PDA

View Full Version : Dealer,osd or? =)



coastal
02-04-2003, 03:42 PM
How did/will you purchase your Cross Country?

Think I got all the possibilities, if not enter it in your post  http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/cool.gif

barrysharp
02-04-2003, 06:01 PM
Boo hiss -- I clicked the wrong button  http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mad.gif How can I rescind my vote http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

rkestner
02-04-2003, 08:20 PM
coastal,
good work on the forum!  thanks!  keep up the good work!

wiz
02-15-2003, 09:47 AM
Just wandered in to the dealer and bought a car off the lot. Actually it was on the truck from Newark and about to be on the lot... http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

I'm not so interested in cars (but interested in maintaining what I have). When you look at the time and effort put in on OSD by the people here and how wrought up they get about it, you have to wonder if it's worth it.

Yes, you save a few $K and you get a trip to Sweden, but what is the opportunity cost of the whole exercise? If you bill your time by the hour like I do, it's simply not worth it. And there is a certain instant gratification to trying out a couple of cars and then saying yeh I like this one can I have it in red, or whatever...

Toots!
02-20-2003, 10:11 PM
We observed the 2002 XC up close at last year's auto show, and with much influrence from this website and Volvo-owning friends, we decided this was the car for us. I proceeded to send out a request-for-quotation to several local dealers with all the spec.'s we wanted and chose the one that responded in the most straightforward way and with the best price. The OSD program would have have been great except that there is really not much incentive for Canadians to use it. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif

We picked up our new XC about a week ago http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/hehe.gif and I'm still head-over-heels in love!

wiz
02-21-2003, 06:26 AM
Great to hear that you love the car Toots! http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif Hope you got those options sorted out... http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/lookaround.gif

hordtheviking
02-21-2003, 09:42 AM
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (wiz @ Feb. 15 2003,11:47)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">When you look at the time and effort put in on OSD by the people here and how wrought up they get about it, you have to wonder if it&#39;s worth it.

Yes, you save a few &#036;K and you get a trip to Sweden, but what is the opportunity cost of the whole exercise? [/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
I suppose that&#39;s one way of looking at it, but unless you&#39;re billing your time at a very high rate (which it sounds like you might be), then &#036;10,000 (when you factor in the trip) goes a long way to making up for a bit of inconvenience. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/nervous.gif Also, I must say that for me the experience has been utterly painless. We made one trip to our dealer, signed the paperwork which we would have done anyway if we&#39;d bought one off the lot and now we get to visit the factory and relatives in Sweden. All that and we get to drive a car that we wouldn&#39;t have bought for &#036;40k for about &#036;31k, not bad in my book. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/lookaround.gif

Also, I would say that while some people here do indeed seem a tad &quot;wrought up&quot; by the experience, I&#39;m not sure that that&#39;s indicative of most OSDer&#39;s experiences (at least so far), I&#39;ll give you my honest assessment when it&#39;s all done as to whether I think it was worth it and how stressful the whole experience was. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

wiz
02-21-2003, 01:02 PM
Well I don&#39;t make &#036;10K a week (yet) http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif but the opportunity cost is not just the number of days you are away on the trip. It includes all the time you spend doing research because Volvo is so secretive about the options on its cars, the time you spend making decisions once you have the alternatives nailed, etc., etc... It seems endless.

I&#39;m in the market for a new sedan, and I was actually interested in an S60R through OSD in the next model year, but then I saw the inside of the car, and that in combination with reading the OSD thread here has put me off a bit. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif

barrysharp
02-21-2003, 01:33 PM
Well I must say the OSD has been most enjoyable so far -- and I expect it to be the same from here onwards. I&#39;ve enjoyed the XC70 pre-ownership research immensely. This forum has provided me with invaluable insights that with going it alone wouldn&#39;t have been considered.

My only anxious moments were with deciding which option(s) to use for paying for the car.

The OSD program is really a simple procedure -- saves a several thousands of &#036;&#036;s -- provides &#39;free&#39; airplane trip to Europe -- allows one to get most car options that would be difficult to get otherwise off the lot.

The4 downside of OSD could be that some Volvo sales persons may not be that knowledgeable about OSD and this can lead to customer misunderstandings and create a stressful experience. Volvo/VCNA should be ensuring this doesn&#39;t happen and have their dealerships display the OSD program details in full view in the showroom.

If you need a new Volvo immediately then OSD may be too time consuming. However, there are ways around that if you put your mind to it.

For me, I&#39;m making it a father/son adventure and that&#39;s priceless IMO.

I rate OSD at this time AAA+ and would recommend it to any prospecvtive Volvo customer without hesitation. I suspect my two daughters who need new cars soon will go this route as well.

AutoMonkey
02-21-2003, 01:52 PM
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">and that in combination with reading the OSD thread here has put me off a bit[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>

Wiz - what is it in the OSD thread(s) that has put you off? I have been amazed so far at how easy the OSD process has been: however, I have not wanted/needed to get embroiled in selection of options. I walked into my dealer and selected an XC70 from a list of cars that had already been scheduled for production. This meant that I had to accept the standard options (premium pkg, touring pkg) - but that was OK with me. The only decision I had to make was the color.

I haven&#39;t been on my trip to the FDC yet, so maybe I should reserve judgement until (a) I&#39;ve been to Sweden and (b) I&#39;ve taken delivery here in the US. However, so far the process has been remarkably straightforward.

AutoMonkey

wiz
02-21-2003, 10:30 PM
AutoMonkey - I think I&#39;m just lazy. The issue is that I&#39;m not really interested in cars so the idea of doing tons of research on every feature just doesn&#39;t appeal to me (although I understand it&#39;s appeal to car-centric people).

Now just walking into the dealer and saying &quot;I&#39;ll have one of those&quot; (like you did) does appeal to me. I would probably do that... http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif