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Comments
We do know that the 05's won't be out until Sept or so.
Don't look for any significant changes for 05.
The V8 won't be available till Jan 05.
Look for some color and trim changes, possible upgrade of the 2.5L turbo engine.
Xc50 is still a rumor at this point, if it ever comes through look for it in 06 or 07.
As for the Freestyle, it will be closer to the XC70 than the XC90. Although I doubt it will use all of the XC70's chassis and safety systems(too costly for a Ford).
Big fan of the AstroShield wax. Their window cleaner pads are not that great though.
The map screen is decent, and it splits in two parts when you approach a turn or directional change. THe voice commands from the system are VERY detailed. Sometimes too much so. But I guess when you are using a NAV you'd ideally like it to be the most comprehensive in terms of directions.
lzk
But:
The steering wheel controls are likely not as easy as touch screen. You have to scroll through menus...it is very distracting. Also the toggle is counterintuitive.....you click to the right and it goes left. Your brain gets used to it after a while and at 8 mos., it isn't a prob.
The data is ok but sometimes maddening. It will say you are 1 mile from a restaurant and then will give you a 20 minute circuitous route to it.... it goes by the crow, not the road so it may take you to the next exit 20 miles up and then bring you back instead of saying the Wendies at the next exit is actually the closest.
The detour function is potentially good but I have found it acts nuts sometimes. I needed to get around a mile long backup on the highway once and instead of suggesting the parallel road for a mile or 2...it took me 2 hours out of the way to a completely different highway.
It turns down the sound on the radio when it talks which is good...except to mute it, you have to go through lots of menus....impractical. If I start a trip and am on talk radio...I annoyingly miss stuff on the radio during the part of the trip I already know...a mute button would be good. What I end up doing is increasing the radio volume..
All in all it is good...probably better than an add on system...
Question for the NAV users out there: How do you enter a street address without a touch screen or keyboard? For e.g. in the RX300 (and Acura Nav too), you get a QWERTY keyboard on the screen and you touch-type the street in. I liked the feature whereby it leads you into the name, it only allows you to select possible letters, and finishes the street name when before you finish typing. Is it the same in the XC90 Nav?
In this case you simply scroll to the letter you want and press enter to select the letter. You can only select the letters available based on prior choices.
Once you learn the interface it is FASTER than a touch screen. I can delete an existing destination and enter a new one (from stored locations or last 10) in under 5 seconds of which no more than 2-3 are spent looking at the screen. By contrast a touch screen would require me to look at the screen for 100% of the time.
Then there's the nasty mess from fingerprints to contend with...
More to the point, I have never used or even seen a touch screen that was ergonomically placed so the driver's eyes are on the horizon. They're always placed on the dash face (usually centered between driver and front passenger) which requires your eyes and hands to be off the road.
I'm not saying Volvo's system is perfect because it isn't but until someone else comes up with a system that keeps your eyes on the horizon and hands on the wheel I don't see anything better - speech recognition is heading in the right direction, they just need to move the screen and make more flexible (for accents) and quicker interfaces.
Thanks.
-rollie
rdollie@att.net
HUD and SMG for the New 5 are still delayed I believe. I sat in a 530i that had a $53k sticker price without either of these options - yikes! I didn't even bother waiting for the 545i variant to arrive with SMG as I figure by the time I load it with options it will hit the mid-60s (at which point I'd rather wait and save up for an E55.)
Thanks.
-rollie
rdollie@att.net
It's very easy to enter data. When you start to enter a street name, for example, the system compares the letters you have entered against the list of available street names for that city, and blocks out all the letters that don't fit. So you are not constantly scrolling through the whole alphabet.
There is also a remote for the system, so you can assign someone else co-pilot duties, if you choose.
Anyone else happen to see the episode of the Osbournes when Ozzy was trying to give voice commands to his new BMW?
Sharon
2.5T XC90 (one year old this month)
Jeez, it probably started smoking and sparks started flying! That must have been a sight!
However, given the other vehicles I am considering - Pilot, MDX, GX470, Landcruiser - I just read Consumer Reports year end vehicle summary and they rate the Volvo a black circle (much worse than average) for reliability. The others are all rated at the top of the scale - much better than average. Even the X5 is rated above the Volvo and only the ML320/500 is rated as bad as the Volvo.
For you XC90 owners out there, what has been your experience? Were you aware of these ratings when you bought? Is there other data besides Consumer Reports that you/I should consider?
P.S. We have friends who swear by Volvo, but they only lease for 36-39 months and hand the car back before the warranty expires. We would plan/like to be able to keep the XC90 for many years, but don't want to get clobbered with repair bills and problems. Even the Volvo sales manager I talked to said there is a 50/50 chance of needing to replace the turbocharger within 75k-100k miles at a cost of $2,500+. He phrased it as "only" a 50/50 chance and "only" $2,500. I view it differently, as I haven't spent $2,500 in grand total repairs on our Maxima in 150k miles.
VERY ANNOYING. I am driving an s40 loaner...for a week now....I had the s60 for a week before.
BTW, the pickup in both these cars is much better than the xc90.
Nothing to do w/ Ford, Volvo is very unenthusiastic about the project.
It is still possible that a Cross Country version of the V50 could arrive in a couple of years.
The "W" button seems to change the torque curve and do little else?
I've owned Subarus, Hondas, Jeeps, etc. and have never driven a vehicle with as poor winter performance as the XC-90.
What bothers me about this is that Volvo selected these tires which are rated extremely poorly for snow. Having spent $45+K for this vehicle to discover that I now need to outlay additional capital for a new set of rims/tires is completely maddening.
http://www.michelinman.com/catalog/index_5.html
I have the 16 inch wheels with Continental tires. After a year's worth of driving on them, they performed horribly this winter (not a great tire to begin with, in my opinion). I've just replaced them with 16" Nokian WR SUV tires and of course we haven't had any snow since! We did have one morning with icy roads and I felt these tires did a fine job. I was very confident in my stopping ability, where as before I was sliding all over the place.
These Nokians are the only all-seasons tire to receive the "severe service" emblem. I'm torn between not wanting to shovel any more snow and and wanting to try these tires out!
Sharon
If you check around you will get the real scoop on the best tires for your XC90 (mine came with Michelin Pilots which I've been thrilled with in dry lands, wet roads, and some icy conditions in the mountains here.)
The Michelin Syncrones you have were widely panned by Volvo and others and as I recall were only sold on XC90s for the first few months while they were on sale here in the U.S.
If you need additional info let me know.
Thanks.
-rollie
rdollie@att.net
Steve, Host
If you check around you will get the real scoop on the best tires for your XC90 (mine came with Michelin Pilots which I've been thrilled with in dry lands, wet roads, and some icy conditions in the mountains here.)
The Michelin Syncrones you have were widely panned by Volvo and others and as I recall were only sold on XC90s for the first few months while they were on sale here in the U.S.
If you need additional info let me know.
Thanks.
-rollie
rdollie@att.net
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Pirelli&tire- Model=Scorpion+A%2FT&vehicleSearch=true&partnum=36TR8SCOR- ATXL&fromCompare1=yes
I have Bridgestone A/T tires on my Isuzu and while they are great and much better than the stock tires I wouldn't think about putting them on my MDX.
Although if winter performance is your main objective and having tires that would also do good in the summer, they may actually be a good choice? If you are going to sacrifice on the speed rating my choice would be the Michelin cross terrain's.
Another thing to consider is what warranty item would be voided if you did chose T rated tires over H? I doubt any. If you break away from the "H" limitation there are more choices of quality tires. I don't see any reason why/how they can deny warranty coverage...maybe if your tires burst on the highway and you are looking at a Ford Exploder like lawsuit, you may be limited because you changed ratings.
We took delivery on Dec 6. Our Nav DVD arrived on Dec 10 through FedEx. I would check with the dealer to make sure they place the order.
Anyway..why I'm really writing is about the lack of a headlight sensor for this car. I heard that u can have the dealer change the setting but this didnt help. So..I'm asking you all pls for help..is there a way, to have only the parking lights on during day as daytime running lights and shut on/off when u are in and out if car AND have the headlights autimatically come on when it gets dark out. Im not so sure. Before this volvo i had a nice Pathfinder and i never even touched the headlights b/c of light sensors...for 3 years..but Volvo apparently doesnt offer this option. The way I have it set now is that the headlights are on 100% of the time and shut off automatically when car off. If i want daytime running lights for the parking lights..i need to remmeber to put them on and shut them off. Can anyone help??
One last thing...I have 18" Atlantis wheels...with Michelins from Volvo....does anyone know what the proper psi is? Do u listen to the Volvo suggested #'s OR the # on the side of tire???....Sorry so long..thx...Ant
Anyone else having many problems? All of this and the trip meter still resets by itself, and I have never found a CD that will display the song titles on the screen. Yes I have it turned on in the setup menu...
plumb FRUSTRATED!!!!!!!!!
I've had mine for almost 3,000 miles. No problems whatsoever. The cd player will display some of the title names but other ones it does not. Looks like it depends on the cd and the information that it is broadcasting to the player.
No problems shifting between 1st and 2nd
No problems with the trip meter.
Just a dream.
I think Lexus brand is over-valued, maybe 10 years later, people will look at it differently, when built quality, engine/tran, lux features are (already?) surpassed by others. Resale value is the biggest myth of all, feeds itself by the perceptions.
Toyota brand itself will stay global learder in mass market, cheap, functional, long lasting.