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That's not true at all. Chinese checkbook has been great for Volvo. Way better than Fords's brief stewardship. Everything is designed in Sweden again. Not Detroit, not China. An amazing amount of R&D happens at the new South Carolina plant too.
I owned a 1998 Volvo S70 and sat on Volvo forums for years. Issues with reliability didn't begin with the purchase of Volvo by Geely Holding. The S70 had a nice, quality interior, clear, logically laid out controls and nice seats, it had pretty good power and yet pretty good fuel economy. Certain things were overbuilt - every car came with an oil cooler and transmission fluid cooler, so you could tow up to 3,300lb with that little thing, and I did own a boat that was a 2,600lb tow package. It felt built like a bank vault and had unparalleled safety structures and systems during a time when many other cars were like rattle boxes and didn't have e.g. side air bags. But, I had a lot more trouble with that car than I did with my five Hondas, usually electronics, but the suspension and steering also didn't seem to hold up to our rough roads. My current Subaru has also been better, though it's still pretty new, so maybe not fair to compare. I did run that Volvo to 230k miles before the engine crapped out after overheating - I ignored the warning lights in the dash because they were always alerting with false alarms... this wasn't a false alarm. I actually liked the car overall - it had its virtues, but I didn't buy another Volvo - didn't want to pay the repairs - I went back to Honda. I don't follow them anymore, but CR data showed them overall to be like the German cars in reliability, which isn't great.
I couldn't start my car and OnCall said it was a dead fob battery. I asked if I should go to the dealer to change it and they said I could do it myself. It was very easy.
So, my sister brings over a new battery, and I go online for a video of how to change the battery. I put on special glasses that magnify everything so I can see what I am doing.
I have some trouble removing the cover and backing, but I get them off. I remove the battery and insert the new battery. Again, I have some difficulty putting the covers back on, but finally I get them on. I feel pleased with myself.
I then go to the car and . . . nothing. The fob doesn't work. Car still won't start.
I use the spare fob and drive to the Volvo dealership, about 35 minutes away. As soon as I tell the parts department manager that I changed the battery, but the car won't start, he immediately said I must have broken off the two small plastic pieces that hold the battery in place. I said What? Even without looking they all knew what the problem was. Obviously, this happens very often and is a good money maker for Volvo: tell people to change the battery themselves, then sell them a new fob when the customer breaks the small plastic part.
They open the fob and show me where the two pieces of plastic "were" and why the battery won't stay put. I ask about a new fob and I am told that it will be $500. Ridiculous and out of the question. So now I only have one working fob, with no backup spare. When my anger subsides, I may have spend the $500 to buy the fob since it's not smart to have only one key or fob and I can't find after-market fobs for Volvo. I guess that's my present to myself.
If OnCall had told me that changing the battery required a sensitive hand I would have driven to the dealership rather than try to do it myself. But they assured me it wasn't difficult. In fact, they told me that I wouldn't need any tools and that all I would need was a fingernail to pry the battery out.
I never really was bothered by the pandemic and the supply problems before, but now I am furious that I can't dump this Volvo and get a car that I want. Grrrrrrr!
If you look at step 5, it says carefully put the battery under the plastic clips. A slight misstep here, and the whole thing is ruined. Those plastic clips are very small, merely the height of the flat battery. If the angle at which you attempt to insert the battery is slightly different from that which was designed, SNAP.
The Volvo service dealers say it happens all the time.
This is a common occurrence that Volvo expects to happen. Eventually every owner will need to replace the battery. Why not design an easier, more robust process? Why not allow an aftermarket fob? Why have OnCall encourage customers to change the battery themselves and risk $500?
"Some brands, such as Chevrolet, make it possible for customers to save money on programming. For example, not only are General Motors key fobs on the less expensive side (we were quoted $147.98 for a 2019 Chevrolet Malibu with keyless entry, push-button start, and remote start), but a Chevrolet spokesman told us that the key-fob programming does not have to be done at the dealership.
“The programming procedure is described in the vehicle owner’s manual, but the vehicle does need to be present,†he said.
Genesky said that if the dealer quotes a price of $350 just for the key fob, he can typically do the whole job, including key-cutting and programming, for $200-$250. While Genesky says he has the programming equipment for many newer makes and models, he has to turn away customers with newer European cars because he hasn’t invested in the expensive gear needed for those models."
Finally got rid of the Volvo - dumped it two weeks ago. Only about 12K miles - but they were miserable miles. I gladly took the financial hit.
I'm driving my Kia K5 GT with the 2.5 Turbo and 290 HP. Regular gas, not premium!
It's a beauty. The infotainment system works much better than the Volvo's. Took about 15 minutes to set up. Nice center console flat charging station for my Samsung phone.
Hate to read this. I love these cars. I think they're far and away the best looking.
I do hate how very little comes standard.
"Oh look it's only $38K! Nice! That's in my range... oh, that's no heated seats? Oh... no blind spot detector? No auto cruise control? No auto braking?"
Add those packages.... $75,000...
This is why I'll never own one.
Well I guess I am here to eat some crow. Guess what I bought?
Yea, bought it used, but... yea. Bought. And absolutely love. Completely do not understand some of your complaints now that I have driven one. I am head over heels in love with this thing.
2019 S60 R-Design w/Polestar tune 64K miles.
Well I guess I am here to eat some crow. Guess what I bought?
Yea, bought it used, but... yea. Bought. And absolutely love. Completely do not understand some of your complaints now that I have driven one. I am head over heels in love with this thing.
2019 S60 R-Design w/Polestar tune 64K miles.
The V60 Polestar wagon was my first pick. It was almost 20k more than I paid for the Polestar 2 though, just couldn't do the price as I don't really need the extra space of the V60. Very nice cars though. The S60/V60 are have really nice interiors whereas the XC40 is much more budget and then Polestar uses weird recycled bottle caps on top of it. It's fine, just it's not a very premium product. The HK audio is fine, would have been nice to have the B&W the Polestar tune S60/V60 got though. I can't say I'm impressed with Android Auto. Really, really basic infotainment that doesn't feel fully developed. It's also laggy and crash prone. At this point with the car being several years old that's probably just what it's going to be. They push semi-regular OTA updates but they're very, very minor updates and I think it's just in large part they cheaped out didn't put in enough hardware to run it well. Car drives well though which is really the point though of the Polestar or Polestar tuned Volvos.
Reliability on the older T8s kept me away from them. Very nice car with lots of reliability issues. We'll see how the Polestar 2 does. So far it's been to the dealer twice since June but they were for very minor issues. Going for a CPO model with the extra warranty was definitely a factor in going for a CPO versus non-CPO one. Volvos unfortunately do Volvo things.
Finally got rid of the Volvo - dumped it two weeks ago. Only about 12K miles - but they were miserable miles. I gladly took the financial hit.
I'm driving my Kia K5 GT with the 2.5 Turbo and 290 HP. Regular gas, not premium!
It's a beauty. The infotainment system works much better than the Volvo's. Took about 15 minutes to set up. Nice center console flat charging station for my Samsung phone.
A relative works for a car rental company. He has a choice of cars to drive as his company car. He loves the Kia K5 GT. Great gas mileage, good looks, plenty of power and above all, the reliability is among the best of their rental fleet.
His second choice is the Polestar II EV.
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Changing Fob Battery Myself Cost Me $500
