Sorry, the badges are really cool!! but...can't help thinking of the line from the Three Amigo's about badges when I dwell & I mean DWELL on the fact that my car of four short months of happy driving is in the shop for the past 6 days for a rocket ship like high idle problem that has not been resolved.

Wasted much board space already crying about my fate, the saying of a "fool is soon parted with his money" applies here to be sure.

To all non-DYI "newbies" like me or wanna be new "old" Volvo owners, a few suggestions:

1. Do your research BEFORE buying, not AFTER THE FACT like I did.

2. Bring ANY used Volvo to a strong mechanic who will go over the car from soup to nuts (the labor cost will be well worth it!)

3. Read the FAQ ten times over ( & then some more) BEFORE buying & ask questions early on.

4. If you cannot trace the FULL history of the car maintenance & so forth,

keep walking (I had tight service records for the first 160K it was the next 30K that has me worried!!)

5. Cross your fingers when you order your high mileage badge. Car was running fine until the "stinkin badges" arrived & before I could mount them, the car fetched up big time.

6. Newbie love is tough love! Your eyes glaze over & your brain goes blank. The dream takes over for reality. My better half thought it was

"nice" that I had a hobby with my early on "newbie" inspired trips to the junk yard for misc. items. Considering that my mid-life crisis could have involved Corvettes & other stuff ??)!! Now that the car is costing big $$ the niceness has worn off quick. With that, if you do not DYI be prepared to suffer the fate I have encountered.

As for the badges, I still think they would look great if the car ever returns. If not, I'll keep them as a reminder of my outright stupid venture although I'm sure my loving wife will take car of that. She is already eyeing 240's for their simplicity (that scares me since she knows less about cars than me!). The funny thing is, my original plan was to find a nice clean 240 (no turbo) and just motor along until 300K or so.

Problem was, the little "head" did the thinking when I first viewed the Turbo Wagon. I know I'm in trouble when looking at a car brings about that reaction! (I'm sure my friend Don will be weighing in on this one!!)

Regards,

Mike