Only days until my new XC70 3.2 (Aust)!

[Matters]

I've ordered a brand spanking new Electric Silver/Off-Black XC70 3.2. I'm told to expect delivery next weekend as it needs to be transported from Victoria to New South Wales. It's a 2009 build vehicle. It replaces a 1999 Lexus ES that, whilst still perfect, is not safe or pratical enough for our coming new family.

I've not gone for the LE pack because, apart from the auto tailgate, it provided no features that I considered worth paying an extra $6k for.

I haven't elected to fit any options, but I am considering:

1. the nylon cargo barrier;
2. a rubber tray for the boot;
3. the cargo organiser system thing;
4. the side net;
5. a tow kit.

I've got a limited budget, so I can't have all of the above at the moment. I'm leaning towards getting the cargo barrier and the side net.

I also saw that in England you can order a side blind for the rear seat [important for my baby who is arriving in this world shortly]. So I'm going to try and source this.

I considered the Volvo Portable Navigation, but figure it is much more cost effective to get a Garmin or TomTom from an electronics store.

Anyway, I shall provide some pictures upon it's arrival.

I look forward to joining some of you Sydney guys off the beaten track.

[brissim]

Matters,
Sincere congradulations on your purchase. I must admit with the current generous dealer offers on stock vehciles, I was tempted to replace my MY06 XC70. However I've got to ask what is to me the obvious question. Why did you elect for the 3.2l petrol over the D5 diesel? I think its only $2000 extra for the diesel and besides getting quick payback on this extra cost, I always found that the diesel is generally a much better car to drive.

Tony

[EL008]

G'day lads,

I've got the clip-on sunshades for my 2008 V70 and it is exactly the same one as your XC70. It is very practical and fits better than the window sox shades that you see everywhere. Try Clive at www.partsforvolvosonline.com, he is in UK. Quite often, parts can be cheaper overseas than in my case, Melbourne. I have bought sunshades (and other parts)for my ex-2005 XC70 in the past.

With regards to the portable Garmin, you can buy just the charging base from USA and get an independent Volvo garage to install it, then buy the Garmin 760 from Dick Smith or Officeworks(where I have seen them for A$388). It works out much cheaper than the entire Volvo kit.

The plastic/rubber bootliner is cheaper off Ebay, just bought one for my V70.

The side net must be used in conjunction with the side shopping bag/cargo hooks(separate part) that need to be drilled into your cargo compartment side trim. I just bought the hooks and am contemplating doing it myself. It is as easy as installing a shelf on your wall.

Towbar in OZ is not factory kit, it is sourced locally to comply with ADR. Again, you can source it separately.

Good luck!

[EL008]

One more thing: you can't use the cargo organizer(with rods and nets for about A$300+) with your bootliner as the raised lip of the liner is in the way of the cargo rods.

[Hayabusa]

Good to have you on board. Look forward to meeting you on a drive... (I'm in Marrickville)

[Matters]

Thanks for the replies chaps.

In relation to the diesel versus petrol question, I was put off a bit by the acceleration figures and the extra cost. I do concede, however, that the low end torque of the diesel offsets the "techinical" acceleration isues. The other factor was this: I asked my Wife whether she would remember to put diesel into it rather than petrol. She said she would try but could not guarantee that she would remember. This undertaking was not sufficient comfort for me!

I originally wanted a white vehicle to avoid the $1500 metallic paint extortion. Unfortunately, no one could source me one in the time frame that I had set. So I went with a metallic one. Essentially, I was trying to limit how much I spent because this car is going to have the life beaten out of it over the next four years by: 1) using it for work; 2) my future rug rat; 3) using it to carry crap and 4) my Wife reversing it into pets, people and poles. I expect that I shall be selling it in fours years with banana on the roof, texter marks on the door and chocolate in the cracks of the seats.

It was alleged to me in my initial investigations of this car in early 08 that the driveaway was circa $65k incl metallic paint. The list price has risen by a thousand or so since then. I ended up paying $57k drive away incl. Metallic paint, CTP, Rego, Stamp Duty etc. I don't know whether that was a "great price" but I think it was ok - I hope.

I haven't got the car yet, I think it will arrive the coming Tuesday. But I might not have a chance to pick it up until Friday.

Thanks for the tips re: parts. Very useful indeed.

I will revert when the vehicle arrives.

[Matters]

Hi guys, I picked up my XC70 last night.

It has been a deluge in Sydney over the last 24 hours. So I've only taken one photo this morning outside work, which I attach herewith.

I had some pleasant surprises when picking it up:

1. Nylon Safety Net;
2. Ipod/USB interface;
3. Auto-dimming rear mirror with compass;
4. Headlight washers.

I thought all of the above were optional or accessories. Indeed, in the MY08 models that I drove I did not notice that they had any of these features.

I was going buy the safety net and was toying with the Ipod interface. So I'm thrilled to see that I have got it standard! I've already plugged it in to my Ipod and I am very satisfied. So the money I have saved will go into the getting a GPS.

My gripes so far: 1) the side windows and the mirrors appear to do a very, very bad job of dispersing water, so much so that I have not been able to merge with confidence (I'm going to buy something from a shop to assist with this); 2) it is definitely more "boomy" and "growly" than my Lexus (but for two-thirds the price you can't really argue).

Otherwise, I love it and so does the Wife. The colour is a pleasant surprise, I'm really quite happy with it. I'm enjoying being able to adjust all the "lifestyle" features such as the homesafe lighting. On my Lexus you need to go to the dealer to adjust these things.

All in all, I am presently one happy customer. The poor thing spent its first night outside in the rain, but perhaps outside is where it is most comfortable.

EL008: I e-mailed Clive, but they don't have a Volvo supplier at the moment. I e-mailed some U.S.A dudes, but they don't send to Australia. I think I might have to get screwed over by the local dealer!

[Magslad]

Nice one, hope you'll be very happy with it.

Regarding your gripe of the windows not dispersing water, this may be a bit too late anyway but my XC70 has the water repellant front windows (I think this comes with the option that includes laminated side windows). I was on a motorway in very heavy rain on the day I picked up my car last week, and it did a fantastic job of dispersing the water.

I only mention it as I don't know whether its something that Volvo could apply to your car now (i.e. if it's a repellant coating they could put on your front windows even if they're not laminated)?

[EL008]

Borton Volvo in USA sends stuff to Australia. Weird about the PFS thing, I just bought a side mirror from Clive a couple of months ago.

[Matters]

I only mention it as I don't know whether its something that Volvo could apply to your car now (i.e. if it's a repellant coating they could put on your front windows even if they're not laminated)?

I wonder whether that could be done. Surely I could buy the laminated glass side windows? They must just slide in. I bet they are terribly expensive though.

I will have to do something, because I'm scared witless of merging at the moment when it has rained. It's like the water almost sticks to the windows. I'm wondering whether this might have something to do with the stuff they stick to the car when in transit? My car was built 5 months ago, so it has been sitting around for a while.

I might give Aquapel (not sure where to get this in Sydney) or Rain-X a go before I take a drastic measure.

As to the parts generally, I purchased the rubber mat (circa $250), the rear door blind (circa $150) and a child mirror (circa $115) from Alto.

I got screwed, but the instant gratification urge is often too hard for me to overcome. The guys at Alto Volvo parts, I should note, were great and met my request for the parts in well under 24 hours.

I was worried that the rubber mat would affect the metal luggage rails, but the genuine volvo article fits neatly between the rails - thereby allowing the use of the cargo organise that I don't have. Anyway, I was already getting the boot dirty - so I can live with the expense.

The rear door blind was worth every penny, it is far better than those ugly looking socks people pull over their rear doors.

I was going to buy a Garmin 765 for the Volvo. But, I'm going to give the GPS on my Blackberry Bold a trial. I downloaded Vodafone Compass. I'm going to try it tomorrow on the road - Yum Cha at Rhodes here we come. Having played with it tonight, I'm pretty impressed with it. Although basic, it is intuitive and - because it's got data download capabilitity - comes with a massive database of POIs. Given that I use the navigation probably a few times a month in a serious way - this might be a good way of avoiding having to have some fat Garmin stuck to my dashboard and picking up some other cool functions along the way. I'm suprised that it doesn't have real time traffic, but this can only be a matter of time.

I found this Swedish GPS/Phone mount that is personalised for the Volvo: Brodit. It looks like a pretty neat way for me to find a place for my Blackberry whilst utilising the GPS function. Does anyone have a Brodit mount/clip?

Next thing to buy is the baby seat.