Are my 340 days over?

I fear my 340 days are drawing to a close. When you take the seat out, the loading space is not only spacious but also fairly level. Very good space, considering that it is quite a compact car. As the 440, which superseded it, didn't seem so good in this department, I have stuck with the 340 range since 1991. But now they are getting old in the tooth - even for me.

Given my requirement for the flat loading space, what should I buy instead? V70 and V50 seem to have plenty of space, but are bigger than I would choose. What is a V40 like when you take the seat out? Any other options?

Anyone interested in my G reg 340, e.g. for breakers, please e-mail me. It should be available by the end of the month.

Oh, and if you do know of a good, low mileage 340, say F, G or H reg, I could easily be tempted to prolong my 340 days ...

Best wishes,

John (Berkshire, England)

Hmm, most seem to be secumming to rust. Strange you didn't go for a 360, they last forever except for bodywork. I now have 2 since I just recovered my sisters stolen one. B***ds recked the front alloy wheels and suspension.

Spare parts are getting hard to get now too, although usually only needed for crash damage. I havn't need any scrap parts, but my sisters family have been less lucky. Recently replaced gearbox due to running over a rock in the road and then it was stolen.

If you want load space go for a 940 estate, very good value and much more over engineered than the 850s. We just looked at a £700 97 850 150K miles which was really taty with lots of faults, but bought a really neat 96 940 GLE Turbo estate 100K miles for £1000. I regard the 940 as a big 360, and after a day or 2 my brother in law thinks the same. They seem a bit agricultural, big switches and the interior is not as well designed as the

300 series (noweher good to put stuff up front despite cavernous interior). The 940s are galvanised too, not sure about 850/V70.

In N.Ireland there was a period of really good 340/360s available range