I did it! i own one!

[cakennedy]

After a 6-hour ordeal at two dealers, and still getting majorly screwed on my trade-in (who doesn't?), I am the proud (second) owner of a 2002 V70 Cross Country. The more I drive and use this vehicle, the more I wounder why anyone would buy a big SUV. It just might be the perfect car.  http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/cool.gif

A few inaction shots:

http://www.public.asu.edu/~cakenne1/PICT0020.JPG

http://www.public.asu.edu/~cakenne1/PICT0021.JPG

http://www.public.asu.edu/~cakenne1/PICT0022.JPG

http://www.public.asu.edu/~cakenne1/PICT0023.JPG

[coastal]

welcome to the site cakennedy and big, big congrats on the new car! http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/thumbs-up.gif

Where abouts are you located? Southwest US I'm sure, I'm going to guess and say New Mexico. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[silverstar]

Congratulation cakennedy!

Nice choice of color.

[barrysharp]

cakennedy:

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

...Geeesh -- that's a gorgeous color and a very smart looking one -- congrats.

[mrb]

Beautiful car---thanks for the pictures---waiting to get mine on July 1.  Seeing yours reassures me that I've chosen the right car and I too wonder why anyone would choose the SUV over this beautiful automobile.---Welcome to the XC family and this wonderful site of great people.  I've never met any of them and feel as if I know them all.  Must be that great cars attract GOOD people. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif merv

[ifnt420]

Cakennedy:

Congrat and Welcome!! I can only imagine you must have gotten a great deal on that 02. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif
and BTW, I love that color.

Cheers

[pico de luuks]

QWelcome cakennedy! Awesome color! You'll love that car http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/thumbs-up.gif

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

[littlewaywelt]

welcome
smart color!

[wiz]

cakennedy welcome to the forum and that is just a beaut! http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/thumbs-up.gif http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[cakennedy]

Thanks all for the comments! First commute this morning and I'm still euphoric about the car. I traded in a BMW 330ci for this, and the Vovlo is so much more comfortable to drive. Not quite as controlled in body movements, but I'm not exactly going to be racing it...

I'm in Phoenix, and there are two Volvo dealers here. It was pretty important to me to get a certified pre-owned -- more warranty than a new car -- so I needed to buy from one of them. The first one (we'll call it the "south" dealership) had five '02 V70XCs on the lot, four with less than 20k miles. But they just weren't realistic in their offers. So I drove to the "north" dealership, where they had a ruby red/graphite '02 with 19k miles. Their "starting" numbers on the car and my trade-in were better than the other dealership's "ending" numbers. So after a few hours of bickering, I drove home in my new XC!

Now, a few questions:

1. Does anyone have a recommendation for a dash mat? Did a search here but got no results.

2. Has anyone used an XC for towing? I know they're rated at 3300 lbs, but is it feasible to tow a trailer and race car, on mostly freeway miles? Combined weight should be 3000-3200 lbs.

[Hiro's XC]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (cakennedy @ April 22 2003,11:17)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">2. Has anyone used an XC for towing? I know they&#39;re rated at 3300 lbs, but is it feasible to tow a trailer and race car, on mostly freeway miles? Combined weight should be 3000-3200 lbs.[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Yes you can tow a trailer. I have for about 50 miles with no issues. Total weight was around 3300 lbs. You just need to make sure it is balanced so the tounge weight isn&#39;t too high.

Trailer brakes are recommended for loads oner 1500lbs too.

[Hiro's XC]

Sorry,

The car is rated to 3500 lbs. And that is a safe load. I have a friend that pulls close to 5000lbs without too much drama.

jason

[Low Tide]

Explain dash mat for me... if you mean a cover of sorts- then I would take a look in the manual... &nbsp;you&#39;ll find a passage that nothing should be resting or covering the dash as it impede the ability of the SRS to deploy properly. &nbsp;Just keep it clean and protected. &nbsp;Search the forum for preferred types of liquid protectant.

Congrats... &nbsp;what suburb of Phoenix is that? &nbsp;Just had a friend move to Anthem.

[cakennedy]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Low Tide @ April 22 2003,11:10)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Explain dash mat for me...[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Yes, I&#39;m looking for a cover for the dash, both to protect it from the brutal Arizona sun and to cover up a few very visible scratches from the previous owner. I&#39;ll have to plead ignorance on the SRS, as the car didn&#39;t come with manuals (the dealer has ordered me a set). I wonder if I can find a cover with a cutout for the passeneger airbag...?

I&#39;m in McDowell Mountain Ranch right now, but we&#39;ll probably be looking for something bigger and cheaper in the next few months. Anthem&#39;s a neat area...I grew up in Cave Creek and remember when New River was a little one-donkey hamlet&#33;

[jst4fun]

looks great&#33;

but I have a clarifying question... is that reall RUBY RED, or is it VENETIAN RED ? &nbsp;

I have heard that venetian is a bit darker (which I would have liked) compared to the ruby red.

yours looks a little darker.

just curious. &nbsp;http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

thanks&#33;

[cakennedy]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (jst4fun @ April 22 2003,11:35)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">is that reall RUBY RED, or is it VENETIAN RED ?[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Whoops...it is Venetian Red. I didn&#39;t know Volvo colors, so I looked at 2003 XC70s on Volvo&#39;s web site, saw Ruby Red, and thought that must be it. A little research shows, of course, that they dropped that for Ruby Red in &#39;03. &nbsp;http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

[VolvoF1]

Congradulation. I like the Red too; though our unit is Ash Gold; couldn&#39;t talk the wife into the Red as we had a red car a few years earlier. At least we changed our minds from the Artic Blue.

BTW we love Phoenix (and surrounding area). Maybe one day we&#39;ll get a place for the winter down there. Though we have always wondered what&#39;s up w/ the Gated Community setup? Seems like there are alot of them.

[sendwongy1]

Congratulations on the new xc. Looks fantastic.

Regards

Eugene

[RCF4]

nice color. &nbsp;http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/thumbs-up.gif

[GeorgeXC70]

Yor car looks GREAT &nbsp;http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/thumbs-up.gif I would&#39;ve never guessed it was a used car. 19K thats just broken in by Volvo standards.

Nice picture by the way. &nbsp;Glad to hear about the better deal u got at the north dealership.

[zcat3]

I am interested in towing a track car with my XC70 as well, so if you do that please post your experience here. My track car weighs about 2700 lbs, so with a trailer I will certainly exceed 3500 lbs (which is one of the reason I was looking at the various power chip options for the XC70s).

[roncar]

Looks terrific&#33; Let me know how service is at the &#39;north&#39; dealership. They should have most, if not all, of the service people from the former dealership they bought. Enjoy&#33;

[Toots!]

If you enjoy your XC70 even half as much as most of us you will never regret your purchase.
I had reason to be at a Pontiac/Buick/Cadillac dealership today and you should have seen the heads turn as I parked my XC - even the salesmen who were busy with customers made admiring comments. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/cool.gif

[GeorgeXC70]

Just curious what color was your XC?

[xcrubygal]

Congratualtions &#33;
Great looking XC &#33; It is great to see a picture of a Venetian Red one as I have almost forgotten what one looks like in Red &nbsp;http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif 24 days and counting &#39;til I see my Ruby one &#33;
your pictures were good for my spirits
enjoy &#33;
&nbsp; &nbsp;Ruby

[Willy]

Beautifull car&#33;
The color is outstanding, if I didn&#39;t feel obliged to light colors I certainly would have chosen this one (or the deep blue perhaps http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/hehe.gif )
I also like the car more each time I drive it, and although I drive Volvos for about 25 years, this one is very different (my first non RWD) in a positive way what driving quality is concerned (we will see in 10 years about built quality &nbsp;http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif ).
I still have to adapt from driving a &quot;ship&quot; (940) however &nbsp;http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif
Good luck with your new car&#33;
Willy

[Willy]

Just forgot:
If you would like to find out more about your car before the manual arrives, I think you can eccess an electronic version on the US Volvo website, look in the glovebox (you must register on the site). If I remember well it&#39;s at www.owners.volvocars.com
Someone also made a very nice job of assembling this manual in a pdf document, I can&#39;t remember for what model year however. If you do a search on the forum you should find it.
Willy

[wiz]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Willy @ May 31 2003,00:45)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">I still have to adapt from driving a &quot;ship&quot; (940) however http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif [/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Willy I went from a 740 (earlier version of the 940) to the V70XC - maybe we talked about this once? Anyway this was the first (essentially) FWD car that I&#39;ve driven in a very long time and I can tell you it didn&#39;t take too long to adapt&#33; http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif We soon forgot our old Volvo&#33; I still have a RWD Volvo so I am constantly reminded of the one drawback (for me) of the new car - it&#39;s poor turning circle. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif

[Willy]

Hi Wiz,
I once asked about the handling differences between older Volvos and the current generation. Indeed I think it was you who made the comparison with a ship. I didn&#39;t understood completely then, now I do &nbsp; http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/blush.gif
The car still gives me the feeling that it is somewhat smaller inside (front seats), I know it is not so and the more I concentrate on driving instead of constantly paying attention to the car itself, the more this feeling disapears. But unfortunately the large turning circle won&#39;t go away &nbsp;http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mad.gif
Willy

[wiz]

Willy the one other thing I don&#39;t like about driving it is parallel parking. The body is much wider below the side windows and so that messes up my judgement when I parallel park on the right side of the road - I end up parking way out from the kerb. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/hehe.gif

No problem on the left side as I can open the door if I want... http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/nervous.gif

But in general I love driving it, it was wonderful to have in the very severe winter we just had. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/thumbs-up.gif

[Willy]

Hmm, isn&#39;t it a bit over the edge to be happy with severe winter weather http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif
I will pay attention to the parking issue you mention, thanks for the tip (I actually haven&#39;t parked it that way yet &nbsp;http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/blush.gif )
Willy

[wiz]

Well actually, you read so much about how wonderful the AWD system is in bad weather and you just want to go out and make sure for yourself, you know? http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

I remember on Christmas Day here we had several inches of snow so I went out and tested the TRACS system on a hill. Awesome&#33; http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/thumbs-up.gif

Then one day (February I think it was) we had 27.5 inches of snow [&#33;] so I went out in that too. No problems&#33; http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/thumbs-up.gif And so many other cars stuck&#33; http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[Willy]

Sounds like fun (I don&#39;t mean the other cars getting stuck of course &nbsp;http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/hehe.gif )
Willy