2012 Volvo S60 T6

[Notably0ffbeat]

I had a 940t for a while, absolutely bulletproof. Too bad it got stolen and impounded. The impound fees was more than the price of the car. I told them they could have the signed title so the next owner that buys it at auction can have it but they declined.

[CCoburn]

I had a 940t for a while, absolutely bulletproof. Too bad it got stolen and impounded. The impound fees was more than the price of the car. I told them they could have the signed title so the next owner that buys it at auction can have it but they declined.

The 940s actually look like a Volvo with that hallmark boxiness, and you can pretty much tell from a distance that's what it is, but my S60 T6 on the other hand would require a bit of a more up close and personal encounter unless of course there did exist some prior intimacy.

Your 940 looks like what the cops around here drove on a stint; it was maybe back around the mid '90s, and I have thought to myself on occasion that they must've been fast if the cops were driving 'em.

Impound fees are just absolutely ridiculous. It's highway robbery – literally. I think the cops are in with the tow guys (thick as thieves). I was up north a bit a couple years back and got distracted by this female jogger just as I was approaching a turn that was littered with dry pine needles – a recipe for disaster. I ended up in a ditch, and when the staties showed up I told them I had AAA, but they called their pals with some cock-and-bull about it being closer.

The insurance did cover the above, but there were other scenarios where I did have to pay out-of-pocket. The average cost is somewhere around $300, depending, and one place had a flat fee plus $60 per day; that cost me closer to $400 for my car to sit in their desolate junkyard. The tow guy said he was hoping I would leave it there so he'd have something nice to drive.

[l0st]

Impound fees are just absolutely ridiculous. It's highway robbery – literally. I think the cops are in with the tow guys (thick as thieves). I was up north a bit a couple years back and got distracted by this female jogger just as I was approaching a turn that was littered with dry pine needles – a recipe for disaster. I ended up in a ditch, and when the staties showed up I told them I had AAA, but they called their pals with some cock-and-bull about it being closer.

No doubt. I had a vehicle illegally towed from an apartment complex where I had a parking pass, but they had handed out more passes than parking spaces, and I worked at night. I ended up parking on a completely unmarked curb - absolutely no spaces in all 35 acres of the property. Tow company and landlord never gave notice as required by law before towing. I had to walk to the tow company 3 miles away.

They had just towed my car like 2 hours before but had purposely buried my car several deep in their lot so I couldn't drive it out. They refused a card payment, which is illegal in that state, to get the car. I called the cops and when they showed up, they "agreed" with the photo of my car the tow company took that I "must have been in a tow-away zone" even though there were ZERO indications that I was in any kind of a no parking zone at all. No signs, no paint, no nothing. What the cop told me was "its a civil matter." I've noticed they love to pull that stunt when they just don't want to get involved.

Couple weeks later, someone posted a big painted sign on the light pole near the entrance that said "Pollard's Towing - KICKBACK$$". Guess I wasn't the only one. About a year later someone vandalized every car in the Pollard's lot one night. Pollard's got sued by several parties for quite a large sum and ended up having to sell the place. Too bad, so sad. What comes around goes around.

Edit to add:

I knew what the towing regs were because I worked at the time at an office just up the street. We had a very small lot with assigned spaces that were leased to our offices. This location was very close to a downtown area and we often had people parking in this spaces who were not workers of or visitors to the office. The procedure was to call it in the PD, who will post a neon orange sticker on the car informing of the tow, attempt contact, and then wait 24 hours. Of course, when we would call PD and give them the story and that we had to have employees park on the street behind due to lack of parking, the pig then did a run on that street and ticketed all our workers who had parked on that street for more than 3 hours without moving their vehicle. Assholes everywhere I tell 'ya.

[CCoburn]

There's definitely some deep dark towing rabbit holes you might unexpectedly find yourself descending. My last tow that was paid by insurance was over $1,000. The best case scenario in getting the car right out it's maybe three to four hundred.

There can be any number of tow-related "rabbit holes" that start out as just some minor turd of inconvenience but when not properly addressed due to out-of-control circumstances or whatever becomes this big rolling ball of shit that just keeps getting bigger and bigger.

I have AAA anyway, and there's no reason why I should be paying for any tows, but it still happens on occasion.

Both my Chargers had busted fuel gauges. I tried keeping track using the trip meter but would occasionally run out only God knows where. I had AAA bringing me free gas four times a year – the maximum allotment.

[l0st]

There's definitely some deep dark towing rabbit holes you might unexpectedly find yourself descending. My last tow that was paid by insurance was over $1,000. The best case scenario in getting the car right out it's maybe three to four hundred.

There can be any number of tow-related "rabbit holes" that start out as just some minor turd of inconvenience but when not properly addressed due to out-of-control circumstances or whatever becomes this big rolling ball of shit that just keeps getting bigger and bigger.

I have AAA anyway, and there's no reason why I should be paying for any tows, but it still happens on occasion.

Both my Chargers had busted fuel gauges. I tried keeping track using the trip meter but would occasionally run out only God knows where. I had AAA bringing me free gas four times a year – the maximum allotment.

My junker has fuel gauges that work when they want to. I vaguely keep track about 385 miles to a tank and once it shows less than 1/4 tank I just fill her. I changed the sender on the driver's side about 3 years ago and now the passenger's side is out. *sigh* It's kinda creepy to watch the estimated mileage thing on the dash count up instead of down.

[CCoburn]

New Battery Day (maybe)


Some of the interior lights have been acting a little weird for a while. Interior display dimmer works off and on. The interior lights flicker a bit when starting, and the starting seems a bit more labored than it should.

It was around 30F the other day and it did start a little hard. Today it's only 17F ATM. Hopefully it'll start, and I can go pick up a battery. There is a little more to doing a Volvo S60 battery than the Chargers I had.

The last battery I did the car was dead in the driveway and I had to carry a new one about a mile, and those things aren't light, and little awkward.

New battery day...yay.

[CCoburn]

Went out to run a couple errands and get a new battery, but car is idling a little funny and even more so today. The firing of the cylinders seems a little off at times.

I had one more stop and the check engine light came on. I'm thinking the new plugs I put in a few months back might need to be checked, plus there were those two ignition coils that I refurbished and never replaced.

It did start up pretty good though. I'll be hooking up the scan tool shortly and see what that says. Guess I'll be holding off on the new battery for now. It starts getting dark now at around 4:00 here.

[CCoburn]

Well at least I had fun hanging out on the forum yesterday with the car sitting dead in the driveway.

I went out yesterday to hook up the scanner and see what the issue was and had a brief chat with the neighbor who was stringing up Christmas lights. The scanner said: cylinder three misfire. No surprise there and something like what I was hoping for.

Took out the ignition coil and checked the plug to see if maybe it had loosened up. I don't have a torque wrench, so I was careful to not overtighten them, so maybe under tightened them in the process.

The ignition coil did look a little dirty, but not too bad, and I think maybe the plug was a little loose. Put everything back and go to crank over the car, but no "crank" and now with "immobilizer" error.

This is one of those occurrences where you have two unrelated problems coinciding with one another:

1. Weak battery likely approaching insufficient voltage.
2. Plug and coil problems which in some situations can drain a battery causing systems to shut down - it's happened before.

At the time I wasn't thinking that a quick check on a plug and coil might worsen the condition of an already weak battery, but that somehow appears to be the case.

Now I'm just thinking about going for a walk and a way to get a battery(among other things) back home without carrying it. It seems to be a real pain in the ass to get a cab these days, and I don't have Uber or Lift.

My friend uses this blue wagon type thing sometimes, and I'm thinking about that. Kind of like what the old bag lady has been carting around town for the past decade except bigger.

I figure I'll get a new battery, ignition coil, and plug. Do the plug and IC first, and then the battery. Then lastly deal with the immobilizer issue if that's still a problem.

– bag lady for a day (if I go that route)

[CCoburn]

I started it, so I might as well do a final update.

Everything pretty much went as expected. I did come across something which reiterates the reason I prefer to work on my own vehicles. The bracket that prevents the battery from sliding around was installed improperly by whoever serviced the battery last. It was adjusted for a smaller battery, so the angled part of the bracket failed to reach the corner of the battery. This was a bit of a pain in the ass since it would be getting dark in another hour, and I had to remove this paper-thin washer that was stuck on there pretty good so I could place that bolt in a different hole.

The "immobilizer" issue went away on its own. I did do a BMS(battery management system) reset before starting the car which just consisted of a series of wonky button presses. Not sure if that did anything, but the check engine light didn't need to be reset via scan tool either - basically just started the car and everything was good.

New plug, ignition coil, and battery. I took my time and spent maybe a couple hours or so on it. A lot of steps involved, and the negative terminal was going on pretty hard at the end to get it properly seated, so I put the vice grips on it and grabbed a hammer, but didn't really need the hammer – overkill.

The cost was around $300 for everything. Don't know what the dealer(or anyone else) would've charged, and probably still would've got the car back with battery bracket installed half assed. My independent mechanic probably would've done it right, but I haven't been to see him since my last Charger. Been doing everything myself for more than a couple years now, and I'm sure he's wondered where I've been, but I'll probably see him in February when I need a new sticker.

Car has over 150k miles on it now, and I'll probably keep it for another year. Been wondering a bit though how long the alternator in these Volvos last. I think it was around 150k when I had to put a new one in the last Charger. What a job that was. I actually needed a hacksaw blade. Couldn't use the whole hacksaw, not enough room.

On The road Again