George, My comment about "moving on" was not meant to be personal, far from it. It was a general "loose" statement to anyone reading it that reflected, I suppose, my feeling that the time comes when a more sophisticated product comes along that has more advantages than disadvantages. The 740 is a fine car, perhaps the best Volvo will ever make. It is a pleasure to work on, as you and I and countless other brickboarders well know. BUT, and this is the crux of the issue, mine is used as a family car, driven Monday to Friday by my wife taking the kids to school (she teaches there too). I travel to Europe at least once a year, eg French Alps this February half-term. We need comfort, economy and reliability. Taking each one of these in turn:

1. I find the 740 (GLE) comfortable (it has leather) but the back seat ride is fairly "bouncy" and not up to modern standards - the kids don't rave about it.
2. It is thirsty (230E). Diesel, although more per litre, would give far more mpg.
3. It has now clocked 173k miles. It was recovered twice last year, once for the hall sensor, which is difficult to prevent and once for the alternator, which, I admit, was due to lack of maintenance, but it still happened (there's only 24 hours in a day to do everything). Also, other "niggling" things are constantly going wrong eg tailgate lock, sunroof motor, fuel gauge etc. It's an old car, even though I love it.

I suppose I've begun to distrust it, I can't help that. I'm an engineer - no matter what anyone says, the older a car gets, then the more prone it is to breakdown or annoying niggling problem. How many hours a day does one (or CAN one) spend on maintenance (my wife likes me to speak to her occasionally). Oh, and that's the other thing - I may put up with an older car but other family members DO have a say.

I know a lot of this is personal and I repect your and others views, as I hope you and others respect mine but, at the end of the day HOW long should one keep an old car as the main car?

(BTW I've never seen a diesel 740 with your spec - they do seem rare in UK)
Regards.
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BillB