XC Shopping Advice

[Wessonality]

Hi! I am a Volvo V70XC wanna'be owner and new to this awesome site and forum. I am thinking about trading in my 99 Honda Accord for a Volvo. I am a US contractor living overseas in Germany and have a unique opportunity where I can buy a Volvo tax-free and at a below invoice price.

My criteria for a new U.S. Spec car is one which has to be (of-course) available to me overseas, can seat 7 passengers (mix adults and kids), drive comfortable at 110+ MPH on the Autobahn (suspension/power/low susceptibility to cross wind), great warranty, and Full-Time AWD for the snow. My Honda does a great job on the Autobahn and physically is about the same size - unfortunately between the toddler and guests it is tight to go on trips with. Our other vehicle is a 97 Jeep Cherokee that is small for more than just us - but is great for trips around town. Although it can easily hit 90+MPH - it has a bouncy suspension and like most SUVs you know when there is a cross wind – overall not good for cruising on long trips.

My expectations out of a Volvo V70XC is that I get the AWD of an SUV - no low gear required, the suspension and speed of a car, less bounce than a Jeep, and it has 7 passenger seating and is NOT a minivan. Also, it is sized for the European market where larger vehicles and SUVs have a hard time in parking garages.

Since I have an opportunity to custom build my Volvo, here is what I am thinking about getting so far – keeping in mind that I can pick and choose my options outside of the packages:

Volvo V70 XC
Metallic Paint – color TBD
Premium Pkg (Leather, Sunroof, CD, Power Seats)
Versatility Pkg (3rd Seat, Waste Basket, Child Seat)
Cold Weather (Headlamp Wipers, Heated Seats)
Air Quality System
Auto Dim Mirror
Laminated Security Glass
Upgrade to 4 Disc CD Changer and 200W
First Aid Kit

Besides the above, here are some questions I have:

1.What is the Leveling System that is available? Worth it for a car full of passengers and luggage if it does what I think it does?
2.Is the Leather Gear Shift Knob Standard with the Premium Package?
3.With the 3rd Seat, is the back seat is 60/40 Split? What if there is one integrated booster?
4.Can I substitute the cloth floor mats with rubber? Recommendations?
5.Should I order the Roof Rack Cross Bars and Roof Box or wait for later and look at aftermarket products?
6.Is the Rear Bumper Cover worth it? Keeps scratches off the plastic?
7.How hard are the plastic bumpers to keep clean? Dirt? Wax?
8.Any recommendations on getting Volvo Snow Chains vs. after market? Do you need special low profile chains? Buy 2 or 4 for even AWD performance?
9.How do the tires handle on a dry highway? Rain? Noisy?
10.How about Mud Flaps?
11.Anyone had Reverse Radar installed in their XC?
12.Does it come with the European required Warning Triangle?
13.Any more word on the availability of the HID Xenon Headlamps?
14.Anyone opted out of getting the wood trim and sticking with the graphite accents? How does the wood trim look?
15.How is the sunroof? Rattles? Reduced headroom? Wind noise?
16.Are the Windows tinted at all? Does the tinting help keep the car cooler in the summer?
17.Anyone driven their car at sustained speeds of 100+ MPH? How does it perform? What is the max speed – 120 or 130MPH – seen both published?
18.How are the heated seats? A Ford Mondeo I rented made sure you knew where the lines of heating elements were when it was turned on.
19.How does the car handle under a heavy load – full of passengers and luggage? Is it sluggish like some of the reviews allude to?
20.Any word on upgrading the AWD system to the S60 version in 2003? How is the current system? Believe all 2003 cars are required to have Tire Pressure monitors? Worth the wait?
21.Does the XC offer European Tuning on Radio? My friend who has an S60 says his does, but reset when you turn the radio off.
22.Any thoughts on having a Turbo impacting resale value?
23.Where is the car manufactured? Belgium or Sweden? May go pick mine up!

I welcome your alls thoughts and opinions. Hope to be joining the club soon.

Thanks,
Troy

[XCiter]

Boy, you have a tall order to fill. Maybe I can help with some of it. I drive on the highway (not under the load conditions you describe) at 70-80 mph. I would never drive at 110 mph here in the states.  Car handles great. Feels sure-footed. I previously drove a 95 e320 wagon. Handles much better than that.  Usually don't hear much road noise because my stereo is turned way up (great audio system). Don't know much about European channels, but the radio has this feature (not yet available in US) that it will tune to all news, all rock, etc. channels as one cruises through unfamiliar territory. All stereo controls on steering wheel.  I have 2 built in child booster seats, really convenient, since the law requires all children under a certain weight and height to have a booster seat. No more squeezing the kids with winter coats into car seats. The car handles great in the snow. See my other posts. I have all the packages (winter, heated seats, etc) The heated seats are good, but not as good as the Mercedes, which are awesome on my e430 and on the e320 wagon. I have the rubber floor mats for the seating area and the trunk, I don't have the rear seat. Need really short legs to sit back there. Not comfortable at all for adults. I have standard Volvo roof cross bars, took it off because I hear wind noise with it. Sunroof great, two setting: one automatic which brings it back about 2/3 (reduced noise) and "override" which brings it back all the way. My car has wood trim, wasn't offered any other trim option. Have the Ash Gold with Taupe, looks very rich. Seats are really comfortable. The only minus with the car is that it could be faster off the line. Other than that, it's a really great all around family car. Would recommend it and this is coming from a 6 Benz owner family.

[tzunuum]

Well quite a hand full of questions. Hope I can help you with some answers. Although my experience with the XC ist just one day when my local dealer gave me his private one for testing purpose.

I have a rear bumper cover in my present V40. Works great since our dog jumps in the car. No scratches etc on the bumper which ist painted in the same color as the car. Therefore I'm not quite sure if the bumper cover is that useful in the XC since it is not painted but just pure plastic ;-)

Performance above 200 kph on a German Autobahn ist great. No problems at all, compared to a BMW 5xx touring the XC had the much better handling.

HID Xenon headlamps. As far as I know they start mounting them in the cars from next week on. Actually they should have been available for other models ( e.g. S80) since almost two years :-(. But no one knows the real thing why Volvo was not able to supply the HID without any problems. I just got confirmation yesterday from my local dealer that my Ocena Race edition with the HID will be delivered within the next week. The car ist manufactured in Sweden.

Heated seats are fine and quite comfortable. you can choose between two diefferent temperatures.

Best
Tom

[Pastor John]

Well, first of all, you have to understand that the absolute best color combination is Java with the Sand leather interior; all others pale in comparison! http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

I think I can answer a couple of your questions:

2.  Leather shift knob does come with Premium package.
4.  Rubber floor mats are great; probably can't substitute them, but they make a great addition.  My dealer threw them in for free.
5.  The rectangular roof rack crossbars are Thule compatible (I suspect made by Thule).  I would order them with the car; the fittings say "Volvo" on them and they are quite handsome.
7.  The plastic bumper covers and trim are easy to keep clean and don't seem to scratch too easily. I find "Back to Black" keeps them new looking.
9.  The Pirelli Scorpion tires handle pretty good on the pavement considering their 60 series aspect ratio.  I find they make a little noise on some road surfaces, but in general are hard to fault.  
15.  The sunroof is fairly quiet when open to the first stop, which is about 3/4 of full open.  The button is on the headliner above the mirror and feels cheap.  I don't particularly like the flimsy feel of the button, but it gets the job done.
16.  The windows are lightly tinted.  I am considering going to titanium tint at 35% for additional cooling and privacy.
17.  My opinion is that the car will not do well at sustained speeds of 100+ mph.  It cruises comfortably at 80 mph, but I feel the engine is stessing at higher speeds, although well within redline.
18.  The heated seats are fantastic.  They heat uniformly and quickly.
22.  We also have a '98 V70 with the light pressure turbo.  It has 70k miles and currently blue-books at about what I would expect for a four year old car with that mileage.  We didn't trade it, but my dealer was sure interested and indicated that the used ones sell quickly.
23.  My car was made in Sweden.

I traded a 2000 BMW 328i for my XC.  Although the XC does not handle as well as the BMW nor have the great acceleration, it is a sturdy vehicle of equal quality.  I am very happy with my purchase.

Welcome!

John

[Wessonality]

Guys, thanks for the input and answers.  Guess it is time to take the wife and go for an extended test drive.  Sure I can borrow a demo for the weekend from the dealer.  Any word on how much longer the Ocean Race edition will be for sale for?  Thought it was for a limited time and production.
-Troy

[tzunuum]

O.R. will be for sale until the race ends in June this year I think. However, my dealer had serious problems to order a second car after he sold me his first one. Accordig to him for Germany there might not be a lot more units than dealers, so every one just gets one cars http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif Go and check with you local dealer asap.

Hopefully Volvo starts delivering the O.R. to Germany this week.

Cheers
Tom

[Pastor John]

Troy, we need to collectively warn you about extended test drives.  Any more than a few minutes in teh XC, and you will totally forget that you were even considering an ML320, X5, or other such replacement item.

Curiously, I find myself looking for muddy roads nowadays...

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

[XCiter]

I wouldn't even consider an ML 320, had a '00 ML430, and was a piece of junk. Couldn't wait to get rid of it, was in the shop more than I drove it. My doctor told me it was causing me too much stress. However, the european version shouldn't have the quality control problems that the US has. Much happier with the XC.

[Wessonality]

Thanks. My other thought over the past year was the Acura MDX, but would have a hard time getting one over here. Thought Honda would have a version, but it looks like their new SUV is even bigger. The thing that sucks about the Acura I have heard is the touchscreen controls for air-conditioning, etc. Was hoping if Honda sold a rebadged MDX that they would fix that. Also like the V90XC but not sure between the price and the wait as well as any first year new car bugs that I want it just yet.
-Troy