2 years on and still have that WOW feeling!

[gary]

Tomorrow it will be 2 years to the day since we took delivery of our '03 XC70 and I still find myself in a state of WOW with this car and I'm always looking for an excuse to take the keys off of my wife (it's her car) and jump behind the steering wheel and take the XC for a spin.

The car has been a pure joy to drive and has been virtually trouble-free after 25K miles (of course, I expect it to be trouble-frree). I did experience the infamous transmission flare early on (at about the 2K mark) but two trips to the German Volvo dealer in Stuttgart (with a thread on the subject from this forum in hand) and a VADIS update has taken care of that - I've never seen or heard from that flare since. I also had the power steering hose clamp problem that others have reported in this forum. Everything else has been trouble-free, although I have started to note an occassional window rattle from the passenger side front door, but if I roll down the window and then put it back up the rattle goes away. I wll have my Volvo dealer look at that the next time I'm in. My mileage has never been great (20-21 mpg), but mileage is something that I have never really concerned myself with, so I just drive on and ignore it.

The interior upholstery (leather) and floor carpeting is holding up well despite the fact that I've only really cleaned and treated the leather one time in two years of ownership and I have an 8 year old boy and 10 year old daughter that seem to attract dirt and mud. I've had the rubber floor mats from the beginning and highly recommend them - they've really protected the floor area. I do vaccuum the interior on a regular basis. Additionally, I love the design and fitting of the front seats and honestly believe these are the most comfortable seats that I have ever sat in. I'm 6'1 and have the problem of lower back stiffness and hip stiffness when driving on long journeys (3 hours plus), but I've found that don't get that stiffness as often with these seats and especially when I turn the heater on (aaawwwww.....heaven!)

My car as the HU-613 radio which has been fine for me. I've been very pleased with it and the sound quality of the speakers. I added Volvo's 10-CD changer and my only complaint there is that now I throw in 10 CDs and tend to leave them in for months at a time...at least when I only had and used the single cd player I was forced to change my cds more often

However, it's not 100% satisfaction (probably more like 99.2% satisfaction). We purchased the cargo area rear facing seat. I'm a little frustrated that when I want to use this seat I have to take out the cargo area cover (as well as the cargo area carpet). I can understand taking out the carpet, but I wish Volvo would have designed the cover so that it could have remained in position when the seat is up (not that I have need to use it when the seat is up, I just get tired of hauling it in and out of the house). And that....honestly...is my only complaint with this vehicle.

In hindsight, I wish I would have gotten DSTC, but didn't know enough about it at the time and let my salesperson tell me "you don't need it." After reading about it here iand knowing that it was only a $695 option...well...as they say...hindsight is 20/20.

Yep...I'm still in WOW-land with this car. For those of you reading this who are prospective buyers, I hope you decide to get an XC70 because it truly is a wonderful vehicle and I think it stands head and shoulders above the other vehicles in its class. Unless something radically happens with the Volvo lineup of vehicles in the next few years, I fully intend in late '06/early '07 to purchase another XC70 to complement the one we now have. WOW...what a great car. Go on...get yerself one!

[Art]

Hey Gary, ain’t life great?! Gee, if Volvo was ever in need of a spokesperson, you’d be a shoe-in fer sure!

We’re now well into our 5th season and also share similar feelings towards our ‘01...something that I couldn’t say about our previous vehicles. Admittedly, there have been a number of minor issues but all were addressed by the new car warranty and just recently we needed to replace the rear wiper arm due to a broken clip and yet another failed (#4) stabilizer link. Still, it’s a love affair that I feel will continue to thrive particularly during long 10 + hour west coast trips over the Rockies, in addition, to the long, punishing winters that can be very hard on vehicles here. Through it all, the XC hasn’t skipped a beat. The functional cargo box also makes a great addition if we ever require the need for extra storage space. Yep, so far the ride has been pretty SWEET indeed!

I can’t predict what the next purchase will be, but if our XC ownership experience is to be an indication of what to expect, then, yes, Volvo will likely be near the top of the heap.