So while I live the high life of a Brit in Canada escaping our beloved bankrupt rock, I've stumbled on a new problem: Car ownership in Canada.
Canadian insurance...is...expensive. That's a lie. It's eye-wateringly unbelievably expensive. Even with a full 'G' Canadian licence, no claims, letter of UK no claims, living in a nice area...and so on...expect to see atleast $3000 on 1998 Honda Civic/Toyota Corolla....at aged 25.
Hence...I need to be thrifty, I have a new job lined up in Waterloo, Ontario but it will mean I will need a car, the transport links in the city I'm moving to aren't great and I want to have transport for getting up to Northern Ontario and out to the West Coast on amusing roadtrips anyway (as well as cramming work related gear into it, I get paid a ridiculous milage rate so that will pay for most running costs)
Mercedes W123 and W124's are rare as cheese, not to mention unbelievably overpriced. A manual diesel is like finding unicorn poo. (what i wanted originally)
However, Volvos, and old ones at that, are seemingly everywhere, and they built them here (in Halifax), which makes them alot easier to come by, alot cheaper, and frankly less hassle. However, I've never owned a moose hauling brick of Swedish steel so I am hoping you guys can tell me about them, give me some advice on what to look for and in particular the best engine/gear box/year suggestions?
Many thanks in advance. For the record, I'm after one, as they're cheap here and pretty bulletproof mechanically - something I'm after.
any help or advice gladly received 
p.s. i should add, i'm going for a bangeromics approach here, unfortunately there isn't anything awesome, light, diesel and french here and most of the 'native' brands...well...less said the better
