Opinions, Please

[mrf]

Hi. I know that it's Independence Day (USA) and I feel a little silly bothering people on a holiday, but ... I'm in the market for a car and am considering the 2006 Volvo XC70 wagon. I prefer a wagon to an SUV and the Volvo offers AWD, a feature that I'd like to have. I would appreciate hearing from other XC70 owners about their experiences in terms of reliability and any other comments that you'd care to share. I guess my bottom line is would you recommend the car? Thanks for your time.

[MGC]

The 2003 XC70 we purchased on OSD has been an excellent car. We have 86000 miles on it, use synthetic oil and have it serviced regularly as stated in the owners manual. The car has been trouble free.

I have enjoyed this car very much and plan on purchasing another one in about 1 1/2 to 2 years from now.

I recommend the car.

Good Luck
MGC

[Art]

Welcome to the site mrf. :)

It’s generally been a pleasant ride for us and our ‘01 with the exception of the last several months where a number of mechanical issues have prompted us to seriously consider trading our rig in for a newer model. Our original purchase experience 5 ½ years ago was a good one and the sales rep went out of his way to make it so. Establishing a solid relationship with a dealer and its service department will certainly provide peace of mind when/if issues do come up.

On a more positive note, I don’t feel there is another vehicle that accommodates our needs as capably as does the XC and, at that price, offer the comfort, ride, cargo space, and decent performance to boot.

I certainly wouldn’t have any inhibitions with respect to buying a ‘06 as most of the problems affecting the earlier productions years have been addressed.

[BillAileo]

We have an '03 with over 60,000 miles. I agree with the comments made by MGC and Art. I would add two points:

(1) I've been driving for more years than I care to mention and a first rate seat is now critical to me. No vehicle I've used has better seating than these Volvos.
(2) In my opinion the current XC70 is a basically reliable vehicle. Other than some issues when the car was brand new that were promptly addressed by the dealer, I have done all the maintenance at home. However, with the extent of the sophistication of many of the components of these late model, particularly European vehicles, I don't think it will often prove to be cost effective to run any of them into the multiples of a hundred thousand miles that was not uncommon a decade or two ago.

That said, we would buy one again and probably will.

Bill

[mrf]

Thanks to each of the people who have responded. I appreciate your time and insights. FYI - The reason that I'm looking for a car is that our Acura TSX is coming off lease at the end of the month. It's been a great car, but we need a wagon or similar for many reasons (including transporting our dogs). The Acura MDX is bigger than I'd like, so we're not considering it. The RDX (smaller Acura SUV) won't be out until mid-August or Sept. In addition to the XC70, we've also looked at the new Mazda CX-7 and have narrowed the choice down to these two (only other possibility is the Subaru Forester, which would be more affordable). We both liked the Mazda. At this point though, I'm more inclined towards the Volvo and my husband towards the CX-7. I've looked up a forum on the CX-7 but there's little ownership info. as it's so new to the market. Anyway, thanks again for replying.

[Low Tide]

I too have an 03 XC, 50K, no major issues. Some minor ones, all covered under warranty. A couple of thoughts:

1) The XC70 is more car than the other options you mentioned.
2) The others may be more reliable, but do not come close to the sophistication and complete-thoughtfulness as the XC.
3) It is a European car, and compares cost-wise to the others in terms of reliability, parts, labour, depreciation.
4) In terms of practicality, there are few equals. The Audi Allroad and Land Rover LR3 come to mind.
5) I too, would not hesitate to replace the XC70. The MY06 is a very fine car, better in many ways than the previous models since most of the kinks have been worked out. That's a key decision- Volvo's, and most european cars, always take 2-3 years to make the system fully functional. The tweaks in the later years make the biggest differences in the "little" areas that need refinement.
6) It remains the wagon to beat, bar none.
7) The Haldex AWD is very capable adding safety and capablity.
8) Take a look at the "little" details.... you'll see that in a Volvo, they have a purpose. What's not needed is simply not there.
9) Environmentally, there are few companies that can match Volvo in terms of commitment from design concept to integration in the final product.
10) It's good to be different. Volvo's aren't for everyone, and those of us who are Volvo lifers have made those decisions for a great number of reasons.

Good luck. Although we may be biased Volvo drivers, I think you'll find us to be an extremely practical and blatently honest bunch of people.

Dig around, there is more on this site than you really ever "want" or "need" to know about these cars.

[Low Tide]

NB: I added another set of items to the list... sorry for the multiple edits.


Happy 4th.

[MD-Daddy]

I guess my bottom line is would you recommend the car?


I a word... A B S O L U T E L Y

MDD

[Jack]

A couple other vehicles to consider:

Subaru Legacy/Outback -- slightly larger than the Forrester you already considered, but still smaller than the XC70. The turbo is fun, especially with the manual shifter. Handling and ride are more sporting than luxury, and turbo mileage may be dissapointing. Interior components aren't quite as nice either.

Volvo V50 -- smaller than the 70 series but available with the same T5 turbo engine and AWD system. Handling and ride tuned more toward sport compared to the XC70. Very much under the radar in the US with unit sales barely in the thousands but you see them all over Europe. You really should drive one before you decide -- if you can find one.

We really like our XC70 but the V50 T5 AWD 6 speed we picked up in Sweden last month is more fun to drive and IMHO has more comfortable seats.

[mrf]

I appreciate your comments and especially the distinctions between the XC70 and the other cars that I mentioned were on our list.

Your Item No. 10) "It's good to be different. Volvo's aren't for everyone, and those of us who are Volvo lifers have made those decisions for a great number of reasons," really struck a chord. My husband is a life-long car buff and he loved Saabs from when he was a teenager. We drove economy cars after college and after we first married, but when we could afford our first nice car,we bought something he had long dreamed about: a new Saab. It was an '85 900. We loved the safety features and the hatchback was a great convenience. In June of '91, that car saved our lives. We were in a terrible highway accident (someone cut us off). The car skidded on dirt on the median, we went back into the highway lanes (somehow we didn't hit any other cars), back onto the median, hit the highway rail head-on, spun around -- at which point the back of the car hit the divider. We finally came to a stop and we were all fine (my husband, 4-year old son in the back in a booster seat, and me). The front and back of the car were smashed, but the passenger compartment was intact. A Sesame Street cassette was still playing over the speakers. We got out of the car as though we had parked it there! The car saved us and we were loyal Saab owners forever...until three years ago when we could no longer do business with the dealership. In addition, it seems that GM has tried to mainstream the Saab brand to the point where it isn't what it was years ago.

One of our favorite Saabs was a 2000 wagon (9-5). It was a wonderful car. It had some issues, but they were covered under warranty. We made an offer to buy it when the lease ended (what we thought was a reasonable offer) but Saab refused it. About six weeks after we turned the car in, Saab sent us a statement (it probably shouldn't have been sent to us) that the car had been sold for $14,000 -- $4,000 less than we offered! What a way to run a company...

Getting back to the current shopping list - I guess you could say that we appreciate the differences in cars such as Saab and Volvo, and your comments are most helpful.

[1Lieutenant]

I have owned two XC70s. A 2002 and now a 2005. BOTH have been extremely reliable and trouble free. The '02 had several minor issues promptly resolved under warrantee. I had this car for three years and 45K miles. Obviously I though highly enough to get another.

The '05 has been TOTALLY trouble free from delivery to 15K. Ride is a bit smoother, acceleration a bit stronger, but gas mileage is about 1 mpg lower. I love the way it handles like a sedan but hauls cargo like an SUV. Last winter it went through unplowed streets with snow curling over the hood like a Jeep advertisement!

The seats are unbelievable. My back is very sensitive to bad seats. I can drive for hours with no discomfort.

Most importantly, I believe in the safety factor of owning a Volvo. Volvo has been at the forefront of vehicle safety since its inception. Along with computer simulations and crash testing (which all vehicles do) they also analyse real world accidents to help evaluate safety systems. So far as I know, only Volvo, Saab and Mercedes do this.

Steve

[Jack]

One of our favorite Saabs was a 2000 wagon (9-5). It was a wonderful car. It had some issues, but they were covered under warranty. We made an offer to buy it when the lease ended (what we thought was a reasonable offer) but Saab refused it. About six weeks after we turned the car in, Saab sent us a statement (it probably shouldn't have been sent to us) that the car had been sold for $14,000 -- $4,000 less than we offered! What a way to run a company...

In the small world dept... that's almost exactly my experience going into our XC70. I leased an '01 9-5 wagon, had about the same conversation with SFSC, and dropped off the 9-5 on the way to pick up our Cross Country. Good friends of ours ditched their 9-5 wagon for an XC70 too.

In many ways Saabs and Volvos are as much alike as they are different. From design philosophies to a focus on ergonomics I think people who like one will generally like the other. One must compare the offerings when in the market to chose the product that best meets your needs. At the moment I think the balance on that equation is tilted a bit toward Volvo, especially if you need/want AWD.

If you are considering the purchase of a new Volvo be sure to look into Overseas Delivery (OSD). It may not fit your plans, but it can be a good deal and LOTS of fun. Look through the OSD forum on Swedespeed.com for lots of info and links. Look at the OSD forum here too for many great trip reports.

BTW we recently gifted our '95 900s to a recent college grad. 185K miles and going strong...