New member in Sweden

[Mark Beabey]

Hi there folks!

Greetings from Sweden! I hope that all you folks back in the UK are managing to steer yourselves through all the current weirdness and keeping sane with interesting projects that you've been putting off for ages? Rest assured we're all in this together and although our lockdown conditions are classed as "voluntary" we're still in the midst of it all here too. We're a toyota driving family with my wife's 2010 Auris and my 1996 RAV 4 5 door. Both are much loved and used vehicles and we their solid reliability and no frills comfort. Unfortunately my RAV experienced a total, immediate stop breakdown the other day when the rear suspension trailing arm hub axle control arm broke with the the resulting rear suspension collapse. Luckily the trailing arm broke just outside the garden track and I was not doing any speed, although the vehicle did end up at angle blocking the entire single track lane. One fork lift and recovery vehicle trip later and the RAV is now sitting in my local garage. We've had a quick inspection after jacking the rear and reckon that the majority of the rear suspension components are still sound (the springs and shockers were new last year) and hopefully the axle and diff are OK.   

[FROSTYBALLS]

Hello Mark - welcome to Toyota Owners Club.

[RUToyota]

Welcome aboard....I hope the Rav will be back on the road soon.

[Auris James]

Welcome

Hope your Rav 4 is fixed soon. I have a 2015 Auris Hybrid and my other love is my 1996 Volvo 940 turbo auto estate. My workhorse. Now on 203,000miles. Love the rear wheel drive Volvo's. 240 was my daily for 10 years.

James

[Mark Beabey]

Hi James,

Thanks for the welcome. Indeed you do still see alot of classic Volvos on the road in daily use over here. Never actually owned one myself though - before the "conversion" to Toyotas my first choice was Landrover - I had a 300TDI defender for 15 years till the rust worms became just tooooo prevalent . A spell spent using a 1988 Landcruiser then opened my eyes to what sensible corrosion protection on a vehicle should look like! Having said that I do miss the go-to mecano set mechanics of the Defender and it is was alot of fun in the rough. My demands on a vehicle have changed alot with a different job, so the RAV proved to be the best vehicle for the usage factor. I can still get the canoe on the top and the MTB on the back rack, so I'm well happy. Incidentally, I don't hear many very encouraging noises about new Volvos these days - VERY expensive etc. 

[FROSTYBALLS]

Volvo have been owned by the Chinese firm, Geely for the past 10 years. Geely also own Proton, Lotus, London Electric Vehicle Company (formerly LTI - London Taxis International), and nearly 10% of Daimler AG.

[Auris James]

3 hours ago, Mark Beabey said:

Hi James,

Thanks for the welcome. Indeed you do still see alot of classic Volvos on the road in daily use over here. Never actually owned one myself though - before the "conversion" to Toyotas my first choice was Landrover - I had a 300TDI defender for 15 years till the rust worms became just tooooo prevalent . A spell spent using a 1988 Landcruiser then opened my eyes to what sensible corrosion protection on a vehicle should look like! Having said that I do miss the go-to mecano set mechanics of the Defender and it is was alot of fun in the rough. My demands on a vehicle have changed alot with a different job, so the RAV proved to be the best vehicle for the usage factor. I can still get the canoe on the top and the MTB on the back rack, so I'm well happy. Incidentally, I don't hear many very encouraging noises about new Volvos these days - VERY expensive etc. 

The ease of maintenance is what I like on my Volvo 940 petrol. Cheap at £250 to buy. Also modern enough to have AC and ABS and in 4 years of ownership never broken down. The 1989 240 I had was a daily driver, covered 78,000 miles in 10 years then sold on at 234,000 miles. The engine, gearbox, diff is all original and just regular servicing or age related like cooling system change, Rad, hoses etc.

The older land rovers would be similar. Easy bolt off and DIY friendly..

I could of bought a newer Volvo but not struck on reliability and chose Toyota, as hope to not need any major issues repaired. A relative gets a new Volvo every 2 years but leases them. Currently has a V90. Wife on 4th XC60 All Diesel. He loves them.

James.

[Eddie G]

Welcome to the club Mark 👍

[PaulinhoT]

Hello and welcome to the T.O.C Mark, enjoy the club.