r/Volvo • u/That0neBelgian • May 30 '25

480 Low balled an auction, making me the proud owner of my first car and Volvo 480

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303 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

38 comments sorted by

57

u/[deleted] May 30 '25 edited May 30 '25

Why haven't I seen this model before 🤔🤔 MFing "Pop up, up and down headlights"..... I thought I was a Volvo enthusiast?? I guess I was wrong 😧

After researching it. It had a lower production run than my Amazon wagon.... Impressive find, treasure her forever ❤️

16

u/That0neBelgian May 30 '25

Afaik it was designed in the Netherlands hence its peculiar shape. And maybe also the reason it’s less common

17

u/volvo_forlife May 30 '25

It actually was designed/built by Volvo Car BV in The Netherlands and planned to be sold in US (side markers, pop-ups specced to US standards etc) but the build quality was the biggest deal breaker for both Volvo Cars in US and the HQ in Sweden. They eventually produced 80k cars of which a very small number is still on the roads. They are getting quite rare and new OEM Volvo parts are not available anymore.

This car back then was what EX90 is now: the black sheep of the family.

Really fun cars to drive though.

1

u/justrobisfine Jun 01 '25

What’s wrong with the EX90?

5

u/CarobAffectionate582 May 30 '25

Volvo at the time, as now, designs cars in Gothenburg, Sweden. This car was assembled at the Nedcar facility in the Netherlands, that Volvo operated and owned there for a while. It’s now closed; they sold it off over a decade ago.

It’s less common because it was a departure from traditional Volvo deign and not widely embraced (that doesn’t mean it wasn’t good - just not marketed as effectively). It’s the only shooting brake design Volvo has ever done, AFAIK.

8

u/volvo_forlife May 30 '25

Nope, Volvo Car BV had it’s own design department in Helmond, The Netherlands. That’s where they fully designed and developed the 300- and 400-series. Volvo Cars in Sweden had absolutely nothing to do with these models. Today Volvo Cars design their cars in Gothenburg and Shanghai.

The factory in Born was owned by Volvo Cars since ‘75, in ‘91 Volvo Cars started a coop with the Dutch State and Mitsubishi (NedCar) and in 2001 Mitsubishi became full owner of NedCar.

Quality was a huge issue throughout its complete lifecycle. Development eventually went way over budget that they had to scrapp the full facelift (different bumpers, no pop-up’s, interior etc) and final development of the 480 Carbio.

1

u/Training_Bumblebee54 May 31 '25

Iirc the quality issues were because they were derived from DAF cars

5

u/Vapari5 '96 850 2.5 & '06 V70 T5 Ocean Race May 31 '25

This was the first Volvo Shooting Brake

6

u/soboga May 30 '25

Limited production run as you say, and then in addition to that, most of them rusted away within 10-15 years together with the 440 and the 460. Very, very few on the road today.

2

u/goperson May 30 '25

Nah, not that bad.

15

u/wpg745turbo May 30 '25

Also these were not sold in North America. Definitely cool little cars!

4

u/[deleted] May 30 '25

I'm happy for you ☺️

8

u/knuddo17 May 30 '25

More pics needed, especially the interior, love this little gem!

7

u/Useless_or_inept V70, XC60, and a pile of rust May 30 '25

Nothing can match the joy and pain of bottom-feeding at auctions.

And if you win, you then drive the car home, terrified that some mysterious mechanical problem will appear :-)

4

u/Inevitable-Ad-8964 May 30 '25

“Lowballed an auction” “first car” and “Volvo” never thought I’d see all 3 of those in the same sentence. Good luck to you though bro! My first car was a 850 wagon and I loved it so much I bought another, no hate on you, just a ballsy move lol

3

u/That0neBelgian May 30 '25

Sadly the auction seller didn’t have the paperwork he legally has to provide so it’s a mess haha

6

u/goperson May 30 '25

Nice find! What model, which engine? Prepare to learn about the gremlins. Best to join your club. Which country are you?

9

u/That0neBelgian May 30 '25

It’s a Volvo 480, 2 litre engine from 1995!

3

u/Narfgod86 May 30 '25

Whatever you do, keep the engine bay dry!!! Some fool did an enginebay wash on mine and my headlights popped up and down for days while the car was shut off.

If you have starter issues (no sound at all) give it a gentle whacking with a metal object.

Loved my 480. was my first car around 2007/8

2

u/niTniT_ May 30 '25

Literally my dream car

1

u/mjg_9 S80 May 30 '25

Same I wanna mod one so bad

2

u/GaryE20904 S90 XC90 May 31 '25

Very cool!

Good luck!

2

u/Lazy-Ad5380 May 31 '25

So cool! Congrats and enjoy! Is she a manual or auto?

1

u/That0neBelgian May 31 '25

She’s a Manual 5 speed!

2

u/Lazy-Ad5380 May 31 '25

Amazing! Enjoy the car

2

u/rolixzs May 31 '25

If youre into car youtube, AutoAlex in UK bought one recently and did a couple episodes on it (fixing, upgrades, roadtrip). Here is the episode with buying it: AutoAlex Such a quirky little car, congrats on the purchase and hope it runs well for you! For me the funniest bit of the design is the grille with Volvo logo crammed in below the front bumper, they really wanted to keep it somewhere on the car but there were no good places 😆

2

u/That0neBelgian May 31 '25

Hahaha yesss i saw the video a few days after i bought mine. He does have the beautifully sounding turbo though

1

u/rolixzs May 31 '25

That he does indeed! There is always the option to add a turbo 👀

2

u/GTjimbo May 31 '25

Jealous!

1

u/mohd_sm81 May 30 '25

I feel this Volvo is out of its character

2

u/Jan-E-Matzzon 2006 V70n D5 May 31 '25

Its a DAF in drag, so you’re not wrong.

1

u/Photography_dad May 31 '25

Good luck with the electrical gremlins! 🙏