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Comments
Two words about the T5,torque steer. The T5 is faster at lower speeds, but is much harder to drive and control. The R feels much more planted and stable. Plus, your buying the better interior, 4C chassis and AWD.
We don't even carry the T5 at all anymore.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
Help is on the way though. Volvo will debut a 6 spd transaxle in Jan.
This tranny should be on the next R.
Comes down to personal preference and ability to afford the car.
$5k is alot of money for some people.
The reg AWD S60 is a nice car, but the R is more soul stirring to me.
Anyways, the brake thing. I have never had to pay for a brake job in 11 years. Actually, forever now that I think about it, but 11 years of leasing and low mileage at that, brakes have never been an issue.
My wife's old Contour's brakes pulsated and they replaced them...she had 16K miles on the rotors. For them to pawn it off me and say that I don't drive it enough, that rust causes warping, etc...every excuse in the book, I am sorry but it is simply too early. I even called Volvo and they did jack snot. So basically it comes down to a face to face with the manager and my last resort will be to have the brakes done anywhere else but there.
As a 32 year old who is fortunate enough to have tha ability to purchase fine cars, I will let them know that a BMW dealer is a stone's throw awat from my house...Mercedes too.
Now the only problem is when my 'soul stirs' I'm afraid I'll start seeing those flashing lights in my rear view. I haven't had that feeling since my TR6 was on the road 20 years ago (now in a hundred pieces in the garage) - at least I'll have a smile on my face when they take me away.
Thanks for the input.
The first 05 R's that we have coming are scheduled for December. The cutoff for ordering one of those is Sept.
I'm also a little confused as to the power reduction issue on the automatics. I understand why it happens, but is the result going to make an R perform very much like the 2.5AWD? Which makes the differences between the cars cosmetics (that word again)?
As for the R auto, I personally prefer the 6 speed, its what I own.
That being said the R auto handles better than the 2.5T, and is quicker once you get past 50-60 mph or so. Once the R auto reaches 3rd gear it takes off. Plus I like the attention to detail on the interior of the R better.
But when you press the S (Sport) button by the shifter, you get the throttle response that is otherwise only available when you press the Advanced suspension button. So you can get the throttle response of Advanced with the more livable suspension settings of Comfort and Sport. This is not a combination that manual transmission owners have available.
I will grant that if you want the absolute fastest S60R, you have to get the manual. But if you can stand having really dang fast instead of really, really dang fast, and especially if you drive in lots of traffic and/or have a spouse who doesn't drive stick, I don't think you'll find the automatic transmission version as much of a compromise as some people make it out to be.
I routinely leave everyone behind me without trying at all. Also, with the Sport Shift button off, the initial throttle response is very easy to manage making it great for heavy traffic. With the Sport Shift button on, it's so snappy to respond that you can easily squirt in and out of regular city traffic or interstate travel.
Q:
How does your renegotiated price compare to the TMZ on this Edmunds website? (It'll only take you two minutes to calculate).
"s6025t" also talks about that kind of discount, but the TMZ reported on this website gives a price NOWHERE NEAR those dort of numbers. So whats the Edmunds TMZ really worth - nothing?
I don't know how much difference an unblemished hood would be worth at trade-in time.
Is this is a fair price? Dealer says his markup is about 1.5% over invoice.
Good luck on your purchase - I've had my S60R for 4 days now and love it.
First, VFNA has to be willing to allow you to extend your lease. Typically they do this if you have a new Volvo on order.
You may be able to get them to extend the lease without this, but its on a case by case basis.
Second, your contract would continue as before, same payment, same mileage. Your residual would be reduced by the number of payments that you want to extend to. 6 is the maximum.
Good Luck
by the way, if you haven't noticed, Toyota thinks the Camry buyer has gotten too old, too. Hence Scion.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
Umm - we're over 40 now. "Video killed the radio star..."
And yes, I have noticed that Toyota introduced the Scion aimed at young and first time buyers. Just the fact that you mentioned Toyota's new entry level vehicle in an effort to validate Volvo's ad image was my point all along.
Volvo marketing with hip-hoppers will likely be effective as Geritol sponsoring the next MTV awards.
You might want to visit the S40 boards and review some of the messages there, related to the MTV commercial, etc.
I have visited it, and, even participated in some pretty hot discussions.
My overall assessment is that even if a new Volvo approach might be seen as "odd", or I would say - different, it does bring the different buyers to the Volvo dealerships, and therefore, it works.
My 16 and 20 years old daughters consider a new S40 as "very cool". Though they love our S80 and XC90 too.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
Volvo hopes to capture these people and bring them back for S60's,S80's and XC90's as they age.
As titled, Volvo image was my thrust. I think Lev-bekovich's post would be a great Volvo image-- The long time Volvo owning parents introducing their daughter to a unit she could afford with style too. Great! Instead, Volvo is creating an image far less conservative than their base-- and at what cost?
What did the hip raggae-styled beat of the "Zoom Zoom Zoom" ad do for the more expensive S60 sales? Down a whopping 36% for the month of June 04. Where did these 45 year old Volvo buyers go? To the S40? Not likely. To the S80? Obviously not since sales were also down. Did they "die" of old age in the last couple years? (grin)
Image is everything. In the sedan market that Volvo earned over the years... It would appear that Ford is discounting Volvo's image and their base in trade for lower end unit sales. I am sure that someone at Ford is asking where their higher priced sedan buyers have fled to. 36% ought to raise some eyebrows in the image dept.
That is an interesting perspective. So was it 36% down in June compared to last June? Could it possibly be that S40 is, in fact, sapping some sales since the interior has grown to near S60 proportions? Could it also be the XC90, being that it is selling so well, is also sapping S60 sales? Yeah, I think that second one isn't as likely given the price difference, but its not entirely impossible. How do overall company-wide sales compare? I think they are up, aren't they? (i really don't know, but i think i read that a little while ago.) So doesn't that at least say that, overall, they are taking a step in the right direction (at least as far as sales are concerned)?
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
First of all - Volvo is doing pretty good. According to their official corporate site:
"The USA recorded its best ever six months with year-to-date sales of 69,158 units. This represents a 2.1 per cent increase over the pace of the 2003 record year. The XC90 continues to be the best selling European SUV (sales up 20 per cent). The new S40 has also strongly contributed to the sales result."
Second, I believe it is positive to bring younger people to Volvo. Volvo does need to change it's image to remain competitive. The rest of the automotive world has caught up with the safety gadgets, so it's not enough to be safe to be sold.
I have gotten to the Volvo because of the drastic changes in style from S70 to S80. And now, when my 20 years old daughter seriously consider S40 as her first "real" (new) car, I think of it as of very positive development for Volvo.
I consider myself a loyal Volvo client.
My image of Volvo has changed to the positive direction with the introduction of XC90 and new S40. Volvo can serve my family much better now. We have already gotten an SUV, that we always wanted - from Volvo, of course. And if and when we need a smaller car for the youngster - we can go to the same dealer again.
The new S40 has gotten too close to S60, so inevitable it steals some sale from S60.
S60 did steal a lot of sale from S80 3-4 years ago, when it was introduced.
Now here's is the kicker. Yes, Volvo sales YTD are up 2%. However, since the Zoom Zoom and MTV style ads have been running Volvo sales are down about 3% in June. Obviously, just a short glimpse of advertising effects, and maybe not related.
Right direction? If your were a Ford exec would you be happy to be loosing 1350 unit sales on your higher end sedans for a 450 unit increase on your low end? Zoom zoom?
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
Volvo is so notorious of not advertising on TV, that I have serious doubts that the older generation (like myself) noticed a change in the image because of the MTV advertisement. I have not seen any of the Volvo commercials, until my kids videotaped them to share with me. I think that a vast majority of the 40+ readers will agree with me.
Gasoline prices, negative (unfavorable) ratings in some publication had bigger effect on sales IMHO.
Plus,
S40 is very close to S60 in price and it's sales is less aggressively subsidized by Volvo. So a unit profit could be even higher for S40 as for S60 or S80 with incredible sales incentives for the latest.
Ford is not alone, losing sales in the month of June. And I do not think that all other has ran the Zoom-Zoom advertisement...