Hmmm....

I'd say the fella you met, nice as he may be, is full of you know what.

For one, Renaults don't go a million miles. Period. They rarely make the first 100k. I agree though that some of them silly French cars look sorta cool, and have some nifty features. I've been temped.

For two, there ain't no clicky thing in the gearbox that counts each 100k miles. In any car. I'd love to hear otherwise, but I don't think I will. THere is a gear thing in the transmission that spins a square sorta hole that accepts the speedo cable. Thats all. A gear train that could tally the the number of cable turns equal to 100k miles would have to be something like the innards of a Brietling Chronograph, but much, much bigger and more complicated.

Best I can tell, Volvo was the first ever to add the extra digit on the odometer with the 140 series, and they advertised that feature appropriately... something about other car companies lacking confidence. Cool ads.

You are correct in that the only way to be sure of mileage on your early vintage Volvo is a comprehensive collection of service records.

Cool as that French car may have been... be happy with your Volvo. It's a better unit all around.

-Matt

--
-Matt '70 145s, '65 1800s, '66 122s wagon, others inc. '53 XK120 FHC