This board has changed into a Problem Board

[Gundo]

Wow, its been a while since I've been around - and things have certainly changed. When I first got my 2002 V70XC in March of 2002, I found this board and loved it. It was completely filled with fanatics - fanatics taking pics, fanatics taking rides, fanatics enjoying the XC thoroughly. Many people had never thought they would feel so compelled to post about a vehicle. Yes - there were some complaints, but mostly minor stuff.

It is heartening to see many of the crew are still active posters - Barrysharp, Art, Wiz, LittleWayWelt, Big, Pico, LowTide and Hiro have all been here about the same amount of time. At least with 343 posts I'm still in the top 25 or so of the poster list.

Best of all, "Coastal" has done a great job fostering a community - that the board lives on so strongly is a testament to Taylor's hard work. Thank you!

So picture me, reading all of the posts here after a year or two of being away, obsessed with my Boxster S. The board has certainly changed character, with most folks posting on either problems, or resolution of problems. Is it true? Has the XC not lived up to our expectations?

As for me, the car at 52k miles remains good, solid, safe and reliable. But we've been back and forth to the dealer 5 times for the tranny, and it is now better than ever, but not really what it should be. The ride is not inspiring, too soft and mushy for me, but it really does offer a good highway ride.

Our goal is to keep the XC for 100k miles....should be an interesting ride!

Rock on XC crew!

[al_roethlisberger]

...that is pretty much the pattern of any auto, motorcycle, or "other" online forum I've spent significant time in.

Just like the "squeaky wheel" analogy, people tend to take the time to complain more than praise. It's just human nature ;)

So over time, a preponderance of negative posts seem to accumulate, while in the meantime those without problems are out driving and enjoying their cars... not here saying "hey, another awesome trouble free day!" :rolleyes: It's normal.

But I find this useful in the end, as I can usually quickly find issues that are common or I am interested in, instead of wading through "hey lookee my ny new spinners threads" *laugh*

If you think it is "bad" here... drop by the Moto Guzzi boards I frequent ;)

al

[AWD*V70XC]

Gundo, nice to see you still remember your password to join us :D when you can. When I joined there was only about 1200 members and I wondered how long it would take to get 1500 members :confused: . Now we have doubled that and still growing. I have noticed that we have a few stray members as well, (those that have other models) but similar problems.


I think we are all complaining about the same problem though. The lack of understanding by Volvo as to our concerns, and not just ETM related but to what we are getting for our money. Many members (to a degree myself included) are looking to the market place to see what else we could buy with our $$$'s/£££'s/€€€'s and judging by what is out there we could have nearly the same and a few bucks left over if we wanted to but.........there is something that keeps us firmly 'in the driver seat' that I can't put my finger on.

[Raynald]

Since I joined the board in January 2003, at a time I wasn't yet an XC owner myself, one thing has changed drastically: time has passed and there is many more used XCs owners around. It may be an explanation as why "prblematic topics" are raised more often.

As for our relationship with our XCs, as Mrs. R. put it and I quote:
"You bought the car of your dreams, that's OK with me. Now, try to live with it! Believe me, it's much more difficult to like what you get than getting what you like!"
Words of wisdom... ;) :D

[KazDog]

I reckon it it's about time to create a positive post. Three years ago I leased a 2002 Xc with no intention of keeping it past lease end. Thanks to Gibbons and other posters I replaced the Pirelli's with Nokian's and that solved my major irritation about the handling. Now after three years of monitoring this board for all the problems XC owners have encountered and all the negative comments about non Haldex XC's I still bought out the lease. Not a great deal as I probably paid a little over wholesale but the car only has 40,000Km.
I love this car. It is roomy, comfortable, fast enough and great for trips to Whistler mountain. Big enough to intimidate others in traffic but fits in a small car only parking space. It has more than enough space to take along wife, mother, dog and all the gear required for trips from Vancouver Canada to Cannon Beach Oregon in comfort. The Xc is classy enough to take us to one of Vancouver's finest eating establishments and utilitarian enough to take construction debris to the dump from one of our endless home rennovations.
The only new vehicle that tempted me was a 2006 Xc, well maybe next year.

[Bluegrass-XC]

I too have not been around in a while due to a medical issue I'm dealing with and dodging hurricanes down here on the Gulf Coast. Since going through and solving (temporarily?) the ETM issue, my 2000 XC has performed flawlessly. At 73K miles, it has enough power to jump out into heavy traffic (that is insane at times during the tourist season) and very comfortable for those long trips back to my old Kentucky home. The cargo space is more than I bargained for, especially when it's time to evacuate. In a nutshell - I love this car!

[cbob]

I've got to go along with KAZDOG.
Almost twice his milage, and other than a couple of door lock and brake sensor problems when the car was new, I've had none of the problems that have prompted the complaints from other members.

Perhaps if our old friend GUNDO (welcome back!) was to do a search, he might see that many of the "problems" are just due to new members bumping up old threads. The same issues seem to come up over and over, it keeps many of us from reading the board on a regular basis, and I'm sure that most folks (even ART) have simly gotten tired of posting replys to the same old 'squeeks and rattles' questions. At the moment for example, there are two threads asking the same old tire questions, the answers on both being just repeats of previous posts.

I actually find fewer of the 'XC bashing' trolls on the board compared to when I joined in 2002 -like many members, I was looking for pros/cons before considering a purchase, and like many, I stayed instead of buying a Boxster I could rave about. :p

[bouvier]

One on the major reasons I read this board is to get a heads up with things that are happening to other owner's vehicles. I was able to recognize and have corrected two important problems with our 03, linkage and the transmission programing glitch, that two dealers were unable or unwilling to solve. So, as much as I like the cheer leading on this site for the XC it is secondary to the practical help.

Without this BB how would I ever find out what tires to buy?

Thanks to all the contributors ..... even those who let us know their problems!

Al

[John@CdnRockies]

My use of the board emulates CBob and Bouvoir. It has been great in terms of (a) deciding to originally buy the Volvo, and (b) fix the few problems which have cropped up.

Unfortunately, our dealer is unable to resolve even basic issues, making the Board an invaluable resource. I suggest Taylor create a "Dealer" section and post some common threads for their info. Our XC70 is a fine car but whenever it goes in for servicing it is returned in worse shape than before! I am not exaggerating.:eek:

Overall, I like the car and its drivers. Compared to other car boards, I think this community is pretty positive overall. Cars are OK, but I think that average Volvo owners are just plain nice folks.:)

John

[XCS]

I suggest Taylor create a "Dealer" section and post some common threads for their info.
John

You mean like this http://www.volvoxc.com/reviews/showcat.php/cat/12

[John@CdnRockies]

Neat! I never knew that part of the site existed. However, that is not what I had in mind.

I was thinking something along the lines of a FAQ Maintenance section. On reflection, however, we already have that feature if we use the Search function. Unfortunately, unlike an owner wanting to resolve their specific problem, dealers are probably too lazy to search through a list of posts to find the nugget of info.

In addition to personal knowledge, I have used the Search feature in several instances with our Calgary dealer:
(1) gave them the specific Vadis codes to change mirror settings (service rep said it couldn't be done), - my thanks to Art,
(2) determined the reason for radio buzzing to be my cell phone (dealer hadn't a clue and was thinking of tearing the dash apart) - thank you Barry Sharp,
(3) No solution to the constant squeak in the rear hatch but we can always remain hopeful.;)

Given the very small list of problems, this car has really been a positive experience. My only concern is that our service dept remains clueless. Very nice and polite but essentially unaware of their own vehicles.

John

[mrb]

I still check the forum daily & have been since 2003--the big change I've noticed is that the OSD link hasn't the excitement since late 2003 and early 2004--most new members have already got their cars and are in the reality mode rather than the dreaming mode---still a very positive site and people are very courtious and helpful.

[littlewaywelt]

It's probably a little more fun to be a Porsche enthusiast than a Volvo enthusiast. :D

[XC-Fan]

... It was completely filled with fanatics - fanatics taking pics, fanatics taking rides, fanatics enjoying the XC thoroughly. Many people had never thought they would feel so compelled to post about a vehicle. ... Rock on XC crew!

That´s why I have set up my own XC-website (www.xc-fan.de) before I found these great forums ;-) But my job is going to need more time from day to day - that´s why I just can´t do more pics, I can´t have more rides - but I enjoy my XC70 every time I sit in :-))

Regards
Torsten - the XC-Fan (and with to less translations on my website but I hope there are enough pics ;-))

[Wodengolfer]

I joined this board to gain information on my wife's car,the XC70. I have had two really challanging cars,the BMW X5 and a Touareg, now there are two boards that are really people with genuine complaints. We love the XC(no problems after 14 months) compared to those vehicles. I take the XC every chance I get,to my wife's consternation, and (don't tell her) I like to drive it better than my Touareg V8! You people are so much more polite to the minor problems that I must complement you all. Great place, keep up the good work!! :)

[lavrgs]

This board was a major reason I bought my 2002 XC about this time last year. I really wanted an Audi allroad and I read the forums for a long time trying to get feel for what I'd be getting into. I always tell my friends that the main difference in the two forums was that the Audi people were trying to keep their cars on the road and the Volvo people were trying to figure out which was the best radio. Perhaps a bit o' the ole exaggeration but in my mind valid. And I am very happy with my decision. I have had no issues at all with my car, bought with 37K and now have 52K... see ya next year :D

[RedXC]

However I dont drive my XC that often. So I am not certain that any problems might come up. I'm taking my XC to the dealer on friday with a leak near the R/F Inner CV boot. The XC is very comfortable, even driving for 6 hours non-stop from LA to OAK. And the car just pulls along keeping the 85mph pace.

[barrysharp]

I couldn't be happier with my 4 Volvos.

My oldest is the '86 745 GLE Turbodiesel - and at 250K miles it still pulls very strongly albiet a little puff of blue/black dusty looking exhaust when pushed hard. It truly has been a family hauler for close to 20 years. It's been all over the USA several times.

Son's drive the '01 S60 T5 and loves it and has some 60K miles on it.

Wife has the '03 XC70 which my son and I picked up from Goteborg in Mar '03 via the OSD program. It has some 34K miles on it today, wife drives it 99% of the time and loves it compared to her previous '00 S80 T6. Seats are much more comfortable than the S80 and she (and I) feels much more in control of the car than we did with the S80. We feel and know the XC70 can go places where the S80 would have been really nervous about. ;)

...and me - I drive my '04 S60R and I couldn't be happier. I have modded it with IPD ECU, 3" Downpipe and TME Sports exhaust. Charging around with close to 400HP under the hood this car moves out in a hurry and does exactly what it's told to do by me. :D

I can't say we've had any really serious problems with the Volvos described above. Sure, a few minor things but not anything that I would call significant and certainly not enough to warrant me not thinking my next car will be a Volvo.

[Big]

So picture me, reading all of the posts here after a year or two of being away, obsessed with my Boxster S. The board has certainly changed character, with most folks posting on either problems, or resolution of problems. Is it true? Has the XC not lived up to our expectations?

As for me, the car at 52k miles remains good, solid, safe and reliable. But we've been back and forth to the dealer 5 times for the tranny, and it is now better than ever, but not really what it should be. The ride is not inspiring, too soft and mushy for me, but it really does offer a good highway ride. Gosh, listen to all the complaints you have! ;) I haven't noticed any marked difference in the board's tone although it has grown quite a bit. A few posters have had serious problems and maybe those threads get more attention because, well, the rest of us really don't have much to complain about other than poor iPod support and rusty lug bolts. Besides, it's more fun to console others.

BTW, a neighbor who always wanted a Boxster recently got a Honda S2000 instead. Boy, is he grinning! :D Until it snows, of course. :rolleyes: