The Brilliant Volvo 480 Car

The Volvo 480 is a great car. I've never owned one but I have always had a soft spot for them. When it first came out it was such a futuristic looking car for the time but these days the 480, with it's box like shape has actually gone full circle. With anything Retro making a huge comeback in recent years the 480 is a seriously cool looking car. You don't see them around all that often anymore.

And if you do it's mostly either a 480 enthusiast or an older gentleman who has owned the from new behind the wheel. With some slight modifications Volvo 480's really do look superb with it's vintage, box-like sharp angles. Volvo 480's are now considered as a classic older car but still remain very stylish at the same time. They have a growing cult following. Just check out the Volvo 480 dashboard below. It looks awesome with the Turbo dials.


 Volvo 480 Dashboard / Cockpit. Click image to Enlarge

The choice of engines is either 1.7 or a 2.0 Petrol. A 1.7 turbo version is also available. Both engines are great and do have decent power. However, the 2.0 is the more desired engine out of the two. There are various different models of Volvo 480 but the most sought after is the Celebration model. This version has many extras fitted including the very impressive full leather interior. The Volvo 480 is one of the few cars that I think actually looks good in almost every colour it was produced in.  

 Black Volvo 480

Like most cars they do suffer from a few faults. One being the pop up front light mechanism stops functioning properly. General electrical faults and also rust are quite common problems with the Volvo 480. There are other small niggles that are exclusive traits of the Volvo 480 like leaking lights / boot that can cause the inside of the car to become wet. An Erratic idle can also be an issue.

There are other small issues and I'm sure there will be a Volvo 480 expert along shortly to this post to fill us in on all the faults that 480's suffer from. I think a lot of the small problems are just down to the cars age. Overall, the Volvo 480 are reliable little cars as far as the engine is concerned. Even if they were made by Renault. They're also fairly safe cars for their age, having side impact bars fitted when they weren't a very common addition.

 Volvo 480 ES

The Car weighs around a Ton, so Scrap value is around £120 - £160. Although scrapping a Volvo 480 is not recommended! Both the 1.7 and the 2.0L cars are in fairly high insurance groups (Group 12 - 14) so they can be quite expensive to insure for a younger driver. Classic insurance might be an option, but classic insurance is quite picky about a drivers age and annual mileage so you may have to get normal insurance instead.

If you're looking for a trouble free, great on petrol, low insurance car, then the Volvo 480 is probably not for you. But if you don't mind spending a little bit more on things like insurance and fuel to have a rare car and an enjoyable motoring experience, then the Volvo 480 is a great choice. There is nothing else like them on the road. Some people, including myself, just love these cars. And I hope one day I end up owning a nice one. Do you own a Volvo 480 and want your cars picture added to this post? Leave a comment here and I'll add it to the post.

4 comments:

inVOLVOed said...

Put a 1.9 Diesel engine in a 480 and you got the best of both worlds. That's if it will fit./

Anonymous said...

havent seen a volvo480 on the streets for years but seen TWO while i was out and about today! one was wine red

Anonymous said...

Good post. Anyone that wants to know more about the 480 can head over to the forum http://www.volvo-480-europe.org/forum/index.php

Anonymous said...

480 4lyfe babi

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