt one and he said something to the effect of it not doing something with the sensor. Sorry, but I was stunned at this point and was not actively listening.

I was hoping to get another year out of it with the economy and all.

Any advice ? Is there a cheaper way to nurse this along ? I am also taking it to Click & Clack's garage in Cambridge.

Might have to bite the bullet and buy a new car, but want to see if there are any options before giving up my trusty steed.

Thanking you in advance, I remain...........
Beags

[Joe L Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Joe L]

$2,700 for a car with 175,000 miles, sorry Beags, i think it's time to bite the bullet, cut the cord, let the Beaglemobile go and get a new one.

[Beaglemom3 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Beaglemom3]

$2,700 for a car with 175,000 miles, sorry Beags, i think it's time to bite the bullet, cut the cord, let the Beaglemobile go and get a new one.

Yep, 'fraid so.
Was hoping for a cheaper and temporary fix. My last Volvo (240 Wagon) lasted over 200K, so I was hoping here. I'm not cheap, really, just one of those whacky Volvo owners who like to see how much mileage we can rack up, but like you said in essence, the car is hardly worth the full repair price. Then what if another system (tranmission, etc.) goes ?
Glad I didn't go for that Marriott Custom House.
Thanks !

[wandering gnome Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wandering gnome]

Beags,

A couple of years ago I had to replace a catalytic converter in my car. My mechanic let me call the various auto parts stores and I was able to find a catalytic converter $200 to $300 cheaper than his typical supplier.

However, recently, when I was reading a Reader's Digest they advised taking the car to the dealer because the catalytic converters have warranty that the mechanic may not be aware of.

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

Alas, Beags, I have to agree. As you know, we dropped $1200 on our old Camry wagon last year, for a new catalytic converter, but it hasn't needed anything else since. The mileage is about the same as on your Volvo. If it had needed $2700 in repairs at that point, we would have let it go--in fact we had talked about it and decided that $1800 was the limit.

I'm sorry, I know it's hard to let these favorite cars go....

[3kids4me Super Moderator and Super Mom Find all posts View Profile Close 3kids4me]

Well...even though repairing it would only cost a third of the price of a Marriott resale I guess it's time to go car shopping. We have a Subaru Legacy with 175,000 miles on it and I sort of wish it really would die because there are a lot of good deals out there now. (It probably won't actually die until all the prices are back up....)

[somerville Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close somerville]

You should be able to purchase an aftermarket catalytic converter for much less than $1,200. Check out Welcome to eEuroparts.com. I have purchased parts for my Sabb from them in the past. I am sure there are other reasonably priced sources. I hope you aren't taking the car to the dealer at its current age. A dealer will only sell genuine Volvo parts. Many of the aftermarket parts are made by the same companies that make the OEM parts.

[Pit Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Pit]

Go to Midas and get a second opinion. An (new) aftermarket Converter can be had for $420 on rockauto.com. $1200 sounds way high, if that was excluding labor.

[shaggy Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close shaggy]

I say buy a new one. 175k and all that money just doesn't compute. shaggy

[lawren2 Malibu Beach Barbie & A Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close lawren2]

Alas our Beaglemom needs a new Sopwith Camel.


It is hard to retire our old friends. I'm with you. Drive them and maintain them until the repairs start looking suspiciously like car payments.

Sorry about the wheels Beags but at 175k the vehicle doesn't owe you anything.

[falmouth3 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close falmouth3]

It won't pass inspection without a working catalytic converter. When we had some other bills on our 10 year old pickup, plus knowing we needed a catalytic converter, we decided to put it out of it's misery.

BTW, we also found out that even if you sell your car to another person, you can still be liable under the state's lemon law. You probably know far more about that than I do, but we ended up trading it in instead of selling ourselves.

[grest Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close grest]

Dang! On the other hand, Peter would love the chance to have a visit with Click and Clack...what did they say?
Connie

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

I'm completely dazzled by the Click and Clack encounter, too. Did you meet them?

[Carolinian Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Carolinian]

I'm glad that my two cars back in the states (off the road with me being across the pond) don't have such things as catalytic converters or computers. I like the nice simple mechanics, as well as far superior looks, of classic cars. My '68 Cutlass convertible has over 500K miles on it and my '68 MGB has about 130K. In coming over here, I decided to part with my one car without a canvas top, my '64 Studebaker GT Hawk, which had only about 70K actual miles and ran great. My existing cars also fire up just fine when I am back in North Carolina.

I just need to sell my wife on owning a classic, as her car is the only one in the family with the bland jelly-bean shape of today and the catalytic converter and engine computer.

There is one classic Volvo I would like to find. If memory serves it is an 1800. It has a rakish GT design body and one was driven by the Simon Templar ''The Saint'' in the TV show of the same name in the 1960s. The body design was by one of the British sports car makers and for the first few years, the bodies were actually built in England and then shipped to Sweden for installation of a Volvo drive train. There is a story that The Saint's car was originally supposed to have been a Jaguar XKE, but Jaguar reneged on the deal to provide a free car, and Volvo stepped in with the replacement. The show's star (Roger Moore, later to play James Bond) liked the car so much that he bought one for himself. Certainly providing the car was a PR goldmine for Volvo, as the weekly images of Roger Moore as Simon Templar ''The Saint'' blasting down English country lanes on his spy missions in his Volvo 1800 were great advertising for the car.

Just looked it up, and here are pictures of the ultimate Volvo - Volvo 1800 Picture Gallery If you really are determined to have a wagon, they made an ''estate'' or wagon version of the 1800 in the early 1970s.

If gas stays high, I might supplement my cars with a classic VW beetle, which gets good gas milage, but I expect to continue being based overseas for a while so that probably will not be any time soon. Of course, over here, if I run across a deal on a Tatra 603, a neat Czech-made rear engined V-8 from the 1960s, I may have to break down and get a local drivers license.

[Beaglemom3 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Beaglemom3]

Thank you to everyone who weighed in on this. All good advice and very much appreciated. Great websites, too !


Found this one thanks to the links posted here. Volvo 850 Wagons - CarSpace Automotive Forums

I am getting ready to "pull the trigger", but will wait for some better quotes -if they exist.

My appt. with Click & Clack is for next week. Will report back and maybe some photos ? (Film at eleven).

Oh, here is a photo of one for sale (not mine) on Craigslist. It is its exact twin; color, molding, etc. 1997 Volvo 850 Wagon 4D W/Smog

You know the day is coming, but it usually comes as a surprise despite some little warnings here & there.