Bye Bye

[nicwood]

Three weeks ago, I sold my XC70 with 70k on the speedo!
The car had always been good to me and never let me down, but I just cannot justify the running costs for servicing and not having any warranty, (repairs at the garage are just so much more than I wanted to pay).

I class myself as a high miler (1,000 miles per week) and calculated that the servicing alone would be in the region of GBP1,200.00 per annum. I also was very shocked to find the value of the vehicle had plummeted to around 1/3r of its sale price when new and it was not even three years old.

So so long to you all, the replacement is (difficult to imagine for some of you comfort guys) a LandRover Defender!. It leaks water on you when it rains, is uncomfortable (compared to the XC) and the sound system, well its just not even....

So why have I turned my back on new car ownership? Simply dont feel I get value for money from the dealerships, and standards have dropped considerably [in my opinion] since our first Volco 850 (had five in total).

Perhaps its a mid-life crisis thing...

So long...
Sniff

[nicwood]

OK so its not so luxurious as an XC, but she sure is cute!

[AWD*V70XC]

Sorry to see you go Nicwood, but surely you can keep your finger in, now and again. :(

I know exactly what you mean in all your post, I too am in the same position as you to the extent of me not renewing my warranty this time around, (comments held on other posts about that) but I feel I must stick with it in the hope that something is done about it.

Don't forget Slender has gone back to a S60 but still joins in the fun and banter now and again.

Maybe we will see you in April and you can bring the defender along for the ride and make your point heard there to someone :confused:

So long but never leave us.

http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/23/23_28_101.gif http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/4/4_9_7.gif

[Morvran]

Hehe, I just sold my Land Rover Discovery and bought an XC70 for just that reason. Land Rover charges obsene amounts of money to service their cars, and my extended warranty was running out. I hope you know how to service that Defender on your own (if you're going to save money)....or maybe it's a new Defender under warranty, which we don't get the luxury of buying in the states. :)

[1Lieutenant]

Sorry to see you go!

Best of luck with the Defender. I test drove one a long time ago (when they were still available in the States). Very noisy, harsh ride and incredible gear whine. They (and all Rovers) have a really poor reputation for reliability here.

What year is your XC70 and what maintenance problems did you have. I will be in the same boat in a year when I have to make a decision about my 2002 XC70. So far mine has been fairly trouble free (for a Volvo).

Steve

[littlewaywelt]

Now that is a georgeous vehicle!
In the states the cost of repairs to a keep a defender in good order would outshine even my XC. :) The D110 is one of my top 5 favorite cars of all time.

Good luck to you!

[BillAileo]

Good luck with the Rover Nicwood, and come back someday...

Bill

[slender]

No need to make a permanent withdrawal, Nic. This is VolvoXC.com, it is not the XC Owners Club and ownership of an XC is not a requirement to be here. In fact, as an ex owner, like me, you are now in a different position to give impartial, honest advice on ownership to others visiting the site who seek a balanced view of what the XC ownership experience is all about. Just make sure those rose-tinted glasses don't appear - no good to man nor beast!! My own XC experience was not good, but good enough for me to be enthusiastic still about the vehicle and I still think this is one of the least `clicky` most enjoyable little places on the internet. I'm still in the wider Volvo community with my S80, and you are too with your Land Rover. We're all contributors to Fords dwindling fortune nowadays!! Good luck with your Defender, one of the finest looking vehicles to ever grace the road, and good luck with your chiropractor if you're going to be using it for 1000 miles of driving a week!!

[nicwood]

In reply to 1Lieutenant's questions re reliability:
My XC70 was on the whole a reliable car, never left me stranded, and worst thing to happen was a stuck-open sun rooof (whole cassette replaced under warranty). Early problems with cruise control (all fixed) and that was about it.
I did consider the extended warranty (4 years/100,000 miles), but due to my high mileage, and the list of exclusions the local dealer came up with, (oh and the GB£1,100 price tag) we decided that the extended warranty would not be worth the cost.

Main reason for changing was poor service from local Volvo Franchised Dealers, who constantly missed items I wanted altering (OK some were minor) and then said "Oh we will have the car back for xxxx in a few days time" etc. Dont get me wrong, its not just Volvo dealers, my wife is changing her Mitsubishi for a new Renault, and even though we pre-booked a test drive, it was still 20minutes before we were attended to!

As regards to the servicing of my new Defender (which is NOT under any form of warranty) its down to me! I enjoy engineering, and this way dont have to worry about dealership problems (which when you are spending about GB£1,200 per annum on scheduled servicing caused me grief).

I also moved the driver seat to a more suitable position for one with long legs, and who knows, as one of my other LandRover's has Volvo 960 heated leather seats in it, there may be a little bit of Volvo in my daily LandRover soon.

I have nothing but fond memories of my XC70 days. looking back I may have been a touch over zealous in keeping it clean, and telling the kids off for making it dirty inside, but Ive moved on to a slower, different lifestyle (just got to move to the US and get a job that is local, and I will have crackled the meaning of life!)

I joked with my wife about the two different web sites I contributed to, here on XC we discuss things like reversing sensors, iPods, and strange squeaks that only happen while drinving at 50 on a wet road etc (the finer points of refined driving!), whilst on the LandRover site (www.lro.com) its more 'muddy' with contributors asking if any one has a spare rear axle for sale, or what is the easiest way to bash out a dented fender!
Both sites run by enthusiatsts for enthusiasts but both so very different (apart from this site being faster and easier to navigate).

I'll drop by soon, but in the meantime if any of you has any jobs on the east coast of the US that need some British help, then drop me a line :)

Be happy!