Hi -<P>Thought I'd introduce myself, and let you know what I have (and don't have)<BR>to offer in this forum. Think of it as full disclosure, automotive style.<P>I ordered my white V70 T5 back in April of 2000, and took delivery of it on<BR>the last day of August. There were MANY hassles throughout the delivery<BR>process due, in part, to the fact that I ordered through CarOrder.com which<BR>went belly-up two days before my car was delivered. I ended up working out<BR>a deal with my local dealer, but it was a mess, to put it mildly. But it's<BR>exactly the car I wanted, made to order. The biggest hurdle I had (the<BR>reason I had to special order my car) was deleting the sunroof.<P>Though I've had several nagging little problems with my car, I don't regret<BR>the purchase, and think it is still the perfect vehicle for my new family.<BR>We have a new daughter, a medium-sized dog, and lots of crap. Plus we drive<BR>several hundred miles every weekend visiting friends and family....there<BR>just isn't a better vehicle out there that fits our needs this well. At<BR>least not one that's this fun to drive!<P>Since I've had the car, I have installed my own rear mud flaps, spoiler and<BR>tow hitch. If you're thinking of doing any of these projects yourself, drop<BR>me a line, and I can give you some pointers. I've also had the car<BR>professionally tinted, and won't own a car without tint now that I see how<BR>great it is. There are some pictures of my various Volvo projects on my web<BR>site: <A HREF="http://www.2001v70.homepage.com" TARGET=_blank>http://www.2001v70.homepage.com</A> <P>I now have 2600 miles on the car, and have switched to Mobil 1 synthetic oil<BR>(changed my own oil too, and it was the easiest oil change I've ever done,<BR>believe it or not). I try to have the dealer do as little as possible on my<BR>car - less chance for them to screw it up. Which brings up a sore point<BR>with me: I just can't believe there is no shop manual (printed) for this<BR>car. That bums me out like you can't believe, and makes my maintenance<BR>tasks that much more of a crap-shoot.<P>My outstanding issues on my car are: defective driver's mirror, erratic<BR>climate control, click/clunk in steering wheel, poor transmission<BR>performance, chipped door handle trim, and a defective part in the tow hitch<BR>kit. I have finally gotten the attention<BR>of my local "after sales manager," and he seems to be trying to streamline<BR>my process finally. The car has already been in the shop for a full 10 days<BR>since I've owned it, and my parts always seem to be on backorder. I've also<BR>brought up the mysterious T5 upgrade issue with this same gentleman. He's<BR>willing to look into it for me, though like everybody else who deals with<BR>Volvos daily, he's never heard of it.<P>So there's me and mine in a nutshell. Who are you? And what's going on with YOUR V70?<P>- Darell<BR><P>
Hey, who's Darell?
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Darell<P>I love your car. There is somthing about white wagons that gets me all warm and fuzzy. We have a V70 coming from Volvo this week to do a review on.
Chuck -<P>Excellent. I hope they've fixed a bunch of the little stuff that was still broken on my car. From what I hear, that seems to be the case in many respects. I'm also glad to hear that my site was working when you looked. It isn't always the case, as the host has been pretty flaky lately.<P>I've had dark blue cars all my life, and I was just tired of it. Now that I live where it exceeds 110 in the summer, white was a must. I love the color.<P>- Darell<P>
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Hi Darell,<BR>What's the mysterious T5 upgrade issue? I think we may be narrowing down our choices for a new car. V70 T5, Cross Country or an S4 Avant. I'd like to know what the issues are with the T5.<P>Thanks,<BR>Chris<p>[This message has been edited by 83caddy16v (edited 12-10-2000).]
Hey Darrel,<P>Nice web site. Although in the past I've done all my own car work, I'm not sure I could drill a hole in a brand new car. <IMG SRC="http://www.swedespeed.com/ubb/smile.gif"><P>As you saw on the other thread, my V70 is going into production. Hope they've fixed all these little nagging problems. It sounds like even with these you're still happy with your purchase?<P>Do you notice this 1st gear lag or lack of power at low rpms in your car that this software upgrade is suppose to fix? Or is it more just in the interest of making sure you're getting maximum performace? <P>Haven't been to Davis in awhile, but I lived there from 86-90. By the four year span you can tell I went to school there. I still get to the Bay Area quite a bit on business and have alot of family in Cal.
Hi Kevin -<P>Thanks for the nice words.<P>Yes, I'm still glad I bought the car, and I think very soon most of the bugs will be worked out to my satisfaction (and to yours up hope too...one would assume that a new car would incorporate all the latest stuff, but you never know). Mine goes into the shop tomorrow for new door trim, new steering component, new mirror and two software updates. That takes care of most of my punch list, so I should be much happier on Friday when I get it back.<P>As for the first gear deal...I've had nothing but trouble with my transmission at slow speeds. It is clunky and confused more often than not. When it's cold out it's even worse. I really hoping that these upgrades will address my issues. It isn't so much that my car is underpowered at low speeds, it's just not very pleasant to drive because of the erratic transmission. In fact, if I floor the accelerator, the trans works perfectly. It's only when I'm nice to it that it gives me trouble.<P>As for UCD - everybody assumes I went to school here since I live here now. I mean why would anybody choose to live here otherwise 
. I'm a UCB grad, actually, but my wife's work brought us up here. Both our families and friends live in the Bay Area, so that's where all my miles are coming from these days. Every weekend puts another 200-300 miles on the car.<P>
. I'm a UCB grad, actually, but my wife's work brought us up here. Both our families and friends live in the Bay Area, so that's where all my miles are coming from these days. Every weekend puts another 200-300 miles on the car.<P>I assume the transmission was like this from day one? It would be hard to beleive software would fix it if it were not. Does it second guess you when you use the geartronic or just in automatic? Let see did I ever test drive one of these thing slow .... <IMG SRC="http://www.swedespeed.com/ubb/smile.gif">
Kevin -<P>Yeah, that (slow test-drive NOT) was my problem too. Yes, the trans has been weird since the beginning, but I had two things working against me. 1) I've never owned an auto transmission before, and have always just assumed they're all bad, and 2) I figured maybe it should have a break-in period before I can expect it to shift right. I've been proved wrong on both accounts.<P>The trans second guesses me in both modes, though it's less common in GT mode. In GT mode, after shifting up into third gear, I can often get it to shift a second time after I remove my hand from the shifter. It goes - slip, engage....pause....slip, engage. (the "slip" being the normal "between gears" feeling that you always get when an auto trans is shifting).<P>My loaner now is an S80 T6. Much less turbo lag than mine, but it also doen't seem like it has as much peak power as my T5. Interesting. But the transmission sure works like it should. Every time the dealer gives me a loaner car, I tell them to drive it to see what I want MY trans to feel like.<P>Man, I have really high hopes for this service visit...my fingers are crossed.<P>- Darell<P>
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