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Volvo XC90 SUV

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Comments

  • anilpunjabianilpunjabi Member Posts: 61
    I own a T6 and, which replaced a 1997 lexus lx450, when my rents went to see the gx470, it reminded them alot of the the old lx, so they passed up the idea. Lexus's are very safe, my mom was in a rear end accindet in her 1998 lexus gs400 (replaced by a 2001 lex gs430), the car is what saved her life, a police officer, fortunately was at the intersection of the accident, and saw the whole thing, and was surprised my mom did not suffer any damage, except for back pain. The frame of a lexus is very tough, even though lexus isnt into safety as volvo, i woudl still trsut my life in those cars. The car wasnt totaled, even though it by a pickup truck goign about 55 mph, while she was braking. The passanger compartment wasnt even touched. Volvo i know has safety on mind. The volvo in my eyes is almost lexus like in some aspects - the t6 is so quiet almost feels like a tomb, which is very lexus like. The lexus interiori is just a whole nother ball game, but volvo's is also very nice. But if ur concerend about safety, just be happy to own one of tese suv's, as both have gone above the standard in safety.
  • sleepless2sleepless2 Member Posts: 28
    Correct, there is no lumbar support on the passenger side seat. Am pretty sure it does have all the other adjustments though. I'll check it out and get back to you if I find out differently.

    Also I do concur with one of the other posters on the third row differences. Volvo did this right when they had the seats fold into the floor for cargo space. The Lexus third row with the hang up seats is definitely a bad idea. :-( My husband and I have decided that we will most likely remove and store them unless they are specifically called for. Course if they are at home when you need them, then what good are they???!!!!!!

    Also did you see my post on the GX forum regarding the armrests? We don't think that our RX had this feature but gosh maybe we were just brain dead for four years. Do the armrests on your RX lock in place at different heights or is this new? We are really appreciating this feature on the GX.
  • imabotaimabota Member Posts: 15
    Right...I do not have locking arm rests on 2000 RX. I also noticed during test drive that the Nav on the GX was difficult to see (as you also mentioned in that post).
  • starrow68starrow68 Member Posts: 1,142
    http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030105/desu019_1.html


    For those who want to understand the technical stuff. I noticed the link to the SUV of the year and think the brake system was one of the things that made the XC90 different.

  • sleepless2sleepless2 Member Posts: 28
    Ok, so not being real users of the lumbar feature we took the time to check out the lumbar adjustment on the XC90 today. There is one on each front seat but if the man in your house has big fingers then the lumbar manual adjustment knob is not the most user friendly. There are good size notched knobs located on the inside(backs)of the front seats. The problem is that they are placed way low and are between the seat and the center console. I have pretty small hands and could manage to turn mine but my husband was hopeless with his paws. I'd say advance planning, pulling the center console or a rest stop needed if the occupants are frequent adjusters but at least it is available. :-)
  • redwing2redwing2 Member Posts: 2
    My wife and I continue to be awed by our new T6. Seems each time we encounter different traffic situations, the car responds beautifully.

    Perhaps I'm being trivial, and I consider myself lucky that this is my only beef, but - THERES NO PLACE TO PUT CHANGE FOR THE TOLLBOOTHS! I'm a bit surprised that saftey consious Vovlo is satisfied having its drivers diggin' for change on the highway. Gee, there's a nifty pen holder built into the dash, and two pen-holders in the glove compartment, but no place to put the darn change you get at the drive-thru or to pull from when you need some.

    Also, it seems when you are using the rain-sensetive wipers and you turn off the car, you must turn off the wipers and set them back to intermittent to get them working properly again. Does anyone else notice this or am I doing it wrong or are they not working properly?
  • sharonsharon Member Posts: 76
    Redwing2,

    I noticed the change thing also, but I use EZ-Pass, so I don't need change for the tollbooths.

    My rain sensor does the same thing. It annoyed me at first, but then I realized that it might save me at the car wash--I could see myself using the rain sensor on a rainy day. Two dry days later while watching my car go through the car wash, I can just picture watching the wipers springing into action. Yikes! So maybe that's why you have to activate them every time the car is turned on.
  • i_yellowi_yellow Member Posts: 30
    with premium, versatility, climate, and 17" wheels on Friday (4 days late) and have driven it for a total of about 15 minutes (car seats went in right away and my wife has had it since), but here's my initial impression. Looks great in ash gold, drives very smooth, two Britax Roundabouts fit well side-by-side in middle and outboard 2nd row (contrary to what I've read here), more roomy and versatile than I expected, and the level of luxury is better than adequate, if not outstanding.

    There are several wonderful amenities I wasn't aware of despite my extensive research before buying: safe approach headlight timer, mirror and seat memory settings responding to the specific key chain that unlocks the car, novel stereo controls, unobstructed access to 3rd row seats with two car seats in the 2nd row, IAQS re-circulation timer, etc. We love it so far. It turns lots of heads, especially in our area. There's one Volvo dealer in our county and they've only delivered three XC90s to date. One got wrecked within the first couple of days, so ours is one of the only two on the road (aside from their demos) in the whole area.

    The only negative things I noticed are: it's a little jumpy/lurchy of the line (turbo lag effect?), the front brakes make a whiny sound for a second when you put your foot on the pedal and the car is off (electronic brake assist system?), the stereo seems like it may not play CDs burned on a computer very well (skipping/intermittent). Also, while I was waiting on the paperwork at the dealer, I checked out one of their XC90 demos and found a rear door latch failure (wouldn't open from the outside). I'm hoping that was a fluke. Anyone else with similar observations and/or information about them?
  • crikeycrikey Member Posts: 1,041
    2 of your comments are great news to me:
    1. two Britax Roundabouts fit well side-by-side in middle and outboard 2nd row (contrary to what I've read here
    2. unobstructed access to 3rd row seats with two car seats in the 2nd row

    I'm not sure why the others say that this could not be done. I was already thinking of forgoing the Versatility PKG due to supposed obstruction created by 2 Britax Roundabout car seats in the configuration you described. I am actually thinking of completely forgoing the XC90 in favor of the MDX.
  • hahackyhahacky Member Posts: 23
    We tried putting a Britax Roundabout and a Britax Marathon (maybe 1-2 inches wider than the Roundabout) side by side in the second row and we could NOT get into the third row. It was not just the width of the car seats, but where the belts seem to want to place the seats to secure them most tightly. So my wife felt that you could not shift the middle car seat enough to the side with the other car seat - without compromising its fixation - to permit flipping the remaining seat forward.

    Now we were in a rush as we did this at the introductory party and had many people wanting to crawl all over the car. Others also brought seats for the same reason we all left there thinking that it could be done with smaller seats but not the ones we brought.

    So if I am wrong than I am very excited as we are awaiting our car. But a Roundabout and a Marathon side-by-side did not work for us (together they take up almost 40 inches) but maybe if we had more time to play, or moved the booster forward a bit so the arms of the two seats could have "overlapped" it would have worked.

    I have played with these seats so much I dream about them. After 2 hours at Baby's r Us this weekend I was able to squeeze 3 seats into a Saab 9-3! Two narrow 5-point harness booster seats and one narrow (Baby Trend - the narrowest one sold according to the staff) infant seat, but all are less than 17 inches in width. There is literally about 1/2 inch to spare on either side and the infant seat needs to be "wedged" in to lock into place. Saved my butt and has taken some pressure off to get my XC90 ASAP.

    An aside, Baby's r Us is really great, they helped me cart out and hook up various combinations of demo seats (took three iterations) until we found three that worked. They were so helpful and courteous that I could hardly beleive it. The young woman helping me was also quite knowledgeable and said that mine was a common problem.
  • i_yellowi_yellow Member Posts: 30
    hahacky,
    My wife and I also brought a Marathon and a Roundabout to the Dealer's introductory party, and left there feeling it was marginal, but do-able. We returned the Marathon because we felt it was monstrous in general and decided to stick with our two Roundabouts in the meantime. I have the center one forward facing for my toddler and the outboard carseat rear facing for my 9-month old. With one forward and one rearward, they kind of inter-mesh to save a little space.

    The best configuration I found is to slide the center one forward. This helps decrease the overall width and create extra clearance for the empty 2nd row seat to tilt/slide forward for rear access. I think if both Roundabouts are forward facing and the 2nd row seats are slid all the way back, then it will be tighter, but still work (seat back may rub against carseat during rear access in this case). Its best to slide that center seat forward. Also, I think the Marathon might be too wide and block rear access if you didn't slide the center seat forward.

    I hope these details help.
  • sharonsharon Member Posts: 76
    Congrats on your new car! In regards to some of your comments:

    "The only negative things I noticed are: it's a little jumpy/lurchy of the line (turbo lag effect?)"
     I noticed this too at first, but mine seems to have calmed down.

     "The stereo seems like it may not play CDs burned on a computer very well (skipping/intermittent)."

      I haven't noticed this at all. I've been busy burning CDs for my car and they all work beautifully, so far. I have 4 CD-Rs in and I have the player set to play all disks at random (a feature that I LOVE). I have CD text enabled on my software/burner so that the songs titles show up on the screen. Pretty cool!
      
    I had an odd experience with the radio the other day. I was listening to CDs and then switched to FM--but the radio was dead. No text on the screen, no sound. CD worked fine. Nothing I pushed brought the radio back. Turned off the car and when I turned it back on, the radio was fine and I haven't seen the problem since. I mentioned it to my dealer and he had the same thing happen on the demo he was driving. He's going to ask service about it. Has anyone else had this happen?

    I missed the delivery of my nav disk today, darn it. Hopefully tomorrow (I picked up the car New Year's Eve and have been waiting, not so patiently, to try out the navigation system).

    Sharon
  • eaton3000eaton3000 Member Posts: 16
    I'm reading about everyone putting two car seats next to each other and I'm jealous. I too would like easy access to the third row.

    We picked ours up Dec. 24th. We have a two year old and a five year old. I have never even considered placing them side by side in row 2, due to the face grabbing leg kicking nature of children these ages.

    We did however place our five year old in the back and our two year old in the middle row (opposite sides of the car) just to see if it worked. Would have worked great but the kids were lonely!!!

    So ultimately the best positions are the same as in any car - outboard positions in row 2. I still wouldn't change a thing though - I love the flexibility offered by the third row and I'd order it again.

    So can anyone tell me how they get kids not to kill each other when they're right next to each other?
  • hahackyhahacky Member Posts: 23
    I think that I strap my too older maniacs in so tightly that they cannot maneuver to smack each other, otherwise they most certainly would.


    An interesting comment from the "swedespeed forum" where there is coincidentally another car seat discussion:

    http://forums.swedespeed.com/zerothread?id=6643:


    "Additionally, the second row center section is too narrow for regular booster seat (thereby blocking access to row three on both sides). You're pretty much forced to put a car seat in an outboard position, blocking access to row three from that side. Volvo has a center section seat solution that looks great, but for $277!!??


    jvincent"


    So it is a bit confusing to me as most booster seats I have seen are even smaller than the Britax seats. Maybe i_yellow could give us more detail on they did this and preserved access to the third row. (Are the seats both forward facing? Is the integrated seat slid forward?)


    Thanks.

  • john_helenjohn_helen Member Posts: 10
    I have had issues with both of these items as well.

    Radio - Two or three times, one of my preset stations has gone dead. The others work fine, the CD works fine, but the radio acts like it isn't receiving a signal from the #1 preset. It hasn't happened but a couple of times and I wasn't worried until others here mentioned it. Please let us know what the dealer says.

    Rear Door - I have had problems with the rear door on my 2.5T. I have the child safety lock activated. When I go to open it from the outside, the door relocks. I have to go through a couple iterations of lock, unlock before I can access my daughter. Is there some trick to the child safety lock with Volvo's or could this be related to the issue described by i-yellow. I must say, it is highly frustrating and getting old quickly.
  • crikeycrikey Member Posts: 1,041
    So, it seems that a little finagling is required to make the 2 car seat configuration work. I'm going to have to try it out myself.

    For those having radio issues, do you have the Dolby II system or just the regular system?
  • gold49gold49 Member Posts: 23
    As I've said previously, I love this car. But...

    If you smoke, and I don't, you need to specially order the cigarette lighter, because there is none. Also, the climate control system seems to be a little slow. It was 35* the other day and was shooting out cool air an hour into the trip. Strange...
  • aggie76aggie76 Member Posts: 266
    I've got auto climate on both my cars and often find them "shooting out cool air". I've realized that it usually occurs when its a sunny day and the sensors under the windshield perceive the heat off the sun and cause the system to us ethe bi-level setting blowing cool air high and warm low. One car is an Acura MDX and the other a Lexus GS300 and it happens to both this way. Solution I've used is adjusting the temp control or switching to manual.
  • hahackyhahacky Member Posts: 23
    Again, from another post at swedespeed and for anyone planning on using child car seats, the width of the center booster seat is 13 inches and the outboard seats 19 inches.
  • jvikas66jvikas66 Member Posts: 6
    I don't think the measurements are correct. If, as suggested, the center seat is 13 inches and the outboard seats are 19 inches then the total across the row is 51 inches (19+13+19). Edmunds says the hip room in the second row is 53.6 inches and the shoulder room is 57.8 inches. There may well be a few extra inches available to get two child car seats in and still have access to the third row.
  • jan01867jan01867 Member Posts: 1
    I am almost relieved to hear that someone else had this problem with the radio being dead. I went to drive my car after my husband had taken the car for the first time and my Dolby sustem was dead as could be. I was very upset and unfortunately got upset with my husband because I figured he had done "something" to break it. Well I felt like a real fool when he came out to look at the problem and started up the car and all was well. It hasn't happened again and I have had the car almost a month.

    We had a few challenges with the Nav, including getting the voice to work. We have experience with a portable auto GPS (Garmin)and we have been using an aviation GPS for years, so the concept is not new to us. Anyone else having a problem?

    On another note, I will say I love my fully loaded T-6. The only thing I miss from my Lexus RX300 is the storage in the center consol and the extra storage compartments. This car has been worth the wait, although I am a bit cautious and check the board to read about the experiences of other new owners.
  • sharonsharon Member Posts: 76
    I wish I could offer experience with the navigation, but alas, my disk still hasn't shown up. That has been the only negative experience, so far. The dealer had a little confusion over the delivery of the disk, since mine was the first one. It's been cleared up and the disk is supposed to arrive on Friday.
  • compcomp Member Posts: 43
    Just occurred to me that the liftgate might be too tall for my garage. Has anyone measured the open door at its highest point? Don't find these numbers in any specs.
  • i_yellowi_yellow Member Posts: 30
    Mine doesn't hit the garage door when open. There's around 3 inches of clearance. Its a standard door as far as I know (rolling, multi-panel, wooden). The house was built in 1992. I doubt you'll have a problem unless you have a 1-piece swinging door, but I'm not sure if there is a clearance difference associated with those.
  • sweetlilangelsweetlilangel Member Posts: 4
    All of you have been talking about Roundabout carseats and how they fit in the XC 90.. I have 2 Century's and an Evenflo carseat rear facing carrier. How is the space for fitting carseats in that 3rd row? It's nice to hear it's easy to get in and out with that folding seat. Presently I'm driving an Astro with 3 rows and it's like cavalry call trying to get everyone in, in order cause there isn't much room for a child to get into their seat in the last row. I'm hoping the space is a bit better in the XC90? Can anyone tell me? I know anyone over 5'6" isn't going to be comfy but i had planned on the Versality anyway cause we have 3 young children. I can't trust the two olders ones to leave their sister alone so we had planned on the configuration with them in the back row. Has anyone tried it with Century yet?
  • sharonsharon Member Posts: 76
    I gave the car a work out today. I drove 5 kindergarteners in booster seats on a field trip and lived to tell about it. New Jersey car seat law is 8 years and 80 pounds, so everyone had to supply a seat. I had two Century Brevarras (sp?), a light-weight foam seat, a Britax and the built-in booster.

    Of the seats I used, the Britax fit the best--perfectly, actually. I had purchased it for my ML320 as part of their Baby Smart system--it disabled the airbag when placed in the front passenger seat of a Baby Smart equiped Mercedes. (I wish volvo had offered that feature).

    The Century seats were useable, but I didn't like how they fit.

    The third row worked out well. I didn't realize that the head restraints on the 3rd row seats are fixed; I had hoped to lower them a bit. But with my mirrors adjusted for a wider view, visability was fine.

    Later that day I had to drive around Hoboken, NJ (very congested, narrow streets). The car was a pleasure to drive; it manuvered beautifully around double-parked cars and through heavy traffic.

    I haven't seen an improvement in my gas mileage yet. Around town I'm only seeing 15.5. This is only my second tank of gas. I hope I see some improvement soon.

    Someone had asked which radio had been having problems. I have the upgraded radio and the FM outage has only happened once. I can't figure out what might have triggered it.
  • rollierollie Member Posts: 337
    Sharon, I suspect the reason Volvo doesn't offer a seat like BabySmart is because they know the inherent danger in trusting the life of a fragile child to a computer chip. You may not be aware, but Mercedes did a major recall on BabySmart seats about 2 years ago when they found they didn't always work. I've not seen much since then so I'm not even sure if Mercedes still offers a redesigned version?

    Thanks.

    -rollie
  • wmquanwmquan Member Posts: 1,817
    MB still offers BabySmart, in a variety of sizes. They use Britax seats, which of course are terrific.

    I guess it was a black eye for MB, but the BabySmart issue apparently only occurred when the parent incorrectly installed the seat, or installed it with the seatback forward of the vertical position (which is technically an incorrect installation too). In that case, the "airbag off" indicator on the dash would not go on because the airbag was not deactivated. That should have been a clue to parents that they had the seat incorrectly positioned. It wasn't as if the attentive parent was driving around thinking the bag was deactivated when it was not (so long as they checked for the "airbag off" indicator -- which they should always do with any system that deactivates an airbag!).

    When MB replaced the seat (with a seat that would deactivate the airbag even when the seat was incorrectly installed!), they also provided a video on proper seat installation.

    The preference of course is to keep the seats in the second row, but at least BabySmart offers a solution for front-row placement for those who absolutely need it.

    Does the XC90 offer a way for the user to turn off the front passenger airbag?

    I'm still surprised that Volvo discourages the use of child seats in the third row, but tacitly approves them. They should make a stance one way or another.

    I do love the integrated booster feature, though. More SUV manufacturers should offer some type of integrated booster option.

    Seems like quite a few people here have Roundabouts. Another good seat mentioned here previously would be the new Britax Marathon -- basically a Roundabout that goes to 65 lbs (though most kids will outgrow it in height before reaching that weight). However, it's larger than Roundabout and will pose more fit challenges. If you want a seat-fit challenge, though, try the new Britax Husky, which is a massive, forwarding-facing-only seat that keeps a child up to 80 lbs in a five-point harness. But it's so wide that I'm sure that three won't fit in one row.

    However, a Starriser Comfy (belt-positioning booster up to 80 lbs) isn't particularly wide and should fit well into the second row, for kids who are large enough for such a booster? I believe its maximum width is 15.5" (in the seatback). The cushion itself is width-adjustable for the child's comfort and maxes out at 12.5".
  • sharonsharon Member Posts: 76
    Rollie-

    Yes, there was a recall, my seat wasn't part of that and wmquan is correct that the issue was incorrectly installed seats. My Mercedes dealer has large wanted posters up in the service area to alert customers. Baby Smart is a very useful feature. It was not a feature I used often, but when needed, it was invaluable.

    Very few parents actually think about how the car seat fits the car. The police departments in my area offer car-seat clinics every once in a while, where they will check you seat's installation and help you reinstall it correctly (Babies R US has sponsered some). I happened to be at Babies R Us when a clinic was wrapping up and spoke with the policeman who had been checking seats. He said that the majority of the seats he checks are installed incorrectly or do not properly fit in the car. Most people seem to buy seats because they like a feature or the color. They don't realize that not every car seat fits every car and an incorrectly installed car seat, no matter how well designed, can be deadly in an accident.

    I highly recommend visiting one of these clinics. Hahacky (probably spelled that wrong!) tried just about every car seat in the store to find the right configuration for his car. I don't think most people know you can do that.

    Sharon
  • dos511dos511 Member Posts: 8
    Sharon - You have a 2.5T, right? You are getting 15.5 in the city? That is well below the stats posted by Volvo, isn't it? Please keep us posted on any improvements as I am still waivering b/w the T6 and the 2.5T.

    Anyone out there with a T6 that can comment on their experience with gas milage and total miles driven per tank?
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    Excellent advice Sharon. I wish more people would read and participate in the Child Seats That Fit discussion too.


    Steve, Host

  • hahackyhahacky Member Posts: 23
    I would appreciate any more info on the frustrating issue of the XC90 and Volvo's ambiguous statements regarding whether there should be any car seat in the third row (given the size of the people they are recommending back there, the row is nearly useless unless car seats with children can be put back there). Is there any way that they can be pinned down to say exactly what the third row is safe for? The lack of tethers and LATCH back there is also a puzzling given they they insist the thrid row is "safe" for children.
  • dirkleasdirkleas Member Posts: 6
    I'm getting 14.5 - 15 MPG through my second tank w/ mostly city stop and go traffic. My driving style is somewhat sedate.
  • sharonsharon Member Posts: 76
    Car seats-
    Hahacky-I've been going through the manual to see if there is an answer to your question, but I'm coming up empty. I've looked at both the printed manual and the CD version (manual in motion). The second row has ISOFIX fasteners, top tether anchorages, and automatic locking seat-belt retractors (does away with the stupid locking clip I always had to use when my guys were in car seats) for securing car seats. The manual on CD, which is very good btw, has a video showing a car seat being secured using all of these devices. But I have found no references to using car seats in the third row. I thought I had seen it somewhere; I'll keep looking.

    If I were you I would drag my car seats down to the dealer, install them in the third row and drive around. I'm not sure you will have visual contact with your little ones back there--and that used to make me crazy. It's a mom thing, I guess. You also want to make sure that getting them in and out of the car seats back there is going to be relatively easy--or it WILL drive you nuts after a while.

    Steve: I didn't realize there was a child-seat discussion. I'll have to take a look.

    For the person who was asking about the navigation voice: I received my disk today and gave it a try. I'm not noticing any problems--can you be more specific about what you were experiencing? Did it occur right away or after some use?

    It's pretty cool! This is my first experience with navigation in a car, so I have nothing to compare it to. I like the location of the screen--it makes it easy to keep an eye on the road. The pop-up design makes me a little nervous (just something to break down the road) but I do like the location. I drove around areas I know today to get a feel for the device. It had my son's nursery school in the facilities section and quite a few local restaurants, gas stations... I purposely ignored directions to see what it would do and it seemed to recover nicely. My kids expected the voice to start yelling at me: "mom, it said to turn left not right; he's going to be mad!"

    Sharon
  • eaton3000eaton3000 Member Posts: 16
    I've had T2.5 since December 24. Have never reset MPG calculator. One 270 mile round trip, otherwise all city (town) mileage. At 720 miles on odometer, I'm at exactly 16.0. My cumulative average speed is 22.0 mph, so that tells you the kind of driving I do.

    I live in Boston suburbs, so there's lots of snow. And I'm in kind of a hilly area, so that hurts too (see earlier post on this forum explaining things that can affect mpg calcs).

    Hope this info is useful.
  • dos511dos511 Member Posts: 8
    To all who posted on gas mileage.
  • what2do1what2do1 Member Posts: 3
    All volvo owners -- please help me with your experience. We have ordered the XC90 which is due in March. Lately I have begun hearing not so great feedback on volvo service. Volvo obviously does good things, yet with 3 kids under the age of 9, I can not afford to be at the service dept. We called our dealer and were bluntly told that no loaners are given out even for warranty work. The service manager was NOT helpful to my husband in relieving his concerns about the costs and inconveniences we may face as volvo owners. I am going out tomorrow to retest the Toyota Sequoia and the new Lexus GX because their local service is better. What can you tell me about your experience as a volvo owner?
  • billiam70billiam70 Member Posts: 54
    I would recommend another dealer. I owned an S80 and always had very good service experiences at my dealer and always got a loaner, regardless if the car went in for warranty work or scheduled maintenance. It just sounds to me like the dealer you are talking to does not have a good service department.
  • hov34hov34 Member Posts: 1
    I thought I read somewhere that there would be a DVD enternatinment system for the XC90 later in the year, but now I can't seem to find this anywhere. Anyone have any info on this?

    Thanks
  • rollierollie Member Posts: 337
    what2do, your experience and satisfaction with ANY brand is directly related to your experience and satisfaction level with your dealership. All brands have some good and some bad dealers (of course some like Lexus have far fewer bad dealers than good whereas others are a crap shoot).

    To be frank, I've been through a slew of Volvo dealers in the Northeast (Boston area) and California over the last 5 years and have NEVER heard of a dealership that doesn't give a loaner car to it's own customers (almost always a new Volvo to boot). The exception MAY be the case where you get the car serviced at a dealership different from where you purchased your car (in my case I've never had a problem getting a loaner after moving from one area of the country to another but I suspect that simply buying at one local dealer and trying to get a loaner for service at another local dealer would be problematic in some cases.)

    Either way, I would encourage you to speak to a salesperson at the dealership and ask them if a lack of a loaner car is their understanding. I can't say it's impossible but I've never seen it. If it is the case I would highly recommend you skip this dealership completely. Out of curiousity, where are you located? I suspect members here on this board may be able to steer you to the best local dealership if you have more than one option.

    Good luck.

    -rollie
  • what2do1what2do1 Member Posts: 3
    Here's the scoop about the dealership: We live in Indianapolis and this volvo dealership is the only one for over an hour drive . We were so fed up with the attitude of "we've gotcha" that we drove to Cincinnati (2 hours away and family is there) and ordered the XC90. But it occcured to me from reading Edmunds boards that I may have several service runs (based on people telling me of volvo's reliability issues) to this dealer and we've spoken to several people who have confirmed that this dealership is not helpful. I currently have a Toyota Sienna minivan and have enjoyed the benefits of owning a Toyota (only one major service issue in 4 years of ownership!) and am suddenly leary about going to the Volvo. \
    Like I said before, perhaps a Lexus or the Toyota Sequoia would be a better choice due to better reliability and less maintenance costs ( people are talking of over $500 a visit). I would like to decide today--any advice?
  • jsimm00jsimm00 Member Posts: 3
    Our XC90 has 800 miles to date.
    Average speed is 23
    Average MPG is 16
    Our weather here in Houston will only get warmer into the new year so a bit worried the MPG will drop.

    No problems to report and a joy to drive. Getting quite good at lip reading people saying Volvo as we drive by.
  • montreidmontreid Member Posts: 127
    You won't go wrong with the Lexus, but if the RX, then you give up that 3rd row and size, LX, then it's an extra $$$ to boot. Sequoia is truckier in all manners.

    How about the local Acura dealer for the MDX? Gads, to think that the Acura dealer would offer better service than the Volvo, but it may be the case for you out there. The reliability (3rd year production) and maintainence costs both score better. It's just a question of whether you like the MDX.

    We bought at a distant Volvo dealership and service with the one locally. The first time they gave us some hassle, but after removing the dealer name plates, the local servicing was excellent. Loaners should always be available, along with the gormet coffee ;)

    Good luck!
  • losthat1losthat1 Member Posts: 93
    I'd stay with the Toyota or Lexus. Five months ago our 2002XC was in an accident. It was taken to the shop owned by a relative of our local Volvo dealer. To make a long story short it is still in the shop, the Volvo dealer and the repair shop have done nothing to assist us and we have to make $600.00plus/mo. lease payments on a Volvo that has been sitting waiting for parts(?) or someone to repair it(?). This is a large dealership on the MA/NH line that we have bought or leased 5 Volvos from. Obviously this will be the LAST business we do with this dealership. I doubt this would have happened with a Toyota or Lexus. You'd get better service at a Hyundai dealer. We also have a SantaFe and have found the Hyundai service terrific. If you can't go without a car for any length of time I'd stay away from Volvo.
  • lenijlenij Member Posts: 18
    i've been lurking for sometime since i exchanged my xc90 with an mdx. let me share a few points which i think are important, especially for new volvo customers (xc90 specifically):
    1) xc90 waiting period is 4 months, more or less. dealer promises delivery on a certain date but can't keep up with their promises.
    2) volvo dealer told me the $1,000.00 deposit money won't be returned unless the vehicle is sold. next step would be to go to FTC and file my complaint.
    3) money down to lease a 2.5T with premium, versatility, climate package, and added in with dvd entertainment system and cross rails is mind-numbing $8,000.00! the 42-month lease is around $530.00, while residual is $24,200.00.

    a comparably-priced 2003 acura MDX with Touring Nav package will get you the following:
    1) gps navigation with voice recognition for all 50 states (which operates in all weather condition, by the way); 6-disc in-dash cd player; standard 7-seats; tilting passenger-side mirror when backing up plus a rear camera to get a clear view!; tilt leather steering wheel (which is smooth to the touch!); a powerful but quiet 260-hp engine equipped with 17"-wheels; DVD entertainment system with DVD and VCR players; a powerful radio and running boards. i had a rear spoiler also installed on the acura. the ride is soft and cushioned, and the transmission shifts smoothly and quickly from stops. also, no annoying sounds or wind noise during highway cruising.
    2) money down for the above-referenced acura mdx is only $4,450.00 (would only be $2,500.00 if not for the added running boards and dvd entertainment), 48 month lease is for $560 (would have been $550.00) and residual is $ 22,700.00. i didn't put a penny deposit to get this car.
    3) the 3rd row seats for the acura can also accommodate young adults 5'5" or less. they can sit comfortably by placing a booster seat that you can purchase at a local r&s strauss. there's still good amount of head clearance even with the boosters on.
    4) meanwhile, the only volvo advantage vs mdx: vehicle safety with all the curtain side airbags plus the boron steel roof. other than that, acura wins with reliability, dependability and customer satisfaction (check out j.d. power and associates). volvo cannot promise all that. even the s80 has plenty of problems going into its 3rd year of production.
    5) there's a noticeable "hump" in the middle of the second row floor of the xc90 (much like in a sedan) which my little girl finds annoying when we test-drove the xc90 months ago. you won't find it in the acura, nor in the seqouia or even the montero. thus, the xc90 can only accommodate 6 passengers "comfortably".

    so there you are, folks. just a little piece of information and enlightenment.
  • speechiespeechie Member Posts: 2
    No wonder you switched! Unfortunately, I guess all dealers are not alike. I was told I'd have a 3 month wait and mine came in in 2 1/2 months. While my monthly payments are about the same as yours, I put only my refundable $200.00? deposit down and when the car came in I payed first and last month and plates, etc.(Mine is also a 2.5 with premium, versatility, climate but no dvd. It was the most pleasant car buying/leasing experience I've ever had. I did go to another dealer, about as far away in the opposite direction and felt like I was getting more of a runaround ( "We're taking 1,000.00 deposits and it's taking 3-4 months to come in, etc." so I decided to go elsewhere. Glad I did!
  • ericgrossericgross Member Posts: 2
    My wife and I went to the Latham, NY delaer where we had bought our 99 XC looking for a 2003 70 XC in Nov. Once there, we changed our minds and ordered 90XC. The deposit was $500 fully refundable if we changed our minds. The salesman told us they would not even cash the check. When we realized that we did not have our checkbook, I offered a credit card, which he declined and took our order without any deposit at all. He thought we would have February delivery, but the car came last week in December.
    Regarding service, we have had top-notch service from their service department for 4 years. They have done everything to accommodate us. We are very pleased with this dealer.
  • crikeycrikey Member Posts: 1,041
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    lol, I was just about ready to kill your bad link, Crikey. Nice editing job ;-)

    Steve, Host
  • crikeycrikey Member Posts: 1,041
    thanks for watching my back.
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