Teach me about what I bought - Volvo C30

After reading about John Welsh's success with it and seeing so many people on YouTube doing it, a few weeks ago I joined IAAI and I've been watching and bidding on a few cars. Today my wife's luck ran out and I actually won an auction.

So I need the hive to teach me about what I bought. I've never owned a Volvo before but now I'm the proud owner of a 2008 C30 with minor front end damage and no clue about maintenance history. It's got 120k miles and judging by the stickers on the windows was owned by a college girl.

What kind of service should I do before I put it back on the road? I plan to make it my DD. Timing belt, water pump?

Looks like my best bet is to purchase a complete S40 as a donor car for all the front end parts I need to replace all the damaged sheet metal. Best I can tell is they use the same body parts on the front of the cars.

Couple pictures on the trailer at the auction yard. Both front fenders are in the car and in good condition. Headlights are junk.

Mazda suspension. Ms3 bits wake it up a good amount. 

Wow. I'm honored, I think. 

If it were me, I would search www.car-part.com and see if you can find front clip that is already painted in the proper factory color. 

For myself, this week I bought a '04 Malibu V6 with 117k miles. Seems to just have a scuff on the plastic of the rear bumper. $558 all in. I expect I'll have $700 into it. I'd like to ask $2,200 and would love to go no lower than $1,700.

If the fenders are good to go, why not just JY the bumper/grille and headlights and be on your way?   

wife used to have a c30, she loved it, but i talked her into unloading it before something expensive broke after the warranty ended.  while under warranty there were two very expensive unexpected repairs required:  the airbag computer ($1000 part plus labor) and the PCV valve assembly (part of the oil pump housing, about $350 part plus labor, who's idea was that?)  plus it was pretty hard on front tires.  on top of that, there were several interior panels that just split down the mold lines or across the middle for no apparent reason. 

its a fun car even with the auto since it'll lock up the converter in any gear which spools the turbo quick.  

John Welsh said:

Wow. I'm honored, I think. 

If it were me, I would search www.car-part.com and see if you can find front clip that is already painted in the proper factory color. 

For myself, this week I bought a '04 Malibu V6 with 117k miles. Seems to just have a scuff on the plastic of the rear bumper. $558 all in. I expect I'll have $700 into it. I'd like to ask $2,200 and would love to go no lower than $1,700.

Car-part is an option but prices for the hood, headlights, front bumper assembly and upper radiator support is basically equal to or more than buying a complete S40. Then I could part out or scrap what's left of the donor to recoup some $$.

Bought this one for myself but might look for another in the future for a flip. I tend to have automotive ADD so this one maybe sold in the future once I'm bored with it.

A second car is probably best if you have the room  and the means to part out a car. 

If not car-part is showing these guys local to you with a black V50 hood. I would just emailed them directly to see what else that wagon has to offer.  Negotiate a better price on multiple parts. 

http://www.tricityautosalvage.com

Also research colors to see if the "blacks" are actually the same. Not something crazy like one is "charcoal" rather than a true black. 

Congrats, I always thought those cars were cool. Good luck, and for what it is worth, I would do as you planned, and buy an S40 and harvest what you need.

BBC

John Welsh said:

A second car is probably best if you have the room  and the means to part out a car. 

If not car-part is showing these guys local to you with a black V50 hood. I would just emailed them directly to see what else that wagon has to offer.  Negotiate a better price on multiple parts. 

http://www.tricityautosalvage.com

Also research colors to see if the "blacks" are actually the same. Not something crazy like one is "charcoal" rather than a true black. 

I live out in the country, so plenty of room for a donor car. There are currently 5 vehicles behind my shop and 3 out front since I unloaded the Volvo.

I'll send an email to that salvage yard, it's just up the road from an LKQ junkyard I go to. Maybe they will do a package deal price on everything I need.

I did message a guy on Facebook marketplace that is selling a complete S40 with a junk engine. Wrong color but the front end looks to be in great condition.

Check your part catalogs to make sure they carry over from the s40 to c30. I don't thing the fenders and bumpers are exactly the same. Close but not exactly iirc. 

bmw88rider said:

Check your part catalogs to make sure they carry over from the s40 to c30. I don't thing the fenders and bumpers are exactly the same. Close but not exactly iirc. 

Any places I can check part interchange online? Looking at car-part, they show most of the parts interchangeable but I don't know for sure if that's correct.

I know nothing about those cars, but a few weeks ago I saw one noticeably (but still tastefully) lowered on some nice wheels and it looked killer. Enough so that I circled back through a busy parking lot to slow roll it and gawk. Ever since then, I've been intrigued. 

I always use the online parts catalogs and compare the part numbers. There are enough dealers online that you can look up the parts on. I don't trust Car-parts.com as far as I can throw them. 

Remember, this is a FORD.....

It's as much a ford as the Mazda 3 is a ford or the jaguar and Astons of that era is a ford.  There is not a single domestic ford product that crosses over parts other than some small bits like fuses.

It's closest Ford product is the Europe only Focus RS on that generation which is not a bad car to be related to. 

Are you guys using a broker to buy these cars?

yupididit said:

Are you guys using a broker to buy these cars?

For me, the Ohio IAA locations are open to the public, but... 

It is a $200 fee per year to be a member and then my Public Buyer Fees from IAA are more expensive that what they charge Dealers.  In general, it just seems that IAA makes themselves the Broker.  I have even noticed that if I was to buy cars with a purchase price of $5k and higher it might even be cheaper for me to go through a real Broker rather than directly under my own IAA account.  

There's also erepairables that has been posted a month or two ago that will act like a broker for copart and IAAI.

BUT it's a $200 fee to be able to buy (forever, at least), not including their broker fees, which depend on car, location, etc. Also doesn't factor in transportation.

I'd love to buy a car, nearly any car, from Copart or IAAI, but cars get overbidded or the fees negate the worthy-ness of it.

Some of the suspension parts are the same as the jaguar x type. 

This platform was the same as the Euro Focus, and the Mazda 3 for a lot of shared bits and pieces.  As others noted, the S40 and V50 should share sheetmetal with the C30 on the nose.  

Is it a T5 turbo or the NA?  We had an '08 T5 V50 which is the wagon equivalent of this car as my wife's daily.  Timing belt isn't due till 125K so a new one at this time is good, but it wasn't overdue if it's only showing 120K.  

Mine was fairly bulletproof up to 235K when we finally sold it for a bigger family truckster.  Only issues I had were pesky sunroof drain leaks.  

If it's a T5, head over to vivaperformance and give it the RS treatment then to Kalpheneke to make it handle better than a FWD car has any right to. 

bmw88rider said:

I always use the online parts catalogs and compare the part numbers. There are enough dealers online that you can look up the parts on. I don't trust Car-parts.com as far as I can throw them. 

Did some checking at some online parts catalogs and the front bumper and headlights are different. So I'll skip buying a S40 donor car.

yupididit said:

Are you guys using a broker to buy these cars?

No, in NC some cars are available to public buyers. Just have to register and pay $200 per year.

Mine is a T5 automatic.

I've always liked these cars but I wanted the hatch opening to be a bit bigger. It's hard enough to get an engine into the trunk of my e36/5 with it's larger opening.

Wanting to keep a running total for the budget so here is what it cost so far.

- winning bid - $900.00

- buyer fee - $295.00

- internet bidding fee - $39.00

- service fee -$59.00

Total auction purchase price - $1,293.00

LKQ is having 40% off this weekend. Planning to hit 2 within an hour of here that show S40's in inventory. Hood, hood hinges and radiator support interchange between the S40 and C30. Get the hood and radiator support replaced will allow me to bolt the fenders back on. Then I'll need to find headlights and front bumper.