HAVING taken his Volvo 240 GL past the 300,000 mile mark, it's no surprise that owner Jeff Stevenson wants to buy another one.

He's keeping the old car in the family and it will continue to notch up the miles with his wife Wendy at the wheel. Jeff has just taken delivery of another used Volvo 240 2.3 litre, with 47,000 miles on the clock which, in his terms, is just 'run-in'.

Jeff, who lives in Baulking, near Uffington, bought his first Volvo from Motorworld in Wantage in 1991. The F-registered, 1989, red two-litre Volvo 240 GL had done 38,000 when he purchased it. His work as an environmental planning consultant means that he travels more than 30,000 miles a year advising on projects throughout the UK.

"It has taken me from Caithness to Cornwall, from Kent to Anglesey, in fact, just about everywhere, with no problems whatsoever", said Jeff. "The secret is regular servicing. I bring the car into Motorworld for its scheduled check-up about every two or three months. Believe it or not it still has the original engine and I had the clutch replaced once at 180,000 miles. It's just had a new alternator. It never lets me down."

Philip Keyte of Motorworld Volvo in Wantage has helped Mr Stevenson find his replacement 240 model. "They don't come up very often but we've found a real gem - a 1992 K-registration - which at 47,000 miles has got another quarter of a million miles to go, at least!"

Story date: Wednesday 27 October

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.