Checking through the old invoices I have discovered the previous owner lived in a nice area of Bognor Regis. That's good, in that he was probably moneyed enough to look after the old girl, but bad in that Bognor is right next to the sea. The salty, corrosive sea.I have first hand experience of this, having lived in Portsmouth for some time. The sea air definitely corrodes things faster than it would further inland - the first thing to go is brake discs.
I haven't had a look underneath yet to assess any rust issues but I'm hoping there's nothing serious. I don't have access to a ramp, but I suppose I could jack it up and just have a nose around in there.
For want of something to do today I checked all the fluids: all present and correct, and the oil looks pretty clean as well. One thing that's a bit crap is that the dipstick disintegrated in my hands - the plastic handle bit separated from the metal dippy bit.I will give the local unfriendly Volvo dealer a call tomorrow, if my attempts to glue it back together fail. (I'm bound to fail as the surfaces will be all oily and won't hold a glue/epoxy.)
Other work: I undid the armrest/centre cubby cover. It's one of those types that pretends to do seven things at once, and does none of them well: it's a cupholder for the front AND rear passengers, and covers a deep cubby that is quaintly shaped to store cassettes.
Anyway it's broken on a number of levels: the catch that clips it down is broken, and the 'drawer' that holds the natty slide-out cupholder is starting to separate. Again, one for an attempt with glue/gaffer tape. I might even be a bit clever and try to include some plastic washers/rubber pads to stop it creaking.
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