I Just Bought This 720,000 Mile Volvo For £400!

Hi Alex. Me and John’s family would like to thank you once again for naming the Volvo after him. Just like the Volvo, John never gave up and I’m sure that he is smiling up there.
So glad the car is in good hands and looking forward to the future videos.
Also, thank you for the mention!
All the best success for your channel,
Gentil and the Stafford family

400k in 3 years equals to about 5,5 6 hours a day, 7 days a week . What a trooper

The Taylor and Alex duo is top tier, quality content to make you laugh!

Having survived for that many miles, John deserves to be proudly repaired and pampered to a million miles.

Yes! A high mileage hero!!
In memory of John, please keep the Swidish John alive.
John and Miles need to be together on that trip 😁

I love that you are saving old cars that no one else cares for. Incredible job Sir Alex Kersten. Can’t wait for the high mileage event!

I love survivors like this. It absolutely deserves to have a complete, 100% standard restoration. Looking forward to John getting back on the road 👍

I started watching automotive KRplus with Hoovies Garage, whilst they’ve moved onto Lambos and Astons, it’s great to see a channel keeping the fun “let’s buy a shitbox and see how it runs” content alive.

Damn alex,When you first announced that you left carthrottle i wasnt sure you would do so well,I was very wrong this channel has become more entertaining than The Carthrottle channel itself and now i cant wait for videos to release!
PS i love the teaser at 1:20 cant wait for that video already!

Love this and love the channel. I’ve been a long time viewer of Car Throttle and thought it was a brave step when you decided to start this channel, but you’ve nailed it and the whole team are amazing. There are few other channels with such love and compassion for their viewers… PS, Taylor’s laugh is absolutely infectious.

Gentil sounds like a similar car person to me. I had a 2006 Volvo S60 T5 and over the course of 2015-2020 I spent about $7500 keeping it absolutely mint. From 77,060 miles to 166,344 miles and a near 3-inch-stack of receipts, it was the best car I'd ever driven. The plan was when he hit 300k miles, I would turn him into a race car, but that never happened. I miss Liam the S60, but his cousin Matteo the 2017 V60 Cross Country is doing a fine job.

Love your video. Got my 99 S80 2.9 a year ago with 170k miles, passed MOT with no advisories, put 10k miles on and just got four bulb light failures. Best 350 quid investment ever.

Love the fact that you’ve saved this old Volvo. I remember it well from various forum and FaceBum posts. Hope you restore it to its former glory Alex and it goes on to give many more years service! 👍👍

Great content again Alex! It just shows you were the main person at carthrottle but at the same time have great chemistry with ethan etc over there making their videos just as good. Love volvos too 🤙

Love these Alex vids with Taylor; his laughs are infectious and the interaction between you guys is great to watch (the bonnet mounted wall switch still being an all-time classic).

As an owner of 2003 2.4T S80 (a lot less driven though, 380k km), it was nice to see you saving this car 😁

Thumbs up to Gentil for maintaining John that well

Honestly watching your videos can make a really crap day feel like a good one again, your positive attitude is infectious, keep it up Alex, much love from up north!

Big Volvo fan, especially the 80’s to early 00’s. I can’t wait what you have plans for this S80. Also, I agree about cleaning all the nooks and crannies on a higher mileage car. Dirt does get built up and if caught early on, you can prevent or minimize a lot of issues with bodywork.

I truly love the high mileage content. These cars still need love ❤️

Hi Alex! It is not D5, it is 2.5TDI. D5 (examble D5244T) is Volvo own 2.4Liter Common-Rail direct injection 5 cylinder diesel. That S80 have Volkswagen group distributor-pump type 2.5tdi 5cyl diesel (D5252T).

I used to have a 1998 S80 2.0 T5, and it pleases me that this car has gotten, and continues to get love. Miss my old Volvo.

Still waiting for an update on this

Alex you're amazing and one of my favourite KRplusrs, keep up the great work mate
You deserve the best

Hi Alex, this plan sounds very intriguing. I need to get my high mile Volvo Mot'd, only 271k on mine, and she, like John, has an excellent story, and is also named after a sadly departed person.
I'll stay tuned.

I know this car and have spoken to the previous owner on a number of occasions, I'm glad it's getting a second lease on life!
Really hope it gets made right and looked after. If it gets to a million miles, that would be sweet

Here in Sweden this era of Volvos is regarded as being exceptionally well rust proofed.

These cars were really underappreciated and still are today. £1500 gets you a nice 270hp T6.

Glad to see the Volvo being loved and appreciated rather than scrapped and forgotten

Can I just say, love how you put the conversions in the video, such a simple thing but makes life easier for those who don’t live there. Much Love towards the channel ❤

You two crack me up . Awsome video and looking forward to seeing what the next cars in fleet are

only 1 minute in and very happy with the unit conversions :) hope thats here to stay. love the videos Alex. Keep it going ;)

I had one of those as my second car and I believe it's probably the greatest car I'll have ever owned in my life. It was supremely comfortable, reliable (aside minor issues any car could have), easy to drive despite the size, good on any road, capable of going on muddy dirt roads (unlike my actual car) and was even fuel efficient for a 5 cyl petrol. The noise when revved up was also satisfying for a quiet saloon.
Sadly, it had to go due to the equivalent of ULEZ where I live. Sold it to a family who needed a dependable transport.
It's good to see an S80 in the hands of Alex. I hope to see it again soon. Cheers !

Really enjoy these videos. Breath of fresh air! Thanks Alex and team.

Man is this car impressive! I love high mileage heroes. You actually make them very interesting, starting with the Skoda. I hope you fix this Volvo well, including the rust spots. Despite its mileage, I'm sure once fixed, it could soldier on quite some time.

Certainly getting the feels that Alex is the British hoovie with Taylor being the wizard…. Just with less budget… and I like it :)

This is actually the first time i see an s80 with this much rust though.
Love the series alex and taylor! You guys are genius together 🤣

I’m glad to see an s80 being given attention on a bigger channel. They are a fairly unloved platform. But generally I like them. Avoiding the 6 cylinders usually avoids most of the issues that become costly. Mine was a NL car for 16 years and not a spec of rust on the chassis. It’s now in the states in the south where it avoids salt.

Alex I love this high mileage hero……. And I love the fact your basically not forgetting your roots with this video like the last one.

Despite the oil leak, John seems like it's he's great condition.

If you never started your own channel, I probs would've never found out about Taylor. And what a gem he is, with his little x-legs and his short arms and his tat and impeccable chemistry with short-ar, I mean Alex.

Finally some appreciation for high mileage! 🪐👍🏻 Couple of months ago I sold my 2013 Jaguar XF which had 325,000 Miles on the clock, but I still have my 2011 VW Caddy with 368,000 Miles 👍🏻 I also know of a Volvo approaching 1,000,000 Miles, and is 2008 Model Year, but is a bit larger and has a few more wheels than John...

So glad you brought this S80 🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂 can’t wait to see the end results ♥️ love Volvos xx

I bought a Mk3 Mondeo 2.2 TDCI Titanium 134K on the clock for £600, constant limpmode.. Turned out to be the Turbo actuator. Car runs great now +12 month MOT . Fatastic!.

As a Volvo fan and lover, I really apreciate the care of John.

I was actually awestruck seeing the under the bonnet shot the first time round, that’s super clean

volvo is so great. i just sold my volvo s60 2,4 patrol that got almost 1mil km on the clock, and it drove like one with 200k km. they are just great and safe cars

High Mileage gettogether/cruise/race such a cool idea! Will probably be a lot of surprises, and a really great tip for everyone that wants a car that could be reliable...

alex, i think you should go on a hunt to find the UK's car with the highest mileage!!!! would be intresting to see what the highest is

what happened to this?

I own a 2002 Volvo S80 (same shape) and she was bought from new by my Grandparents and has only done 81,000 Miles! I love the car to death and never want to give her away! same engine and auto box! For such a heavy and comfy car she can shift! Love the vids!

My dad had two S80's both of which where silver. The first had a new engine because he drove don a flooded Road and got stuck. His second was a duel fuel, which I reversed into a tree on his birthday when it was new! Bringing back memories.

What happens next ? Is the MOT passed ?

Killed it when he revealed it's on a second engine.

My dad used to own an almost identical S80. It was used to drive around a regional head of government. Had all kind of funny gimmicks, like a corded phone in the back, fridge, special lighting to work. As a kid sitting in the back of that was amazing.

My parents had a 145 from new and kept it for 30 years. It's probably still in a collector's Swedish car collection in Wiltshire. They followed up with a 2004 V70 that's still in the family although dad has passed away and mum has stopped driving due to her age. Looked after, they will go on almost for ever. Irv Gordon's P1800 has outlasted him

That definitely doesn't look like 700k+ miles 😂Looking forward to this high mileage event

nice e46 imola red you have

Love these videos. Seeing a normal sized bloke like Taylor next to Akex shows how small Alex is.

I replaced the wheels with the Arikis wheels. S80 is a big car that just doesn't drive like a big car. I loved it... Very reliable. Small maintenance issues often.

Okay, I've decided, my next car needs to be a Volvo from the 2000s... from what I've seen on Car Throttle and here, they really built these things for eternity, just like their older cars, but these are still relatively modern and comfortable, and easy to get parts for. And they don't rust as bad as most Japanese cars from that era, like my Lancer...

John confirms that a car can travel far if it only service it on its regular intervals...

You have great knowledge about cars and your inspiring a lot of people. Great Job.

Happy to join with our BMW 335d with 530.000 km’s. All original except the dampers and springs, oil, dics and pads and a turbo hose. HG and turbo’s have never been replaced!! Running 720Nm and 336 hp..

Can Taylor set up a Pre-mot facility where he can put all of his 'know how' to use on cars that might need a bit of 'extra care' to pass.
awesome as usual Alex!

That naughty little frame at 1:20 🤫🤫

I'm so glad your doing another high mileage car series after miles the skoda octavia, you gotta love a high mileage car

volvos are great,expecially older ones.My old v40 is now at 450 000 kms still running strong.my '05 xc90 D5 is @350 000kms.

My old car is still alive :) Glad to hear you've the current custodian Alex. Feel free to reach out if you want to know any of its history

should I have kept my mouth shut about that red m3 at 1:20 ? hmmmmmmmm

Great story and video, due respect. You will, I suspect find a lot of friends on line if you cover old, high mileage Volvo's. It's a bit of a thang' among the cognoscenti and you do it so well.

Your attention to detail on these videos is brilliant mate

I had a 2001 S80 T6 and it was a pretty great car, despite the fragile GM automatic transmission. Very comfortable and ample power from the twin turbo inline six.

May not be worth it in pure value, but John seems very fixable :D

Love these cars they live forever I hope u do this up love watching your videos mate please don't scrap this car

I've got this exact same car (2005 diesel) in black. 130,000 miles without any problems. The only issue is the CD player which doesn't work (the radio works fine) and they're impossible to find. I even contacted Volvo HQ in Gothenburg and they couldn't help either. A simple MP3 player sorts out that problem though. One of the nicest cars I've ever owned. It's also the sought-after manual version (most are autos). It's comfortable, reasonably quick, quiet and gets an average of 46 mpg.

Just to clarify though, if you cover anything up and it looks too dodgy then they can just refuse to test it, so anyone watching don't rely on it too much 😁

I love the cars on this channel, but it's a chore watching Alex these days, as he's just doing the knob thing on hyperdrive. It's so contrived. Eg: 2:49 .... and the John Counter thing. Yes we get it; Alex planned to say John lot's of times and there'd be a counter in the corner. It's like Top Gear 2001 for 9 year olds. Just give it a break, be a tad more natural and focus on the cars.

Hi Alex love the new channel 👍. After 720,000 plus miles is John turning in to Triigers broom for 20 years. It had 17 new heads and 14 new handles. John already had a new engine.(Trigger from Only Fools And Horses)😀

Always fancied a S80 as a weekend car, so smooth, so special inside.

what came of this? looks like it never got a MOT looking at the data base

Love the channel. Keep up the good work what a nice way to remember John!! looking forward to a high mileage event !!

Greetings from long time fans. Delighted to see you still at it. Points for wearing a spotless white shirt for inspecting under Old John. Btw, while doing bump-stops et all, throw on some new Bilstein B4s. Or B6s to nudge the handling a mite closer to sporty. They will even match your shirt! No the B6s don't wreck the ride, they respond so fast to bumps, quite civilized.
Trip challenge ideas: Go though Sweden and attend a huge Volvo club event. Bet you have the highest miler. Then continue on a bit and be chauffeur for Mika Hakkinnenn for a few fascinating days in Finland.
Do bring your ex-MOT pal along. He's a great guy, and can fix things enroute.
My most cherished quote from you? Racing line bro! While vacuum cleaning.
All the best from Canada west.

My Volvo is on 170k and this definitely makes me feel better about it.
Passing the tools through the sill made me chuckle 😂

Maaaaaaan I almost bought this car about a year ago for £800! I wish I had done it but realistically, it would've been too much for me to insure - glad it's still going though!

Alex: We'll take care of john of you.
2 mins later*
Alex : Could you pass me the hammer?

Gotta admit, I would have liked to have seen some footage of the inside of the car too. Being Volvo's flagship car, it would have been interesting to see what was considered premium back then, and your reaction to it now.
I think that's the only thing that was missing, great vid

I drive Volvo's since 1981, now I have the 8th. But my V70 with this VW/Audi engine was the only one with troubles, the engine control unit by Audi was
a never ending pain - typical for German cars. All my other Volvo's were running great without any problem - with original Volvo engines and electronics.

My 2003 XC90 is barely run-in at 146K. I'm looking forward to seeing progress on John.

Awesome that you're doing something to recognize all the high mileage heroes out there. Super cars are cool and all, but high mileage ones tell a very long story that you don't get from super cars 🙂

2 friends and I bought a 1999 V70 for 500eu with 415.000 km / 257.000 miles for holidays. Board computer, cruise, heated seats, AC. Just AC ain't working, yet.
Cheap because they are expensive to maintain by garages. But I'm handy and so far we used it in 2 holidays and around 8000 kms later, no issues.

“We’ll look after John” proceeds to hammer and destroy the car even more to add character 🤣🤣 this channel isn’t Alex’s without a feature of rust 😂

As a garage owner myself back in the day, I bought a Saab 900 at auction with over 440,000 miles on it for £200 plus fees, so about £220 with a 12 month MOT .... Previously owned by the Mirror Newspaper Group with basically everything but the actual body and back seat had been changed. The service history came into two box files. I used the car for months myself then I sold it to a guy in the village and he loved it.
If you see these super high mileage vehicles then always check them out, they are always super cheap and usually better serviced than most private cars.
Later in life I owned a motorcycle rider training school, plus a motorcycle touring holiday company .... Personally I rode a Suzuki Bandit 1200 for work (a fantastic all round bike) and used to put 35,000 miles a year plus onto them ... The average motorcycle does c.2000 miles a year ... so that was astounding mileage.
Myself I used to get into regular contretemps with Suzuki over warranty work. They gave an 'Unlimited mileage warranty' for their new bikes ... Although they didn't use these actual words they always pouted and said "FFS!! WE DIDN'T MEAN THAT MUCH MILEAGE!" ... But every time they had to cave in, there was no option ... Hence when my bikes were changed at a year old religiously, they were always not only perfect mechanically and as clean as new; but often had new seat, all new suspension, bearings and so forth.
With these super high mileage vehicles people should remember, they could not possibly do these mileages without SIGNIFICANT upkeep ... and all any vehicle is ultimately, is a collection of parts.

did you record this on a prototype gopro? that first sequence hurt my eyes :P
love the content as always and im glad that you are goin solo now.. you deserve all the good things that are coming to you! keep killin it Alex and crew!!

My second car I bought in the first year of college is S80 2.5T FL. The greatest car of all time. I traveled all around Europe with it. Get 350 000 km on original clutch. 210 HP humilated every Honda in hometown. Then I got to another car. I keep it in a family that a car can never die. I love it so much ❤
S80 (P2) is the greatest car ever made ❤️.

My 1990 Volvo 240DL Estate is now up to 390,000 miles and still purring. It just got a new crank position sensor. Even the original automatic gearbox is working perfectly. The engine doesn't even leak. It has 4.5 litres of oil poured in each change and 4.3 litres drained 3,000 miles later. The fuel and brake lines usually look a bit coppery because that is what Volvo installed at the factory. I still much prefer the rear wheel drive Volvos.
When it comes to preserving the body, wash with dish detergent and a good coat of wax in the middle of October, then a trip to Krown rustproofing, then leave it dirty until spring when it gets another wash and wax. Keeps the body great, even in the crap weather we have here in Ontario, Canada.

Love that single frame at 1:20

Bro, kudos to Gentil's Garage, he maintains that car really well. That is a solid car for £400, obviously, it needs to be repaired a bit but you know, it doesn't look like a higher mileage than 200k!

Swapped the engine under warranty on a vw crafter at work a while back, about 2,5 years old and a bit over 500k KM. Maths out to an average of about 550KM each day if you run it 7 days a week for 2,5 years without any days off.

Really enjoy this kind of rescues of high mileage cars from you. We should all do that at least to one million kilometers with every car to safe resources😄
I am currently also driving a high mileage hero. Its the 190 mercedes diesel with more then 700k km. Its family owned since over around 10 years. The counter broke with 91k km. But over the years calculatet roughly we came to the conclusion it has at least 700k km. For now i am driving and enyoing this glorious thing since my own car broke down and i am waiting to safe enough money to repair it. So glad we did not sell this car. Always happy that its running good for its age and having it for backup.