AirBag Passenger XC70 MY05

[Coutainville]

Hi,
I just bought an XC70 D5 2005 and eventhough it is well equipped , I do not have the airbag passenger cut off switch.
I openned the side panel where the switch is supposed to be, and, I could see a connector sitting here...
I wonder, if this is the cable for the cut off switch??? If it is , can I just install any type of switch???
I only have my car for a week, but I find it fabulous, I went to buy it in the UK as they have a much more kit for a lower price...The drive back to the west of Ireland was a delight.
Now, the Irish goverment will charge me 30% of the price of the car as an importation tax disguised as registration tax... Not fair, the rest of Europe does not have to pay that...
Cheers Lads

[Jack]

I can't answer your switch question, particularly since such a switch does not seem to be offered in the US, but I would guess that if there were such a switch your car would likely need a software download to make it active.

Is the 30% "registration tax" in addition to the VAT? In discussion with long time good friends in England last June when we picked up our OSD V50 we generally agreed that folks in the UK pay almost as much in Pounds for a car as we pay in $US. VAT is part of the difference but it doesn't seem quite fair when the exchange is about $1.80/pound. Of course your roads are FAR FAR BETTER than our roads!

p.s. congrats on the new car and welcome to VolvoXC.com!

[Coutainville]

Hi Jack,

In most countries, the only tax on cars is VAT. In Ireland we have that here too and it is levied on all vehicles at 21%. In addition, Irish drivers pay VRT (Vehicle Registration Tax). Then there is road tax which is expensive, based on engine size and not emissions. Either way it amounts to triple taxation for Irish motorists.

There are no less than three different levels of VRT for passenger cars.
Up to 1.4 litre VRT is 22.5%; a Fiat Punto costs E12K
Up to 1.9 litre VRT is 25%; a VW Golf TDi costs E25K
Over 1.9 litre VRT is 30%; a Mazda 6 costs E31K

But its a lovely country to live in.

Cheers

[philosophicaldreamer]

Of course your roads are FAR FAR BETTER than our roads!

This kind of puzzles me when I hear people say that roads in Europe are "far far better" than in the States. I was born in Europe, grew up in Europe, driven in Europe, and I can't see how European roads are so much better than American roads. True that the highways in France, for instance, or Germany are often better than many raods in the States, but they are also quite expensive, and there are not that many of them. Furthermore, I have seen highways in the States that are easily competitve with the best European highways. All the other roads in Europe are quite narrow due to geographical conditions, and they often run through villages, which slows down your travel. I guess the principle that grass is always greener on the other sides is quite true

Ta-ta, j.

[littlewaywelt]

I can't answer your switch question, particularly since such a switch does not seem to be offered in the US, but I would guess that if there were such a switch your car would likely need a software download to make it active.

Is the 30% "registration tax" in addition to the VAT? In discussion with long time good friends in England last June when we picked up our OSD V50 we generally agreed that folks in the UK pay almost as much in Pounds for a car as we pay in $US. VAT is part of the difference but it doesn't seem quite fair when the exchange is about $1.80/pound. Of course your roads are FAR FAR BETTER than our roads!

p.s. congrats on the new car and welcome to VolvoXC.com!

In the US it's an automatic system based on weight sensors. Yours might be similar. In Europe I understood that it was switch-based and the switch was located in the blanks in front of the shifter. If there's no visible switch and you have the indicator in your rear view mirror I suspect you have the auto system like we do.

[JsR]

Of course your roads are FAR FAR BETTER than our roads!

The state of the roads is better here I agree, but the congestion is something else...

I remember well the horrendous potholes in main city roads in Vegas, SF, and LA - I was just glad I wasn't driving my own vehicle - suspensions must get shot to hell pretty quick. Also, some of the concrete road surfaces were extremely noisy - there were what I guess were rain run-off grooves running across the direction of traffic - it was like running on corrugations - no wonder so many people on this forum talk about changing tyres to minimise noise.

The Interstates however were a completely different pleasant experience. It was so odd to see, in some areas, that the traffic lanes for opposing traffic were sometimes separated by 1/4 mile or so - you have the land to cope with it. And it was a real delight to actually be able to use cruise control for more than two minutes at a time

John R

[RedXC]

I strongly recommend you not to modify your airbag system.