I would be really interested to get the forums thoughts on these cars and also on some points about the car industry itself and how you pick a brand.
I bought a used 2014 Volvo V40 Cross Country about 18 months ago, it is an automatic (my first one of those) and has the D2 engine which is, I believe a Ford 1.6L diesel engine, to go with the Ford Focus based chassis. The engine is a bit gutless for my liking but it is mainly driven by the wife on a 60 mile round daily commute (95% A-road dual carriageway) and she has a very light right foot and couldn't care less about the power.
I think it is a brilliant car. I find the safety features far more useful than I thought I would (Blind spot detection, lane departure warning, adaptive cruise control) and the seats are easily the best I have ever sat in. It hasn't missed a beat so far,which is good as my wife relies on it heavily and we do about 18-20k per year in it. It is now on 64,000 miles. The interior feels very well made and it is all very easy to use.
Because we rely on it so much I have so far always taken it to Volvo for service. Really bloody expensive but also a very good service and very comprehensive breakdown cover. Is it madness to keep this up?
I, like many others, wish Volvo were the same company they were before Ford and then Geely bought them. Back then I hear that, no, they weren't the most reliable but easy to maintain and could last a very long time if that maintenance was kept up. Now there is plastic shroudings, and bottomless software etc. But aren't all modern cars like this? When researching Volvo seems to get a lot of stick for this but I don't see them being much worse than other brands?
My main priority when I bought this car was to buy the safest and most comfortable car for my wife to drive, that was within budget (the car cost me £9k). I still can't think of anything else I would have bought instead.
So what do you guys think of the state of modern cars and reliability/maintenance cost and ease/safety. Do you have any brand loyalty in this respect? Any stand out cars that you feel stick to more traditional values of easy to maintain? Just curious. Anyone else still like a Volvo?
Switched to Volvo 30 years ago and never regretted it- second hand prices, reliability, comfort beats mercedes/BMW hands down. Original Volvo's weren't manufactured, more assembled - Volvo bought in all the parts from various manufacturers and assembled them in Sweden I believe. I have more faith in Geely than Ford.
Sorry, can't comment on modern volvos as my current daily has only done 180,000
Last edited by Suds; 19th December 2019 at 15:49.
Some of the mad sleeper 240s with monty engine swaps on YouTube are fab. Oh wait, sorry wrong era!
Modern stuff, meh.
This.Originally Posted by GraniteQuarry
Some of the mad sleeper 240s with monty engine swaps on YouTube are fab. Oh wait, sorry wrong era!
Modern stuff, meh.
It all depends on what you expect from a car. If you're happy with it, it's all the car you need.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
I'm either a brand loyalist or a bone idol consumer, plus I'm about as interested in cars as I am in white domestic appliances.
Had a V50 for 15 years. Bought it because the dealer was close, nice looking vehicle, right size for our needs. Always had it serviced by a Volvo accredited specialist close by which included the breakdown cover. Dealer has closed down, but still bought a new XC60 this year. Seems fine.
Also have a very expensive VW vehicle which belies the impression of high-quality German design, engineering and manufacturing. Never again.
I have had an XC60 for the last year. It’s my first Volvo and we are really happy with it. The only thing I would swop it for would be the larger XC90.
Recently bought a V60 D4 new shape and TBH wish I hadn’t - gearbox is laggy and engine rough at
Likewise I love mine, and having drove all the others if you took the badges off and asked people to chose then its The Volvo you would sit in everytime
RIAC
My thoughts exactly.
Echo that again here...
I’ve had an XC60 for nearly 4 years from new, it’s a good car but there are a few irritating things. Ride on our country roads is awful, fuel use is high and the tech is showing its age. Turning circle is immense. If I used it as a motorway cruiser I’d get another, but I want something less barge like to replace it tbh.
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We had two XC90s (old shape) - both brilliant. Recent XC60 was truly awful and never to be repeated.
Only recently sold my 2013 "Polestar blue" V40 D4 (last of the 5 cylinder cars), and I have to say it's been one of my favourite all-rounder cars. I always liked the looks of this generation, and it proved one of the best handling cars I've owned, and with north of 200 bhp (with a little light chipping) it still managed over 50mpg with little effort by me to restrict its performance. It even sounded good, and godnose that's rare enough for a diseasel!!! It was an ex-Volvo UK fleet car, so every possible option box had been checked, and I must say I miss things like the excellent adaptive cruise etc now I'm chugging-around in a Hilux! Did something close to 50K in it, and never needed more than routine maintenance and a set of tyres.
My wife's last company car was a 2017 V90 - another excellent car - the newer 4-pot 2.0L diesel was less characterful, but very nearly as economical as the smaller car, and the whole thing was wonderfully spacious but still stylish.
If you buy Volvo, you have to live with the fact that all of the (German-owned) motoring press will invariably insist they are vastly inferior to the usual dreary krautboxes, but that's a plain and simple lie. No car marque is faultless, but Geely's hands-off approach to letting Volvo do what it does best is paying dividends. I'd still be driving one but for the fact I need a 4WD pickup nowdays.
My Dad was a Volvo guy so I started driving them as a teenager. The best one he had was iirc was a 244 GLT ? (I may have the model designation wrong). 40 years on I have my first ever Volvo (XC60) after years of Mercs, Audis and Beemers. I can say quite emphatically I will not be having another Volvo the user interface being especially loathsome.
Always wanted to love Volvos and I am very much bought into all written above (safety, comfort, etc). I bought a Mercedes E Class in early 2019 and at the time went to drive the XC60. Really wanted to go for it but on test drive I wasn't as impressed as I was hoping to be. Perhaps I just did not get enough feel for it in the short 15 min drive. I ended up settling for Mercedes again (I think my 12th or 13th one!) On that note, the W213 E Class is supremely comfortable too and I am very happy commuting 3 hours daily in it (up to 90 mins each way).
We bought our first Volvo in September the xc90 after trying all the usual suspects, the Volvo just felt right it was a toss up between this and a Merc equivalent in the end. Overall really pleased with it we need 7 seats for our family and although I really wanted a Vclass Merc for practical reasons the Mrs wanted an SUV so we plumbed for this. Far too early to say about reliability, seems very durable inside, nice to drive very surefooted plenty of space for us all.
I’ve had a new XC90 hybrid for the past three years - not massive mileage at roughly 20k, but given that most of that is inside the M25 it can’t be said to have had an easy life.
Initially (first half of 2017) there were some serious software issues which almost led to me rejecting the car altogether - these ranged from stupid satnav misbehaviour to random loss of instruments and lights at inconvenient times. Once they sorted that with a complete OS rebuild, it’s been great.
The interior is wonderfully comfortable, the initially bewildering range of driver aid technology is actually additive, the drivetrain is brilliant and the optional air suspension makes for a great driving experience; it’s nice and pliable over London pot-holes but it’s stable and well controlled when driving on the motorway or in “POWERRRRR” mode.
It’s very much not a “proper” off-roader, but in the appropriate drive mode it makes easy work of rough tracks and slopes even in muddy/snowy conditions, which is really the worst we’ve ever asked of it. The load space is cavernous, the rear seats spacious and comfy and the third row habitable for smallish adults as well as kids.
Performance wise it’s a surprise - there’s just no way a massive 2.5 ton car should go like this. It sounds incredibly dull while doing it, but a full bore emergency start is an impressive experience... The fuel economy isn’t bad either: battery range is only about 20 miles, but used as we have it’s returned a lifetime average mileage just over 39mpg. Given where it spends much of its time that strikes me as seriously good.
Conclusion: best all-rounder I’ve ever owned. It doesn’t have a shred of the sense of occasion or grin-factor of the 928 (a deceptively practical car, it must be said), but it’s a phenomenally pleasant place to be as it efficiently moves us around the place.
Agreed on the XC90 performance. I borrow a colleague’s 2018 model (2.0d) and it feels quicker round town than my G30 530d.
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Where is Volvomanuk when you need him?!
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