My mileage obviously varies. Been thumping successfully on my tail light assembly for a couple of years (and about 35,000km) now.

Had another strange experience a couple of weeks back - on the...

Sorry to contradict a countryman :o, but in South Africa petrol/gasoline models are 20,000km/12 months, and the diesels (new XC70, XC90 etc) are 15,000km/12 months. Might be different for pre 2003...

Thanks for posting, Mike. For me the most interesting aspect is that this thread illustrates perfectly what I've suspected for some time - those who take the time to write are generally unhappy,...

When Volvo arranged an expedition for the Press from Baja, Mexico to show off the XC70 a few years back, they replaced the Pirelli STRs with Pirelli S/Ts, which are somewhat more off-road oriented....

I wouldn't have heard of South Asia myself, if my work hadn't taken me there :o The term isn't nearly as widely used as "South East Asia".

Mind you I saw very few Volvos - and no XC70s - in...

Have you tried slapping the outside of the lens, in the forum-approved manner? I've brought my bulb back to life at least half a dozen times...

My local stealership wants to charge half an hour's...

Not a country, no, but I worked in the South Asia regional office of the UN, based in Kathmandu, organizing a conference for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). The region...

Bikes, usually. At the moment my Colnago CT1 roadbike with a wooden wine-crate holding helmet, shoes and gloves. Colnago rotates with my Giant NRS2 mountain bike or Cannondale tandem. I keep an...

I know you guys up north are thinking about snow right now, but I'm shopping for summer/all-season replacements for my Pirelli Scorpion ST (not STR) that I liked very much, but which are no longer...

My experience with after-market warranties (and maintenance plans) supports Forkster's view. My insurer refused any further benefits after I fell into a trap deliberately planted in the small print...

Pleased to hear you can now keep the weather outside your Volvo.

I know I didn't have the answer to your window issue, but your question to Art about swallows just sent me to Strouhal and back....

Thanks guys.

Is there another description for "front and rear end links"? My stealers are a bit confused by this terminology. Are they the same as "link arms"?

Apologies for the dumb questions, but we use...

Jules - there was a post somewhere that said if you touch the positive and negative battery-leads together (while the battery is disconnected, obviously) it re-sets the car's "memory". I did it...

Thanks for the advice. Is the strut the same thing as the shock absorber?

Thanks, all.

On the question of whether these parts really do need replacing - you may be right. But I have an opportunity (long and tedious story) to get the work done at a substantial discount,...

My ears tell me that the steering and suspension on my '04 needs work (at 130,000km) - there's some clonking from the steering when maneuvering the car in tight spaces, and passengers in the back...

Although, if your car is like mine, you can detach the middle part of your 40/20/40 seat (use the handle on the back, lift it up), twist it around and re-attach it so that the "hard" side is facing...

We've had this in South Africa for many years now (probably been testing the idea for the American market!) You can even buy another two years and 40,000km from an insurance company which is...

My "reason" was that I had a perfectly good deep cycle battery, of the right size, lying around. BTW, "Willard" is the name of one of our most popular brands of car battery. Coincidence? :confused:

An update on this, in case it helps anyone.

After a few weeks I confirmed a trend - after a couple of days without running the car, the charge on the battery is definitely low. I went to a...

I've had the same problem. It seems that if the floor mat slides backwards, it can lock up the door release mechanism - hence the need to push the door while pulling up on the handle.

Is a picture worth a thousand words? Unfortunately this one doesn't show how bad this 4x4 trail, overlooking the oyster farms in Luderitz Namibia, really is. When I stopped to take this picture my...

Just thought I'd share this, for what it's worth. Climbed into my '04 after a few days without driving it, turned the key and immediately saw something was wrong. Got a message that the DSTC was...

But it isn't - at least not in my car. My guess is that it only 'remembers' the last 1,000 km or so.