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stevel0923
02-05-2003, 05:52 PM
Since there are about six of us going to Europe in March as a result of our OSD purchase, maybe each of us can bring back an extra wood steering wheel for our XC70.com buddies? I don't have the cost but I notice its an extra $500 [Correction: $300] if you order it with the XC90. Here's the word from Jason about the steering wheel....

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">
Yes you can buy the wood steering wheel at a Volvo dealer in Europe. All you need to
tell him is the steering wheel is for a MC 31 car. He will either have
it in stock or can order it for you. Then you just have to bring the
wheel back to have it installed here in the US. IF you talk with the OSD
salesperson in Europe, the part number for wood steering wheel is 000319.

Best Regards,
Jason
[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>

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

barrysharp
02-05-2003, 06:22 PM
Steven:

This wood steering wheel (part 000319, FDC cost=USD&#036;250) appears to be elusive to say the least.

Today FDC told me it was avail for &#036;250 and too quickly get it placed on my OSD order list by Feb 7th. The email from FDC was Cc-ed to Jason Borsh. I called my sales person and faxed the FDC email to him. He then discussed this with Jason and was told the wood steering wheel (I have Volvo Nav System ordered on my OSD list) can&#39;t be added to my order. I asked if I removed the Nav System would this make any difference -- answer was NO.

Soooooo, I&#39;m very confused with all this back and forth with FDC saying it can be, your posting saying Jason saying it can be done by the means you&#39;ve desribed and Jason saying NO to me without providing me any alternative such as has been given to you.

What to do? What&#39;s next step?

I&#39;ve emailed FDC again to have them explain Jason/Volvo&#39;s position on this wood steering wheel wrt to my OSD order.

Notice you were given &#036;500 whereas I was quoted &#036;250. That&#39;s a big discrepancy&#33;

BTW this post should be a response to your personal Email to me today -- and take care and good luck.

Let&#39;s keep at this so we reach some form of closure on it.

BTW again -- what&#39;s an MC 31 ?

Low Tide
02-05-2003, 06:30 PM
Sounds to me like there is still some think fog around the OSD options issues huh?

stevel0923
02-05-2003, 06:34 PM
MC 31 is the particular model number for US made XC70. I&#39;ve seen that number when I was handed the OSD price sheets.

I stand corrected on the price of the steering wheel. Its only &#036;300 for the XC90. Here&#39;s a link for an official price sheet http://www.flyvolvo.com/XC90MY03.pdf page 5. I must have been looking at the Bi-Xenon headlights in the category above. Another wish list item...&#33;

&#036;250 is a very reasonable price for something that will totally enhance the look of the car. I am definitely going for it&#33;

As far as your situation goes, I not clear if Jason was responding to the steering wheel or the Nav system. I think there is a point where you can&#39;t change the order. Its a bit confusing.... http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif

barrysharp
02-05-2003, 06:43 PM
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Sounds to me like there is still some think fog around the OSD options issues huh?[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>

I&#39;m beginning to get concerned about the misinformation on this. It&#39;s more like smoke and mirrors and it&#39;s more like the whole issue of the wood steering wheel is shrouded/emmersed in thick pea soup if you ask me &nbsp;http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif

Why on earth are we getting such a diverse set of info? It&#39;s almost like they don&#39;t want to install the wood/leather steering wheel at the factory. Is it a highly prized option making theft an issue?

stevel0923
02-05-2003, 06:53 PM
Barry,

Here&#39;s my interpretation of the events. You can not buy the wood steering wheel formally through OSD. It&#39;s not even listed on the XC70 price sheet. However, once you make it to Europe, then you are free to order it on your own and have it installed.

Considering how Volvo is trying to limit the sales of wood steering wheels to North America, I can see why they will not add this to your order. Otherwise, they would be force to sell them to other OSD purchases.

Quite frankly, if FDC say yes and they even have a part number which is identical to what I have then I think there some reaasurance that this will work out for you. I am not sure about the whole GPS thing but I can&#39;t believe the steering wheel is limited to non-GPS owners.

I hope that will clarify a few things...?

barrysharp
02-05-2003, 07:16 PM
Yes I believe you&#39;re correct about not being able to OSD order the wood/leather steering wheel becuase it&#39;s not on the OSD parts list -- sooooo, I&#39;m resigned at this point to address my wood/leather steering wheel as follows.

1. I will write to FDC and ask them to have a wood/leather steering wheel on hand when I arrive.
2. Request for them during my delivery process to have it installed.

I strongly suspect the Volvo Nav System aspect causing a problem is a red herring as it only adds a small plastic knob and two buttons to rear face plate of the steering wheel.

This whole thing boils down to the wood/leather steering wheel being an exception to the OSD ordering and manufacturing process -- ie it&#39;s non standard and that simply isn&#39;t tolerated these days where many Corp. are intensely process oriented.

I feel confident that you and I will get our wood/leather steering wheels and make our better halfs happy in the process -- it&#39;s worth the effort just for this, right? My wife&#39;s hands are small and the standard leather wheel&#39;s rim is too thick. The wood one offers a better grip for smaller hands. Plus, the wood does and some &#39;class&#39; to the driver&#39;s area http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

barrysharp
02-07-2003, 12:12 PM
My latestest findings wrt the wood Steering wheel -- Part # 000319.

1. FDC tells me they have this accessory and will assist with its installation if requested. Not sure if this means they will definately install it or what&#33;

2. There&#39;s some question about the availability of this steering wheel as my local parts dept person says the wheel has been removed from their list of available accessories for 2003. There could be some relief come 2004 as the wheels manufacturer gets their production ramped up to meet demands. The cause of the shortage during 2003 maybe related to XC90s and other world demands.

3. There appears to be some concern over the wood steering wheel having three spokes vs. four. The standard 4 spoke wheel that comes on the XC70 isn&#39;t easily exchanged out for the three spoke wheel. This makes the accessory conversion very expensive for Volvo and presumably the customer. One can&#39;t simply exchange the wheels without also replacing the wheel&#39;s hub along with its airbag mechanism. Normally a steering wheel exchange is a simple upgrade kit that replaces the spokes and wheel rim. If the kit is more than this I&#39;m told the kit expense climbs dramatically.

I&#39;m sure there&#39;s more to this story than I&#39;ve given above. However, I will pursue having this wood wheel added at the FDC and I&#39;m trying to ensure FDC puts one aside for me for when I arrive. At this time I&#39;m waiting for FDC&#39;s confirmation that this wheel part # 000319 is being held for me and a committment they will install it if I request.

stevel0923
02-07-2003, 12:42 PM
Barry,

We&#39;re on the same track wrt to the wood steering wheel&#33; My local parts department guys tells me that the wood steering wheel is an upgrade to your existing steering wheel. They will reuse the center hub with airbag and all. Thats why the price is so affordable considering how an airbag replacement can cost upwards of &#036;500.

So, here&#39;s my BIG question&#33; Will Part # 000319 fit a four spoke steering wheel? The pictures I&#39;ve shown you in previous post is a European 3 spoke steering wheel. Is there anyway you can contact FDR and have them verify that the part is for an American Steering hub

AMERICAN Steering Wheel

http://new.volvocars.com/models/xc/images/cc_gallery_int7_lrg.jpg

VERSUS the European Version

http://xc70.com/iB_html/uploads/post-1-18217-wheel.jpg

barrysharp
03-07-2003, 01:44 PM
I wish to formally document for others where I&#39;m at wrt having the wood steering wheel installed on my XC70 MY2003 OSD purchased vehicle.

First, I wish to say that my pursuit of this wood steering wheel is on behalf of my other half http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif -- my wife. My wife has small hands and the only aspect of this wonderful XC70 she dislikes is the leather wrapped steering wheel. Her hands just aren&#39;t large enough to grip the wheel comfortably. She has said she will probably get used to it but if there&#39;s a way to have the wood wheel in its place then do it as it&#39;s rim dia is smaller plus it looks very smart.

Much of what has unfolded is posted above so will not dwell on past events.

My dealership has been very helpful to me and also has been quite frustrated with Volvo over this wood wheel accessory item. Their final shot in securing the wood wheel was today. The Volvo Factory rep was onsite and my dealership owner/manager took the rep to task on why Volvo was refusing to install wood wheel on my car.

The bottom line was given to me earlier today. Volvo stands behind not authorising the wood wheel installation at the dealership. They have said that my dealership would be liable for any safety issues (airbag deployment issues etc I suppose) that might arise from such an installation and have advised the dealership not to install it. My dealership have therefore told me it&#39;s a no-go from their standpoint. They have said this doesn&#39;t mean I can&#39;t have installed but it would have to be by another shop. They have also said and encouraged me to try for a FDC installation as my last ditch effort.

Soooo, it&#39;s off to FDC I go now as my last chance to have the wood wheel installed.

I assume I can buy the wood wheel from Volvo at this time. It&#39;s installation by Volvo is the sticking point.

What do others see as a safety issue if I were to have this wood wheel installed by a non Volvo shop?

Thanks for your time in replying.

Low Tide
03-07-2003, 04:22 PM
If I were you, and Volvo was not going to accept liability, I&#39;d drop it. From their standpoint, it was not installed on the car during manufacturing and at this point, they are not willing to allow a change that may jeopardize the car. That&#39;s their right to discontinued or disallow an accessory at any time. Its in the contract for OSD as a matter of fact.

In hindsight, I imagine that the discussions over the steering wheel by your dealership, Jason, the forum, the FDC, the factory, and the Volvo workshop have only complicated the matter politically. It&#39;s too bad fromyour standpoint, but I understand Volvo&#39;s determination and the rationale that they have likely used to arrive at their position.

In the end, not having a wood steering wheel does not affect the car in any way. Although I understand your wife&#39;s issue- even she is willing to overlook it. The larger diameter may in fact be better in the long run once she gets used to the surface area. Hang in there Barry, you can ask nicely at the FDC, but it will likely delay your adventure and/or piss them off.

Alternately- you can always buy a steering wheel and hang it around your neck on a chain&#33;&#33;&#33; &nbsp;
Hang in there Baz. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif &nbsp;http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif &nbsp;http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif &nbsp;http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif &nbsp;http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/blush.gif

barrysharp
03-07-2003, 05:06 PM
Low Tide wrote:</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">If I were you, and Volvo was not going to accept liability, I&#39;d drop it. From their standpoint, it was not installed on the car during manufacturing and at this point, they are not willing to allow a change that may jeopardize the car. That&#39;s their right to discontinued or disallow an accessory at any time. Its in the contract for OSD as a matter of fact.[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Yes, and I fully accept the liability rationale and the fact that being very open or too upfront to &#39;all&#39; about my intentions has quite likely hindered me in securing the wood wheel. Nonetheless, I wouldn&#39;t have it any other way. On top of all this I&#39;ve had the full support of my Volvo dealership in pursuing the wood wheel, and that has certainly helped me reach closure -- well almost http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

Low Tide wrote:</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Alternately- you can always buy a steering wheel and hang it around your neck on a chain&#33;&#33;&#33; [/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Yes I could -- and I suspect at this point FDC would or are planning to do just that http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif when I turn up. As I believe FDC reads this forum as a Guest I should keep my inner most thoughts to myself at this point. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/hehe.gif

My unmarried 35 year old son will be with me and he is a charmer and quite used to dealing with difficult eyeball-to-eyeball situations coming from the movie film and video entertainment business -- so maybe he&#39;ll come to his Dad&#39;s aid http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif -- so FDC has been and is forewarned. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sly.gif (I&#39;m joking OK).

purush
03-07-2003, 08:11 PM
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (barrysharp @ Mar. 07 2003,19:06)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Yes, and I fully accept the liability rationale and the fact that being very open or too upfront to &#39;all&#39; about my intentions has quite likely hindered me in securing the wood wheel. Nonetheless, I wouldn&#39;t have it any other way. On top of all this I&#39;ve had the full support of my Volvo dealership in pursuing the wood wheel, and that has certainly helped me reach closure -- well almost http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

........
Yes I could -- and I suspect at this point FDC would or are planning to do just that http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif when I turn up. As I believe FDC reads this forum as a Guest I should keep my inner most thoughts to myself at this point. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/hehe.gif[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Best wishes, Barry. &nbsp; &nbsp;I do hope you get your wood wheel. &nbsp;

Purush