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I gave our #1 son (18 y/o) a sharp-looking '90 244DL (black with a tan interior) AFTER he crashed a nice '91 244 he crashed 18 months ago (an accident that admittedly was the other guy's fault, but in my opinion could have been prevented by a little defensive driving). Last week he calls me up with the news that his brakes were squealing and needed to be replaced.
I knew the pads were almost brand new, so I thought grease and new shims might cure the squeal. At the very worst, I thought he might have a warped rotor. He brought the car over this weekend and I took a look. Boy, did I get a surprise. One of the front passenger pads linings was completely gone, and he was running steel-on-steel. So much for the "squeal"! I replaced the rotor and put new PBX Deluxe pads on all around. I also had to replace a ripped caliper piston boot on the damaged wheel. Incredibly enough, none of the pistons on this wheel (which must have gotten amazingly hot) were frozen.
So far, not too bad. Anybody could have a pad failure, right? However, when I went to back the car out of the garage to put it into the LH bay (to provide better access for the passenger-side pad replacements), I noticed that the powersteering was stiff. Not u-joint stiff, but STIFF! I also saw a pool of PS fluid on the garage floor where the car had been parked. Sure enough, the PS reservoir was empty! I refilled it and saw a relatively slow drip out of the driver's side tie rod boot. The pump seems undamaged, believe it or not.
Dreading what I would find, I checked the oil dipstick. NOTHING. The car was 2.5 quarts low. This kid had been told to check the oil every 2-3 days, rain or shine. I had even put two full quarts in the trunk for topping off. Needless to say, this oil was still there. Those B230F engines are ironclad, because this one still runs with no apparent sign of damage.
This evening I get to lie in the cold mud and attempt to pull the rack from the '91 244DL car our son earlier. The Volvo equivalent of "the circle of life," I suppose.
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My parents bought my first car 64 1/2 mustang 260 v-8 90k. It was my car warts and all. If it was broke it sat until I could fix it.
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90 744ti, Airbox, K/N, Cold air, G-Valve, Dual boost control, VDO, Modified exhaust. 88 745 gle.
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This sure sounds familiar. I've got two of 'em ( kids) and they both have done just about the same thing. Trash the cars to their hearts content, and they know they can get away with it too. Good 'ol Dad will go 'high order' for a little while ,but after he shuts up he will slog out and fix it, 'cause he can't stand to see a good Volvo suffer. I think it is called an enabler.
A while back I asked my #1 son to back one of the cars into the garage for me, while I made a visit to the can. While sitting on the 'throne' I heard a loud noise, and felt the house shake. Yep...... he 'backed it into the garage'. Trashed the passengers rear door and the garage pillar. I guess I need to be more specific on my instructions in the future.
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'94 940 na Regina 150k, '86 240 180k, 93 Camry 5sp 245k, 88 Toy 4wd 166k
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Sumerduckman - Yep, you did it. You've made me feel that my existence is not quite so miserable after all. As I was lying in the muck under the parts car pulling the rack last night, I committed heresy. I actually considered going out this weekend and looking at new vehicles. Then I realized that reason I was lying in the mud in 35 deg F weather was because I was too cheap/poor to spend $200 on a remanufactured rack. A new truck and the associated payment just weren't in the cards.
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I hope you made him buy his own bicycle to take to school. My daughter ("A" student) has already been told that there will not be a car for Freshman year.
Check the left front wheel, it sounds like he hit a curb pretty hard while going sideways.
You are completing the circle of life with your cars, but your son is the one who should be under the car in the mud, with you as a teacher - not provider. Reward him with use of a car only if he will perform his own maintenance, that will really create a circle of life.
Klaus
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98 V70Rawd(101Kmi), 95 854T(85K mi), 75 164E(173K mi)
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Klaus - Excellent, thoughtful advice, thank you. I need to shed the role of enabler, and assume the role of teacher. Glen
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Similar story here, except I now no longer do free work on my 19 year-old's car.
It's the old bit about letting consequences be learned.
And, my son is uninjured in spite of several accidents. That's the good news.
He received his mom's '83 240 sedan to use. Crashed it, damaging all the front grillwork. Drove it anyway, and the hood flew open & cracked the windshield (windscreen for you UK guys). Needing about $500 for parts and glass, the car was junked instead, after I pulled off a few parts.
Next he moved into my recently sidelined '86 240 wagon. In fine running condition, it was only sidelined because I bought an '89 to get me through my long commute over the winter.
He cracked some front-end stuff, but all was running OKJ until he slid on snow ("the brakes didn't work" and hit a curb. Bent the driver's side front control arm. This is about a $200 job if a shop installs a part from a junker. He has no money, so the car is in the driveway. Maybe it will get fixed in the spring; more likely it will become a donor car. Hopefully my son has been learning about responsibility. Right now he has to beg us for rides, and he doesn't like it!
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Sophie's Maintainer - Our oldest son (the subject of this post) also bent a control arm (passenger side). He claimed that he ran off the road to avoid a wide truck and "hit a stump." The steering arm is forged and is just about the toughest part on an exceptionally tough car. That must have been some stump!
I 've got an extra strut assembly on a '91 244. Good shape top to bottom. It's your's if you want it...
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Good for you. Too many kids think that parents should provide them with everything. I tell mine that they get food, clothing, shelter, and love. Anything else needs to be earned.
Klaus
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98 V70Rawd(101Kmi), 95 854T(85K mi), 75 164E(173K mi)
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My kids trash 'em, and like the fool that I am, I fix 'em. But they do not get off for free. If I am working on their cars, they get to pick an odious task to compensate me for my time. Painting, yard work etc. When I rebuilt my son's car front end last summer, he was running the power washer and scrubbing bleach/mold solution on the house siding, hating life. I have found that if the vehicles do not get repaired, they do not get to their jobs or school. No jobs, no money. No school, no future. Part of the joys of living in the ex-burbs, is that a car is NEEDED at all times . When the computer or DVD player tanks, I call them to fix it.
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'94 940 na Regina 150k, '86 240 180k, 93 Camry 5sp 245k, 88 Toy 4wd 166k
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Hello,
I am 25 and first got a 1995 daihatsu Hi-jet van when I was 21. I saved up £2,500 pounds of my own money to purchase it and drove it for a year and decided to sell it as it cost me over £283.87 to get it through the MOT in the UK. I decided to sell it after the MOT and lost £750.00 pounds on the purchase price. I prefered driving my grandparents 1985 340GL hatchback. The brakes were drum on my van and the volvo had front disk brakes. I was already insured to drive the volvo and it was way cheaper in insurance for me to do so.
I drove my grandparents volvo 340GL for about 2 years and liked volvos very much.
We then sold the volvo 340GL as we needed an estate and I bought my own volvo a 1986 740GLE for £425.00 for myself. This is my very own first car and am responsible for maintaining it and fixing it and paying for the repairs.
I have spent out about £1000 pounds in repairs and plan on maintaining it and keeping it for many years. I wish my parents bought me a volvo, I would think I was very lucky and I would certainly look after it. I have been driving for about 5 years and have never had an accident or bump. Regards KYLE123.
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