THE SEARCH | yorktogeneva

The first contestant was a 1994 850 2.5 10V automatic with 125000 miles, for sale at an independent Volvo specialist for £495. This car was advertised with service history but this faded away after 2007 and 100000 miles. It was a solid car, though, which drove pretty well and would come with a full MoT. The top engine mount needed replacing, a common issue with these 850s. The big problem, though, was an oil leak from an unidentifiable source. Oil was spraying onto something hot and vapourising. After a test drive of about ten miles, Geneva co-driver Martin and I were developing headaches and sore throats. The car would probably survive the trip but we didn’t rate our chances so highly. It needed a timing belt too. It just needed too much sorting out to buy, but it was a good benchmark.

Next up was a 2002 S60 2.0T automatic with 120000 miles from an independent Mercedes specialist for £700. This was a really odd car. It looked like someone had thoroughly and repeatedly cleaned the silver paint with a scourer and then used it as a target on a driving range – there were long and deep scratches on the bonnet and dents all over the roof. But it was basically very straight with rock-solid history, including a timing belt change at 100K and a sheaf of old MOTs. It also drove very well and went like the clappers. I nearly bought it on the spot but drove home to mull it over, thinking it would be unlikely to be sold within a couple of hours late on a February afternoon. But guess what? Sometimes you have to be quick.

The third car was a 2002 S60 2.0T manual with 104000 miles from a private seller for £700. This car was much better cosmetically than the S60 auto and looked good in black. The clutch, however, was not long for this world judging from the very high bite point and the MoT expired before the Geneva show, which could potentially open a whole world of pain and expense. It also needed a suspension bushing. This car didn’t fill me confidence like the silver auto S60 for some reason, and Martin thought the same.

By this time, I’d been looking for a couple of weeks, and had started to think it wasn’t going to happen. Out of desperation, I looked at a 2002 Rover 75 CDT. Fortunately, the owner was mad, making the decision not to buy his clattery old-school diesel an easy one.

So I somehow found myself on a remote farm on top of a hill near Bradford on a Sunday afternoon, slightly hungover and without Martin’s backup. I was there to look at a 2001 S80 2.4 automatic with 119000 miles for £670. This farm is possibly the windiest place on earth. I had to hold the bonnet open against the gale while poking around for any oil leaks. But this was The Car.