Chip Package

[Ag04XC]

Hey all. Just bought my second Volvo the other day, an 04 XC70. My first was an 87 240wagon, and Im excited to be back.

Ive been perusing the threads and havent found any discussions on the Chip package that the dealers are pushing these days. My wife and I got a lot of pressure to buy in, with plenty of anecdotes of folks that didnt, drove off the lot, and promptly took a boulder to the headlamp. They mentioned that the XCs have been having trouble with easily busted lights and that a replacement would cost ~$700. They're offering what appears to be a "shrink wrap" style laminate to cover the lamps and 5yrs warrantee for $400. Any thoughts about this offer or personal experiences with broken headlamps?
Thanks!

Eric

[Art]

Congrats and welcome back to the fold Eric. :)

I had urethane film guard installed on our current XC70 and also on our previous '01. No broken or cracked lenses to speak of on either vehicle and I credit this to the protective film. We see a lot of gravel laid down on our local roads and highways during the winter season here, so I personally feel that this type of protection is cost effective. The 3M product used on the headlamps, foglights and leading edge of the hood is virtually invisible as seen in the photo below. In both cases, our dealer contracted a professional installer to apply the film.

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b249/Batstar/3MFilm.jpg

$400 seems to be on the high side for just headlamp coverage as I recall our dealer charged us around $250 Cdn for all three areas. As an alternative, you could always order the product directly from a company like Xpel (http://www.xpel.com/) and install the film yourself. They also have a dealership network if you are interested in locating an installer near your location.

[slowflyer]

Do a search for headlight protection. You will find several offerings for $100 or less. If the temperature is not extreme most of these things are not too difficult to install.

We had a rock break one of our foglights in the first year or so. Just luck of the draw.

[Ag04XC]

Sounds like ipd sells the headlamp coverings for $50, so I think Ill give that a try. Doesnt come with the warranty that volvo is offering, but it will probably do the trick. Thanks for the input all.

Eric