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Comments
BTW, I hit a small pothole last week(looked like a harmless puddle) and blew out my front tire, put a bubble in the rear and slightly bent the inner lip of the front rim(Tethys). Anyone know a good rim-repair shop in South Florida? I was running about 32psi all around. Have added a couple more pounds. I'll keep inflating the tires until the ride gets too bumpy. Volvo recommends 39psi for 5 passengers or 29psi for 3 or fewer. I kind of split the difference. At this point, I'm thinking that more air is better than less.
Thanks,
I believe that there is a recall on the key fobs for the 2001. I received a card in the mail telling me to go to a dealer to get this fixed.
Also, with the door lock...I did have a "strange" incident where I couldn't lock the door from the inside with the mechanism, until I pressed the unlock button on my key fob. Then I was able to lock from the door mechanism...
I was able to get in on the June deals, so I did a 39 month 12K lease. Total drive-off was $1450 and the monthly payments are $449+tax.
The car is great so far! Other than the turbo lag off the line (which is exaggerated by the high altitude of Colorado) the car is very quick. Passing and merging onto highways are effortless as long as the RPMs are over 3000. The seats and stereo also get top marks. People who aren't familiar with Volvos are surprised how stylish the exterior is and how nice the interior finish is.
I don't think many manual transmission T5s have been sold in the US, so it's nice to have a somewhat "rare" car. Audis and BMWs are everywhere but I see very few S60s, and the ones I do see are usually the AWD model.
I'll keep everyone updated if any problems arise with the car, and if my opinions change as the miles add up.
Volvo S60R Debut
If your car came with the Pirellis, you might want to look into swapping them when you can, they are not well suited to the T5. Good luck.
I have pretty much the same car, manual, and let me tell you, if you break it in right you will notice how the car really loosens up after 3000 miles. I also found minimal turbo lag, but now it seems even less than before.
Couldn't agree more about the seats/stereo...they are in a league of their own. The styling and exclusivity (BMWs are a dime a dozen in Canada) ensure positive feedback and plenty of stares...for a Volvo?
We just went through an incredible heat wave of 44 degree weather (what's that 105-110 F?) and the AC was very powerful, happily!
I also enjoy the action and clutch pickup of my shifter, a close second to the excellent BMW tranny.
What colour?
I also agree with cesims, the Sport Suspension begs for a summer tire. In Canada we need winter tires pretty much like you do, so get some summer tires and the chassis actually can stay with the tires. Right now if you do push it, the tires lose their composure way before the suspension does.
What made you choose the T5? What else did you consider?
My car is Black (019) w/ Graphite interior. I have had literally dozens of people stop, look at my car, and ask me about it. It seems to get approval with people of all ages from 20 to 70. I never expected a Volvo to attract attention! I've heard nothing but compliments so far.
Honestly the only things that really sold me on the Volvo were the turbo engine and the lease incentives. Up here in Colorado cars without a turbo lose between 15 and 30% of their power, so it was a priority this time around.
Other cars considered included the following:
Acura CL Type S 6-speed - surprisingly fun to drive, Acura quality/resale; but only 2 doors. 6-speed not available in the TL
Audi A4 1.8T - great handling, AWD, interior; but not quite enough oomph to move the weight
BMW 330xi - great handling, steering, brakes, shifting, AWD; but loses power at altitude and options make the price jump up quickly!
Infiniti G35 - 6-speed not out in time. Automatic was still a great car, but I prefer to do the shifting in the mountains and RWD would make it tricky in the snow
Nissan Maxima SE 6-speed - Excellent engine, lots of features for the $; but shifter was notchy and clutch had long travel. Will be replaced with new model next year, so will likely look outdated soon
Subaru WRX - By far the most fun to drive, handles like a rally car, AWD, almost bought this one; but not a fan of the exterior styling, cheap interior, no leather available
Volkswagen GTI 1.8T - Great turbo thrust, inexpensive; but handling wasn't as crisp as expected
Many Thanks
Edwin
Another ting, after 3000miles, my tranny now shifts like the proverbial hot knife through butter...much, much better than when I picked it up, it was a little stiff, substantial feeling.
I like the turbo as well. I was driving a 99 Mustang GT, so I needed something with torque. Obviously the T5 has it in spades.
Not really, other than something obvious. I'm sure just like any new car model, be wary of teething problems but haven't heard much on 2001s.
I drove the 2.4 NA engine and it is surprisingly peppy (168 bhp). Good trannies and comfy seats, but it is a cruiser, not a sports sedan, that's for sure.
what's he looking at, any specifics?
Have a good one! Thanks for the reply!!
Edwin
cmnott: My car is actually the standard black and not the sapphire. I had the four door windows and the rear window tinted and it definitely improved the appearance. It was just difficult not rolling down the windows for three days! Got a lot of strange looks opening the door to pay tolls, order at the drive-thru, etc.
Hopefully, the torque steer in the s60R is gone, the steering is tight and linear, the brakes are more linear, the suspension works well over rough roads as well as smoother ones (nothing wrong with the T5 in this regard but it seems a bit ride-biased).
I like the look of the new speedo, Volvo needed to make a nicer speedo. Would like to see a bit more done with the dash but love the wheel, at least the look of it, and like the blue stitching.
Outside the car is Q-shippish but I'd like to see Volvo have color mouldings and strips instead of the black, at least as an option. I think this will be coming down the road.
But what I really want to see is, in comparison tests, the Volvo knock BMW out of the number 1 spot for sporting vehicles, it'll be nice to hear that Volvo is an alternative, rather than falling short of BMW and the other Germans. I like the Swede seats and style better, but the Germans have the sporty factor down. Seems like Nissan has done well with the Infiniti G35 also.
Go for the 2.4T, makes a nice car a fast car.
there will be no torque steer...it is AWD.
I don't think any auto mag would ever choose a Volvo over a BMW. They did choose a G35, but cost had alot to do with it with R&T, and Motor Trend simply said it was better, so who knows.
I think the S60 is as you described, an alternative. Their approach to sports sedan is more real-world, and ride-biased, no question. maybe Volvo realizes that 95% of driving is sedate to moderate and would rather have a spectacular car for most of the time. The T5 is an awesome car to drive with a heavy foot, but anything over 8/10ths driving will pale in comparison to BMW and the G35.
But who drives so close to the limit anyways? And where?
I agree with you, the s60 t5 is a sensible driver's car. I think sometimes the magazines get carried away with cars carving up mountain roads and what they do on the track and how well they behave near their limits and forget that much driving is done in traffic, with slower moving cars in front of you, sometimes on unfamiliar roads where going fast is irresponsible and could have deadly consequences. That the s60 t5 is comfort-oriented with a sports sense means Volvo went for a car that won't alienate many of its fans. The R cars were always for those that wanted the sports car and a significant amount of s/v70 owners complained about the bumpy-road ride quality that Volvo made a more compliant ride a priority, I think a bit over a sportier feel.
But, I do think that Volvo needs to build an uncompromising s60 R, that while it may not knock BMW off of its pedestal, at least it will be seen as a serious sporting car, and maybe compete with Audi, Lexus IS, etc. I like the 3 way adjustable ride, hopefully it'll really be what Volvo says it will be (though I truly hope they don't have the software problems they had with the s80). A cruiser to a uncompromising sports sedan in its more sporty setting.
Wish Volvo could do something about the wide turning radius. For so many years Volvos had such tight turning circles.
The more aero cars get, the more restrictive when the aero shape is broken. Would you beleive I have already hit two birds who didn't hear me coming? I kid you not. They don't hear me coming and I think that aerodynamics is the reason...
I can't decide between the 2.5T or T5. I know about the obvious horsepower difference. I will definitley be buying an automatic so the wife can drive it. In the long run, will I be missing out on the extra horsepower if I go for the 2.5T? I priced out the cars and there is not that much difference with the options that I want.
Also, does anyone have any experience on the resale of these cars? I like to switch out my cars every 3-4 years. I may lease the Volvo, but I don't want to get stuck with excess mileage costs.
I live in the Houston area so if you have a story about a dealership, please let me know.
Thanks in advance for your help.
The T5 has 247 hp @ 5200 RPMs and 243 ft./lbs. torque at 2400 RPMs.
so they are balanced a little differently, but both are wonderful.
So far I have found out that Xenon lights will be available on the '03s, plus the molding will be color matched. Does anyone know of any other things that are being added to the S60 for the MY03?
Other than added features to the S60 in the new model, another reason to wait that I can think of would be any fixes/tweaks they make to the MY02 problems (the few I have read about have been fixed tho).
-Crowly
thanks in advance
The advertised AWD deal is for a well-equipped one (Premium, Cold Weather, Touring, Thor Wheels, and metallic paint) for $388/month for a 39 month lease, with $3,803 total cash due at signing, based on 12K/year. Not bad for a $37,000 car!
Check out new.volvocars.com and click on the "Special Lease Offers" section to read all the fine print. I leased a new T5 at the end of June since the deals were so good.
For the past ten years, I have been driving Ford Motor Company products -- namely the Ford Explorer. I purchased my last one in 1998, an XLT with every option I could get (leather, CD/Cassette, Sunroof/Moon roof, etc). I thought, "this is a luxurious SUV -- I am going to be very happy with THIS one". The last two had not been great experiences. Sadly, the '98 turned out to be a toad as well. I averaged a recall per month, and more trips to the shop than I care to admit to. Overall, a steaming pile of junk.
I looked at the amount of money FoMoCo had taken from me since 1991, and decided I was going to switch manufacturers.
I spent 2 weeks dealing with every ex-convict car salesperson in the area. Eventually, I had narrowed my search down to a Mercedes Benz E320. Until I drove a Volvo S60. MIND YOU, these are two TOTALLY different cars. I realize that. However, the build quality on the S60 was extremely high. Unfortunately, the local Volvo dealership is more like the local Ford dealership – no one was really interested in selling a car (apparently). So -- off I go to volvocars.com -- the beginning a great journey.
A Volvo dealer 200 miles away contacted me by phone (while I was on vacation), had my car in stock, with ALL the options I wanted and was willing to hang onto the car for me to look at as I drove back through 5 days later from vacation. On arrival at the dealership on the way back home, they already had dealer prepped and detailed the car, had a dealer tag on it and keys in the ignition. It only took 5 minutes of drive time for me to figure out *THIS* was going to be *MY* car. We drive back to the dealership, and (no kidding) 30 minutes later, I have completed the paperwork & own the car outright (in conjunction with Volvo Finance). In the meantime, the dealer has moved the stuff from our '98 Explorer into the S60, topped it off with gas and placed the temporary tag in the window. The family and I are on the way home in the new Volvo. Since then (30 days ago), I have fallen in love with this car. I cannot tell you what a difference the dealer made in the process, but the quality of my S60 is amazing. I am so glad that I have joined the Volvo family. I know that this has been the right decision, and I agree with their marketing: Volvo "For Life."
Great story on the treatment by the Volvo dealer. I agree with you, the dealer really makes the difference. I lease a 2001 S60 2.4T. It was a leap of faith to get the first model year. There have been a few minor issues with my car (key fob recall, broken driver door opening mechanism), all taken care of in a professional manner by my dealer. Car returned washed every time and Volvo loaner available for all scheduled service. For a first model year, quality has been excellent. I enjoyed your story and wish you the best with your new ride. Welcome to the family. Your experience with the Explorer is very much par for the course and in a way it worries me the Volvo is owned by Ford.
Regards,
Jim D
I am planning on buying S60 AWD and I want to ask any of you who has fog lights on this car if this option is worth of buying?
I appreciate your responses.
"Why would you buy a $38,000 car and have to look at the front bumper and see two plastic caps covering the fog light holes? The fog lights are not only aesthetically appealing but they do serve some utility in brightening the road close up, even when there is no fog."
Now I ask, why are they a $400 option on a $38,000 car when many $20,000 cars include them as standard equipment? This just goes to show how much money and profit the luxury car manufacturers can siphon out of you without you thinking twice. ("I'm already spending $38,000; what harm is there spending another $400?" )
Nevertheless, they're worth it.
Elliot
L have a friend who has 200K on his, said now that they are Fords he will have to find something else
Try not to get too upset. As far as I can tell, the whole mechanism in the door needs to be replaced with NEW parts. DO NOT let dealer attempt to repair, as this is what they did for me the first time and it failed again the same day it was repaired.
This problem is not too common but there is a service bulletin on it so the dealers will know what "repair kit" to order. My dealer got the parts quickly.
If you must use the car, remember you can put the window down and open the door by reaching out and pulling on the outside handle. I did that for a few days while waiting for parts. I did not want to give up my ride.
I too, was upset, but got over it quickly. If the dealer is responsible, they will make it right. I would much rather have a problem like this, than an engine or transmission issue. This kind of failure is an inconvenience, but not a disaster.
I really enjoy my car and have resolved myself to the idea that all is not going to be perfect. As long as problems can be diagnosed and fixed and you have good dealer support, it will be OK.
Let us know how it all resolves.
I got the S60 2.4T, metallic paint, Premium Package, Cold Weather Pack, Locking Wheels, and Extra Power amp for $30,000 delivered.
Seems to be quite a discount from the best online quotes I have been able to find.
I was lucky, and ordered just after the closing of the 2002 book, so I will get a 2003 delivered in mid-November at 2002 prices.
I've long respected Volvo quality from afar, but I am already anticipating getting behind the wheel of my very first Volvo.
Does this seem like an okay deal? I think folks travelling to Europe can get a similar deal on European delivery.
But if calling them Fords makes you feel any better, go right ahead. You will just look ill-informed and dumb.
I am ready to make a deal on a 2.4T AWD (leasing for now) and I am curious to know if the Pirelli P6 tires that come with the car are a good all-around tire. If not, would the dealer give me the option to change them to say Michelin Pilot Sport A/S (are those better?), or something else?
Also, are there any software changes that I should consider if/when picking up the car?
Thanks in advance....