I feel the end of a chapter coming on. It is the now tedious chapter of the car-crash.
Since the impact I have been amazed at my good fortune in what seemed to be a situation where no good could come about. The claims company have promised to send me the exact same amount of money as I paid for the Volvo about 6 years ago. I declined their offer to give me the wrecked car back for its scrap value of £62.
They tell me they have already received the payment from the other party, who made it under a 'without prejudice' agreement in which they accept no liability. That's fine by me. I don't need the Romanian driver to be further punished for his reckless driving.
Some people have suggested that I should have claimed for invisible injuries for more money, and I asked them if they really want their premiums to go up next year to pay for my dishonesty? This is another example of deep-rooted ambition for short-term gain, but it's the turkeys voting for Christmas.
Talking of Christmas, I can keep the courtesy car for a week or two longer than usually allowed, because of the upcoming festivities, so I will begin looking for another Volvo in early January.
People have also asked me why I don't have a change by getting a Mercedes estate or similar large car.
I have been driving Volvos for over thirty years (beginning with the above model), and they have served me well - none more so than the last one. It saved my legs from breaking, if not my neck. Why should I turn my back on Volvos now? That would be so churlishly ungrateful.
Good luck with your hunt for the next Volvo, there are plenty around if this area is anything to go by. We ran Volvo lorries in our haulage business but I have never had a Volvo car. Any bogus insurance claims are the pits.
ReplyDeleteI think they are abundant.
DeleteStick with your Volvo { that sounds rude somehow !!! } XXXX
ReplyDelete'In' would have been ruder.
DeleteThe only other 'normally priced' car that can face being run over by a tank, is a biggish Peugeot. Very solid in a Volvo kinda way.
ReplyDeletePoor steel and poor paintwork. That's the trouble with French cars.
DeleteI've always wanted a Volvo but worried about the high cost of repairs and maintenance. Maybe that's an irrational throwback to my father's fear of foreign mechanics. Hope you find the car of your dreams.
ReplyDeleteI've always wanted a Trans Am, but never got one for the same reasons.
DeleteWe had a Volvo estate for years when the kids were young, it was like driving a tank, I felt invincible. I loved the fact you could get six children in the back and the dog.
ReplyDeleteAt the same time? Without bloodshed?
DeleteMy neighbor advised procuring Volvos for my children to drive. He was a bridge engineer. I always trusted him.
ReplyDeleteThey are not invincible, but for European cars they are pretty sturdy. The Germans call them the fastest tractors in the world, but Ferrari make tractors...
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ReplyDeleteI hear you on the Volvo thing. Loyalty to a make of car seems pretty common around here. We tend to buy Toyotas. My latest car is a bright red Toyota Scion XB, and I love it like a pet. :)
ReplyDeleteGood luck on finding the next perfect Volvo!
I think if you drive any vehicle for this many years, you know them intimately, including their failings. I do not need a mechanic to come with me when I buy another old Volvo.
DeleteI know it's a German car but owning a Volvo is so English to me! It does sound like you have had a good run with this, and driving a solid car is very much worth it at crunch time.
ReplyDeleteVolvo used to be Swedish. They are now Chinese, but hopefully still assembled in Sweden. With a Volvo, you know the heaters will work, and Swedes are pretty concerned with their health. Saabs are good too, but too heavy for their size.
DeleteVolvo began industrial life as bearing manufacturers in Gothenburg - ball bearings, as in 'revolve'.
DeleteStick with what you know has always been my philosophy.
ReplyDeleteYes Weave. I know these devils.
DeleteI can see you in a one of those vintage frenchvans
ReplyDeleteWith the corrugated sides
ReplyDeleteA chicken-coup on wheels - or a potential one anyway.
DeleteOur 1995 Volvo 940 estate is the best car we have ever owned. It had belonged to the father of the owner in a nearby town and been well-loved and maintained. Coincidentally his father had some connections with Mr EMs father which we only discovered after purchase. It has never give us a day's trouble and is the easiest car to drive even for me at 5ft 2 or Mr EM at 6ft 5. We still keep discovering amazing attributes like heated seats. And the built in child's seat for grandchildren. A special plus is the way to store our skis ( always useful for drives across Salisbury Plain). But almost best of all is the widespread admiration from Volvo lovers everywhere we go.
ReplyDelete6' 5"? That's the last time I make fun of him for tucking his shirt into an elasticated waist band.
DeleteOn a less serious note, the later versions of the 'Amazon' Volvos like the above had power steering, and the joke was that you didn't need to be an Amazon to drive them - at 5' 2".
Mr EM could do with an elasticated waistband these day but always uses a belt. I never knew about the power steering joke but it's a really easy car to drive quite unlike the remarks about being a 'tank' which I can't understand. Neither of us knows much about cars but we love him. And tbh other drivers tend to keep their distance (!)
DeleteMy husband has a Volvo...it says "60" on the back ! The car is fine, but the satnav is very difficult to programme and last time we used it we went a different way to her idea ( we knew where we were) and she spent the next 10 miles trying to get us back !!
ReplyDeleteIt must a pretty new Volvo if it has built-in satnav.
DeleteIt is 7/8 years old!
DeleteAh. Mine was 20.
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