ATTN: ALL Who READ My Tire Vibration Post

[LisaPhish]

Hi.

First of all, thanks everyone, for all your comments and suggestions with my initial post about the vibration in my XC.

Just to quickly summarize; the car has been back to the shop 4X, aligned twice, wheels and tires balanced, twice, and entire set of Scorpian's replaced, and the problem remains. We just can't write this off as, a characteristic of the XC ( like the dealership insists..... ) especially since I've driven one that doesn't shake, and many of you tell me yours ride smooth, as well.

So........ what we want to do, is get the dealer to replace our tires with a different brand. We have heard and read from many people, (mostly from this forum) that others have had similar problems with their Scorpian's. Since our dealership AND the VOLVO CUSTOMER SERVICE REPS BOTH claim they've NEVER heard of a problem with these tires before, I NEED YOUR HELP!

My husband noticed that over 360 people VIEWED my first post on the vibration, and whether this was how these cars were supposed to ride, and 39 actually posted. So he thought, maybe many of you who viewed it, have a similar problem. It would REALLY help us get new tires from Volvo if we could have your stories, and solutions your were given from your dealers. The Svc. manager claims that Volvo will not let him put anything besides the Pirelli's on our car, but I noticed some of your dealer's did in fact, change your tires to Michelin's.

STRENGTH comes in NUMBERS, so the more posts and stories, the better!!

Please, even if you've never posted before and are a POST READER like my husband, PLEASE POST NOW!

It will be soooo greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance............. Lisa http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/cool.gif

[cbob]

I'd be the first to want to help you with dealer problems, but as you might remember from my posts, I don't think you have tire problems, unless it's something wierd like a bad bead, or some wheel problem.
I find it very difficult to believe that you have not had the opportunity to take another XC out to see that they don't (and should not ) vibrate. If you have sampled other XC's and you think they all "vibrate", then maybe this is not the vehicle for you.

Very best of luck !

Michael

[LisaPhish]

Michael,

I did drive another car in their lot, and it DID vibrate, worse than mine does.  I could see the steering wheel shaking up and down.  

I drove an acquaintance's '02 XC and it was SMOOTH, however.  She told me that when she test drove one at the SAME dealership, she had a shaky one too. She asked the salesman if this is how they all road, and if so, she told him she didn't like it at all.  He avoided giving her a straight answer and let her drive another one.  It was smooth, and thus, she ordered her car.  It too, is smooth.  

They have yet to put wheels and tires off a smooth riding car on mine, but I just think it's the tires.  I would suggest to them, however, that they try that BEFORE purchasing yet another set, of tires!

Thanks for your input though.

Lisa

[edjike]

It must be the NY XC's?  I bought mine in NJ and no virbrations!  I do not think it is the tires eithor.  But what do I know!!!!!

[sydleigh]

Hi Lisa,

Your message may be too old for me to respond to but here goes.  I have a 2000 XC and am on my third set of tires!  I have had two new drive shafts put into my car as well as a new tie rod.  I have had many other repairs unrelated to the vibration and am also starting to look into the lemon law.  I will read further to see about that, but wanted to add my experience to the masses.  I am going to meet with the dealer next week!

Sydleigh

[wiz]

First Sydleigh, welcome to the forum! http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif I am sorry that your first post here is such a tale of woe... http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif

As you surmise, Lisa is long gone. The car was returned under the State of New York's lemon statute and she received a full refund (less the sales tax she paid). She was planning on purchasing an Audi as a replacement, but never returned to tell us how that went. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif

[cbob]

Hi Sydleigh. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif
Welcome to the forum. I'm sorry to hear that you appear to have a lemon XC. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif
It happens in the best of factories.

Since the thread you chose to comment about happened to be one that contained a snarky remark by me, http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/nervous.gif
I should mention that from all the other threads Lisa persisted in, I decided that she just wished that she had not bought the car in the first place (lots of comments about un-Audi handling, un-Porche performance, Un-manual shifter etc, etc) and simply wanted a bunch of other XCers to agree with her complaints so she could get the dealer to give her the $$ back so she could buy an Audi. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif
Here's hoping she's happy now, or at least is posting problem reports over on the Audi forums. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

You will find some legitimate complaints posted here on the XC forum, and many helpful folks to assist. I think that by far, most of us are happy with our vehicles. This is not the NewsNet Volvo "what can I complain about today" newsgroup. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/huh2.gif

So far, my only problem has been squeeky wiper blades, and my only complaint is the windshield washer spray gets sucked into the cabin unlike any vehicle I'f ever driven (and I've driven a whole bunch).
I hope you eventually get your complaints sorted out. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/alien.gif

Michael http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/hehe.gif

[HeadXC]

As i mentioned when i swtched the tires over to my winter Nokian Hakka Q's the cold morning bounce went away, the noise wen t down and the rife was smoother. And there are full on WINTER tires that grip like a tongue to metal on a -20 degree day.

Keep me posted if you get anywhere with Volvo, because i am going to see them in the sping.

[coastal]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (wiz @ Jan. 21 2003,17:31)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">As you surmise, Lisa is long gone. The car was returned under the State of New York&#39;s lemon statute and she received a full refund (less the sales tax she paid). She was planning on purchasing an Audi as a replacement, but never returned to tell us how that went. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Was doing a bit of searching over at audiworld.com about the allroad and found this posted by LisaPhish on their forums:

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">I actually had the experience you&#39;re having with my XC, and turned it in and purchased the allroad&#33; At any rate, this is an excellent site. Very nice people.
www.xc70.com[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>

As part of this thread:
http://forums.audiworld.com/allroad/msgs/36443.phtml

http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[Art]

Nice of Lisa to pass on a good word for the site. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

Just goes to show you that regardless of make/model, there&#39;s bound to be a few that fall through the cracks. Due to increased competition, car manufacturers, in general, have gained considerable ground in areas of quality control, selection and customer service compared to yesteryear. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

As consumers, we only stand to benefit by sharing with others, our own experiences, bad or good, in forums like these. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/thumbs-up.gif

[wiz]

And I think you hear more about the things that go wrong also. &nbsp;It&#39;s really difficult to compare quality &quot;now&quot; with quality &quot;then&quot;, though. &nbsp;The cars are SO different, so much more complex now there is really no comparison.

I do think service has suffered. &nbsp;There has been consolidation at the dealer level and now you have a fairly small number of fairly large dealerships in urban areas. &nbsp;It used to be personal, now it&#39;s like dealing with a large corporation when you go to the dealer.

[hrudu]

We just picked up our xc70 last week.
I noticed a bit vibrations @ freeway speed around 70MPH, so I brought the car back today and asked them to balance the tires, what they did without any
comments.
After work i pick up the car and drive around a little on the freeway I feel the vibritions again.
Does anyone have this kind of problems?
Lisa: Did the dealer fix your vibration problem?
Please let me know.

Thanks

[ArtSmart]

Why is everybody so obsessed with tyres. Doesn't matter how bad a tire might be, if you balance it - it is balanced, end of discussion. Have your dealer check the bushings on the suspension and make sure all the links are tight. That's were I would start.

[hrudu]

Hi ArtSmart;
I think in this vibration case, the dealer always try to balance the tires first.
And if the problem remains they go to next step: checking the wheel, the suspension like you said.

[RedXC]

Could it be a bend rim? That's the only thing you didnt mention.

[ArtSmart]

Hi ArtSmart;
I think in this vibration case, the dealer always try to balance the tires first.
And if the problem remains they go to next step: checking the wheel, the suspension like you said.
I understand that. But I also understand that it's been done already twice with no improvement, so at this point it seems to me it would be safe to assume that is not tires. Besides, because of the intermitten nature of the problem it didn't sound like a tire to begin with. A tire would usually vibrate when you hit a certain speed.

[hrudu]

Hi ArtSmart;
The dealer wants to order new tires for my car.
They even refuse to talk about suspension, rim, alignment.....!
All I can do now is hoping.

[XC70Geo]

They cant refuse to check your suspension. My dealer does this as routine every time I have regular services.

[funglenn]

Mine starts to vibrate at about 90-100 mph, so that is acceptable right? At 80 it is very very minor. Should i even worry about it? It was worse before I took it back in. (It started shaking at 70-80 mph after they installed a new rack and pinion and new tires.)

What are people's thoughts?

[vtie]

Mine starts to vibrate at about 90-100 mph, so that is acceptable right? At 80 it is very very minor. Should i even worry about it? It was worse before I took it back in. (It started shaking at 70-80 mph after they installed a new rack and pinion and new tires.)

What are people's thoughts?

In my opinion, a quality car shouldn't vibrate at any speed. All cars I drove remain rock stable at speeds >100mph. Stable enough to feel comfortable taking your hands from the steering wheel (although I really wouldn't recommend this...)

But I have heard many reports of people buying brand new cars that are misaligned upon delivery. Maybe it has to do with the abuse during transport?

[funglenn]

I agree, but what about the XC70s at 100mph, cars and SUVs are different.
And the XC70 is not a car. I quite frankly am just tired of taking it to the dealer, it is never convenient, although it does bug me. The car warranty runs out in three weeks. :confused:

[PlaysWithCars]

But I have heard many reports of people buying brand new cars that are misaligned upon delivery. Maybe it has to do with the abuse during transport?
It is common for new cars to be out of alignment when they are delivered to the dealership. It is the result of having an assembly line. Slight variances in each step can add up to a greater deflection on the final product. Even though the settings might be within tolerances, the extremes of the range can still be felt by some people.

I always have cars aligned immediately after their purchase, because I'd rather save $50 in tire wear than find out later. The alignment is also another opportunity to have an experienced set of eyes look over the suspension and steering bushings and other components.

In the "old days", alignment was part of dealer preparation for new cars. Now I'd ask for it as a condition of sale, putting it back onto the dealer.

[vtie]

I agree, but what about the XC70s at 100mph, cars and SUVs are different.
And the XC70 is not a car. I quite frankly am just tired of taking it to the dealer, it is never convenient, although it does bug me. The car warranty runs out in three weeks.

Personally, I consider the xc70 as a car. It has chunky tires and a raised suspension, but otherwise it's just designed as a car. With my 2005 xc70, I have done >110 mph at several occasions for an extended period (driving to Berlin), and I couldn't feel the slightest vibration.

[pbear95]

Howdy All,

It is my experience with the design of the XC Wheel, the inner rim (back side of spokes close to the rotors) will pack on snow & ice during the winter & if you drive dirt roads or mud in the summer you will most likely find a build up of debry inside the rim. Be sure to clean this as it will save you numerous wheel balances, etc & going back to the dealer to complain that the new set of tires they just installed are not running true. Just my 2 cents.

Cheers,