2011 XC70 Critique

**aireeca** · 01-01-2011, 07:21 PM

Originally Posted by budrichard

In the USA you can't give wagons (Estates) away.

I wish they would. I'm in the market for a wagon and the choices are miserable. Manuals are few and far in between in the United States. Ditto for diesel manuals.

As it is, I'll likely be going for a XC70 in about a year and just sucking up the no-manual situation.

**WJGreer** · 11-15-2011, 10:03 AM

Originally Posted by aireeca

I wish they would. I'm in the market for a wagon and the choices are miserable. Manuals are few and far in between in the United States. Ditto for diesel manuals.

...and if you can find one, you can't get the good engine. BMW only offers the 328xi. Audi only the 2.0T. On and on.

I may have read that Audi is about to start importing an allroad again. A4-based this time, and again, only with the base engine and automatic transmission. Looks cool, though. We had a 2004 allroad before we bought our XC70; the wheels fell off of it after 60,000 miles, so I'm not sure I would buy another one without an extended warranty to 100K.

For now, the Volvo fills a need. I love ours, but I do wish the suspension were a little stiffer.

**budrichard** · 11-16-2011, 06:50 AM

Bump:
After about 8k miles, the 2011 has been bullet proof but I don't drive it as it's my wife's vehicle.
My heart says an All Road would very very nice even though it would be much smaller than the XC70 and much more expensive. My head says forget it. I asked for an Audi All Road Diesel A6(larger) about 2 years ago, it ain't going to happen according to AUDI-speak.-Dick

**WJGreer** · 11-16-2011, 07:52 AM

Originally Posted by budrichard

My heart says an All Road would very very nice even though it would be much smaller than the XC70 and much more expensive. My head says forget it. I asked for an Audi All Road Diesel A6(larger) about 2 years ago, it ain't going to happen according to AUDI-speak.-Dick

Nope. The allroad is A4-based now, according to this Insideline story. Very good looking car, but certainly smaller than the XC70, which my wife's car as well.

I'll tell you what, though, the adjustable suspension on the previous generation of allroads was a real liability. It was airbag based, and those airbags began to fail pretty reliably around 75,000 miles, with a repair cost around $1200 to $1500 per corner. Ours was otherwise expensive to maintain at that mileage level, as well. The timing belt replacement is apparently very involved and cost $2800. We had lots of leaky gasket issues too.

I can't yet say whether our XC70 will be any better in these respects, but I am a little gunshy of Audis now, having owned one that became a money pit. I might lease one though.

Here's the upcoming A4 allroad:

**Xilikon** · 11-16-2011, 08:38 AM

Before buying my V70 XC, I looked at used AllRoad but decided against it precisely due to the adjustable suspension.

I wonder if the newer ones learned from the mistakes of the older AllRoad.

**WJGreer** · 11-16-2011, 10:11 AM

Originally Posted by Xilikon

Before buying my V70 XC, I looked at used AllRoad but decided against it precisely due to the adjustable suspension.

I wonder if the newer ones learned from the mistakes of the older AllRoad.

We're way off topic now...but I looked at the UK Audi website, where they are already selling it. It claims that its suspension is 37mm raised compared to a normal A4 Avant, but it says nothing about being adjustable. Which would mean that maybe they did learn a lesson there. The suspension airbag reliability was really a disaster. Literally everyone I know who has owned an allroad to high mileage has had the problem. Five or six data points, and the singer in the band I play in manages an import mechanic shop and confirms that the issue is widespread.

**budrichard** · 11-17-2011, 05:14 AM

The A6 All Road is indeed gone and not on the AUDI(Germany) website. The A4 is simply raised and 4 cyl engine. NOT the previous All Road rocket that was available in the USA.
For 135,100 EURO's base, you can have the A7 12 cyl Diesel that will leave the new All Road in the dust!
So much for the ALL ROAD.-Dick

**WJGreer** · 11-17-2011, 09:01 AM

Originally Posted by budrichard

The A6 All Road is indeed gone and not on the AUDI(Germany) website. The A4 is simply raised and 4 cyl engine. NOT the previous All Road rocket that was available in the USA.
For 135,100 EURO's base, you can have the A7 12 cyl Diesel that will leave the new All Road in the dust!
So much for the ALL ROAD.-Dick

Actually, the A4 Avant shows 0-60 at 6.5 seconds. The 2004 allroad we had was a 2.7L biturbo and hit 60 about a half second slower. I'm not sure how fast the 4.2 was. At my altitude it may have been slower.

**AGXC70** · 12-01-2011, 06:47 PM

Originally Posted by budrichard

... Of course each generation drives differently with the P1 being the most 'sporty', the P2 kind of a big floating type ride and the P3 seems so far to be a very good ride and very quiet internally for the driver/passenger. ... "

so is p2 the 2003 model?