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Sorry for the late reply. Just got back last night. Yes the rock made my heart skip a couple of beats as it was louder than I am used to on the American roads. Only managed to get her up to 125mph as I didn't want to press it (plus, would've felt bad getting her up to higher as I haven't had my C70 up to the delimiter yet). I only saw two porsche's believe it or not. A 911 and a Cheyanne. Most of the cars on the Autobahn were audis volkswagons and mercs. During the day I was zipping by plenty of them. But then on Thursday night I stopped off in Frankfurt to have dinner with a friend of mine that moved out there recently. When I left (around 9:00pm) to go to Cologne, I got back onto the Autobahn and I had S4 wagons, mercedes and volkswagons blowing my doors off. It was truly phenomenal. I was doing about 110 to 120 on the way up and I would look in the rear view and see headlights coming up quick (fortunately I was already in the middle lane or right lane). Those guys must have some green light after 9:00. So...During the day I was the victimizer, but in the evening, those guys must've been doing 150+. I really couldn't believe how fast they would come up in that left lane. Suffice it to say those Europeans really know how to drive. That left lane is for passing only and if you're not doing 100+mph it is advisable to stay out of it.
One other thing I will NEVER complain about... Gas prices in the States. It is heaven here compared to there.
I know you can't wait for your Volvo to arrive stateside! I wish I had known about VCIC (Volvo Car International Customer Sales) before we ordered ours. Hope to go that route with our next Volvo purchase.
Congratulations again on your XC90!
I would definitely recommend doing that. The Raddison in Goteborg is "adequate" but the breakfast there was very good and Volvo picks up the tab for that. I went to Copenhagen and took the train from there and was glad I did as there was not much to see in Goteborg.
They kept me at the factory (I didn't take the tour) for about 15 minutes. They whipped through the paperwork and were very helpful with everything.
Suggestions:
If something happens to the car while driving in Europe (cracked winshield for instance) you need to stop at a Volvo dealership and get documentation that it happened there. At the factory they give you a book of all the different "Help Lines" in the countries that you are in that you can call 24 hours a day and they can help you with locating dealerships to locating gas stations. Definitely very helpful.
Definitely figure out where you are going to drop the car off and get directions from EVERYWHERE to that spot. I ended up driving around Brussels for about an hour before I found the Volvo dropoff point.
Figure out ahead of time how you will get from the dropoff point to the airport, or wherever. It cost me 95 Euro to go from the dropoff point to the southern airport in Charlerois.
Volvo offers 2 Limo pickups in Goteborg...Use them.
Finally, for those interested. At the dropoff location they give you the name of the boat, the date the car will be on the boat and the eta of your vehicle. For me they indicated that the car will be on a boat by Monday the 24th. It will take AT MOST 14 days to arrive in Baltimore. It will then take AT MOST 15 WORKING days to get to the dealership.
My local dealership, Volvo Irvine (actually I think the word 'Power' has been added in the name somewhere) allowed us to do an overnight test drive after we showed we were serious about buying a vehicle they had on hand. I suspect most dealerships will be as accomodating after you sit down with a salesman and give them the details and let them run financing. XC90s are still the quickest moving Volvos (I've been seeing the same S60Rs sitting on the lot for well over a month now) but many dealers have at least a few sitting around looking for a new home.
Good luck.
-rollie
rdollie@att.net
Or, XC90 T6 7 passenger GVWR 6080 lbs.
Off topic,
It is a 9 yr old car. Perhaps you can enlighten us as to the problems and care that the car has recieved over its lifespan.
1)e-brake: Tech-Net note #55-02/add balancing spring (part# 1212200) to self-adjusting mechanism
2)If you experience erratic powering off and on with your audio system you can request software upgrades.
Part#30657948-3 Upgrade I
Part#30667419-3 Upgrade A
Part#30667150-4 Upgrade A
There also was a earlier upgrade, but with your delivery date I would expect it was applied.
Part#30657785-9 Upgrade ICM
3)Service Bulletin #116
Summary: Service Upgrade-Adjusting the steering column may affect the function of the immobilizer system
4)If you are noticing a hesitation in the 1-2 shift you can request software upgrade #923.
Part#30670092-3
Hope this helps.
The XC90 does not require 91 octane gas although it is recommended for peak performance; 87 is fine.
The oil filter is a special type that requires a tool to remove the plastic canister. Not hard to do and oil changes are free the first 30k miles.
There is lots of room inside but it is not designed for sleeping. You could do it in a pinch. The short lower section of the rear hatch might help by extending the leg room.
Your 66" roof bars would be pushing it. We have Yakima bars and trimmed them to 48" because the XC90 has a relatively tall, narrow, arched roof where wide bars would get in the way and look ugly. Perhaps a backcountry trailer like the www.freedomteardrop.com would work for that extra gear as well as providing better sleeping and cooking facilities.
A temporary spare is a definite liability for backcountry driving. We carry a full-sized spare in the car on some trips; it takes up room but I would rather not risk it 50-100 miles from the nearest services.
Volvo reliability is good and early-model bugs have been addressed. We like to go on rough road trips in the mountains and deserts, too, and value reliability. The only other car we looked at was the VW Touareg: less room and heavier with a questionable dealer network, but more capable on bad roads and comparable safety.
I went to a dealership a couple of days ago and explored the XC90 in their showroom. It seems the third row seats were damn near impossible to get in (I'm 5'7") and, from the looks of it, if you attempted to return the 2nd row seats to the point where they have decent legroom, you'd amputate the third row passengers legs, even a little kid's.
I'm looking at SUV alternatives with a third row that is at least useful for kids on a short trip. I don't need or want the size of a Sequoia and am willing to trade a little third row size/comfort for a vehicle that drives and handles well. The Pilot/MDX would work, but I was interested in the Volvo as well.
Am I mistaken, or is the XC90 about as good of a 7 passenger vehicle as the 911 is a 4 passenger vehicle? Frankly, it appears that a E320 Wagon with rearward facing third row seats actualy is more useful for kids.
We looked at the MDX as well as the XC90. In the end, the third row wasn't important to us so we just got the XC without it.
From what I've seen, none of the mid size SUV's have loads of room in the third row, nor were they meant to. It's more of an occasional use thing. If it's something you feel you need all the time, then go with a full size SUV, a wagon or (shudder) a mini-van.
Audio controls. The passengers can plug in headphones and listen to a CD or radio station independent of the other users. Only one CD can be played at a time, of course.
My wife is 5'7" and can sit in the 3rd row but that's about the limit. I'm 6'2" and have to slouch. The trick with leg room is to negotiate with the two front rows.
You can fit combinations of 5 to 7 people comfortably depending on how big they are and where they sit. For example, 6 people: tall-tall on the left side with the seats all the way back; a small child in the center booster seat; and medium-medium-medium on the right side with the seats up enough to give leg room to all parties. Fitting 7 adults would be a challenge, especially if several of them are tall.
It works well for a mid-sized car and the rear is not that hard to get into as the 2nd-row seats slide forward and tilt. There is even room for luggage in the rear.
The XC 3rd row is a little difficult to get in and out because the floor is high, but so are the others SUVs. Once you are in, I feel the XC90 3rd row leg room is about the same as MDX/Pilot and much better than ML/LX470. In addition, the XC90/Pilot's design allows you to tuck your feet under the 2nd row, giving you quite a few more inches of stretch room. You cannot do that w/ ML/LX470. Individually-adjustable positions for the 2nd row seat is also a big plus with the XC90. We often have a baby in the 2nd row and can move her seat all the way forward to make more room for the person behind her in the third row. Last but not least, the XC has the most distance from behind the 3rd row to the bumper, giving you better safety in rear collision.
Does anyone have any tips or suggestions? We have not yet driven one with FWD so are there any differences in the way they drive?
1. Do you plan on keeping it for awhile? If not, resale may bit a bit tougher for FWD vs. AWD.
2. Sometimes you find that you may need AWD when you least expect it. One scenario I could envision: If you have AWD and you're pulling a boat off a steep ramp. The front wheels may slip, but the DSTC will kick in, distributing power to the rear wheels.
The AWD drive isn't just for northern climates and hill country. It comes in handy in wet driving conditions as well. It provides another dimension to the handling of the vehicle.
As far as the driving difference between AWD and FWD, there's no difference in how they feel during `casual' driving. But you may notice a difference if driving hard on winding roads.
I will take my own tape measure and digital camera as well. My initial comparison betwee the Pilot and XC90 was that the former has much more room. This seems to be supported by the dimensions listed here on Edmunds where the Pilot has between 3-4" more hip and shoulder room, approximately 1.5" more legroom and 1.5" more headroom than the XC90. To put it in perspective, these differences are greater than the differences as between a 3 series and 5 series BMW.
Thanks again for the third row comments. Keep them coming.
AWD: better traction in all conditions.
The AWD operates like a FWD most of the time--about a 95/5 power split front/rear--until needed. If superior traction is not important to you, go with the FWD.
As you may suspect, I have not ordered yet.
My wife likes the heated seats as well as the options I mentioned.
I would like to have had the T6 IF it had been offered with a suitable tranny.
George
I've been stop light racing sedans, SUVs (X5 3 times), and today a BMW 325. None of them could pass or pull on me and a few fall way behind by time I hit 3rd. I've finally found that with the XC90 optimized for launch (tranny setup for power shifting, DSTC off)even the Geartronic is very smooth if you run it up to 5k or so before shifting (previously it was very harsh sounding and shifting.)
We were all set to concede some of our needs and buy a Cayenne when this used loaded XC90 T6 came up. If it wasn't for the striking difference between new and used (16,000 miles) in performance we would be driving a much more expensive Cayenne today.
All in all we're quite happy with the T6 (we just have to figure out the tow hitch and an additional item or two related to the navigation system.)
Thanks.
-rollie
rdollie@att.net
Of course, the 5-stars are in the NHTSA test where the side impact is simulated with a barrier the height and size of a Corolla. SUV's with higher ground clearance and passenger seating tend to fare well in that test. The test is misleading because of the vast amount of minivans and SUV's on the road today.
IIHS has a new test with a taller barrier meant to simulate SUV's on the road today. Thus far they've only run it against small SUV's. As a group, they did not fare anywhere near as well as they did on the NHTSA test. The only vehicles that did well employed some type of head protection device, like side curtains.
We'll see how the Pilot does when the IIHS finally gets around to running the new side impact test against it. Though perhaps by then, Honda might add side curtains to the Pilot.
The XC90 has been subjected to EuroNCAP's side-impact test, which includes the head-banging pole test, and it acquitted itself very well. It'll probably do well in the new IIHS test.
Frankly, in the current vehicle market, I will never again buy another vehicle without side curtains. There are too many alternatives that have them. Even Honda says that within a few years all of its vehicles will be equipped with them, regardless of trim level.
Evidently after about 10,000 miles or so the engine seems to come into it's own on both models.
We've noticed ours starting to `loosen up' abit.
That's good to hear! Think of what it might do with a five speed! While we're on the subject of tranny's, I would love for Volvo to offer an optional 5-speed manual for the XC90, but I don't see it happening.
http://autos.msn.com/advice/article.aspx?contentid=4022231&sr- c=Home&pos=Edit1
overtime
I did not negotiate price on overseas delivery. It is my understanding that if they know you want to do the european buyers program, you'll be paying msrp.
Regarding XC90s with a manual, they do exist in Europe. Of course these are the excellent D5 diesels that we won't see here in the U.S. due to marketing reasons (it seems we ignorant Americans can't get past the image of smoke-belching diesels from decades past.)
Thanks.
-rollie
rdollie@att.net
I don't expect Volvo will be throwing many incentives at me for a mid-June pickup date.
I don't suppose the steering tightens up any as well?
Thanks!
Similarly, I suspect that if a US Volvo dealer makes a full profit on a Overseas Delivery sale, there are some dealers out there that will discount the price. Especially if it means another sale without diminishing there US allocation that they can sell at MSRP if the demand is still high. I haven't made any decision on the XC90, but you can be sure that if I lean that way, I won't leave any stone unturned on the Overseas Delivery program.
As for comment on the lack of diesels, I don't think it is us "ignorant" American consumers that are to blame. Write to your congressman and ask why they have been so slow to adopt cleaner diesel fuel standards that have been the requirement in Europe for many years. The new Mercedes E320 CDI arriving in the states next spring already has a waiting list forming at the three DC Mercedes dealers I called. A used 1998/1999 E300 Turbodiesel in my area will regularly sell for more than the E320 gas version (which had a higher initial MSRP). In some cases, they sell for more than comparable E430s.
There certainly is consumer demand for a good performing diesel in my neck of the woods. I'm not sure what that means for Volvo, however, since their former diesels were pretty poor vehicles compared to Mercedes. Even the BMW 524d was a dog.
The steering is much better than I expected but I didn't realize it while driving. I got in my S80 T6 this morning after driving the XC90 T6 for the past five days or so and realized that the XC90 T6 steering gives better feedback and is tighter at lower speeds (I think it has the ZF rack which is now standard on S80 T6 but not on my 1999 one.)
Regarding Overseas Delivery the dealership receives a 5% commission from Volvo for any order placed through the program. I don't know how these orders affect allocation though. There have been instances where the dealer (not Volvo) was willing to kick in a few hundred on an extra airline ticket or an accessory to make a sale but that's less than common in my experience (and definitely not going to be easy to get on vehicles like the XC90 and Rs.)
Thanks.
-rollie
rdollie@att.net
Especially XC90's.
Sometimes a dealer will give a little to a good customer, maybe $500 at most.
Volvo strenously discourages doing anything more.
I've had the exact same thing happen to me twice. Trip counter resets itself to zero. Have you found a solution to the problem yet? Thanks!
Anyone else have problems with dealers not having parts in stock? Everything for the car must be ordered. I'm waiting on a new driver side mirror now. Mine whistles above 40 MPH.
One of my favorite options on my '03 XC90 T6 is the reverse radar. I highly recommend it. I forget if the integrated child booster seat is standard, but if not and you have a kid that can use it, it's great. I love my car in general. Take care,
Jennifer
Thank you for everyone's input, I guess it is time to order what I want and wait the 3 months!
or are you buying overseas?
ps Thanks for the high altitude report. I have been waiting for that.
I really miffed a Mercedes ML500 driver as I walked him several times at will (we traded off passing on the few passing lane chances) over a 30 mile mountain romp (ranging from 3,000 to 6,500 ft.) In fact the T6 accelerated so well that after my first attempt my wife's threats of what she would do if I tried to pass anyone disappeared.
Most impressive of all was that I got a little better than 15 mpg up and down the mountain which I thought was very well considering all the WOT climbing and passing.
-rollie
rdollie@att.net
I usually get 10% off MSRP on a bmw overseas.
on volvos, i usually get 17% off msrp on a volvo. have to figure out all that and see if it comes out better.
let me know if it does or doesnt.
on a volvo xc90 i saw a video here, :
http://www.autosupermart.com/shop/news/PR/2004volvoxc90t6.html