Have you thought about something like the link below. It's a prepaid 'virtual' debit card. Companies send them out all the time and there is no physical card needed when you are using it online... To be clear, I have NOT tried this so I don't know that it will but it's a USA based card so maybe it will...

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Nice idea, thanks Roxana... I've seen on some forums people suggesting to use similar prepaid cards, like privacy.com and others. Thought my Revolut, which is as well virtual, would do the job...

 

It's sad really. Same problem in the UK and they wonder why China cracked the previous VIDA. Would happily pay for access, but seems everything in the modern age is against the competent DIY repairer.

 

Yeah, it's sad they launched it as an online service and restricted access only to NA users. Although, from some forums, I could find that they actually, at the first months of the new VIDA, allowed to purchase the subscription in every country. Now, in the EU, you technically could do it, but you need to have a registered EU VAT number. It is accessible from TIS - Volvo Technical Information Shop.

 

Privacy is US only and I believe requires a US bank. All it does is receive the transaction, delay the response, while it's delayed the response, it's asking your bank if you have the funds to pay. If yes, then it approves, if no then declines. It is basically a proxy for a debit card or bank.

 

... no success.

This is simply a write-up for people who are struggling to get a legal VIDA subscription. There are a lot of people that tried, a lot of who are currently asking in various forums on how to do it and if there's any workaround. There's not or it's either not tested yet.

1. Well, you have to, in order to access VIDA documentation, go to the official website - tis.volvocars.biz. There's the first sign that you're the persona non grata if you're trying to access it from a non-US country. Well, this one is simple - just use VPN, select NA and your way is open. But this heads nowhere.
2. Now, you'll need to register an account. For that, you'll need to select your nickname, set the password, fill in the email, and address - that one must be in the US. Of course, you won't have one if you don't have any friends from there, so there's no problem with picking a random address of something publicly used. The system only checks if it's correctly filled and valid.
3. Congrats, you're the member, have the account, and are ready to buy the subscription. You've selected your license and the packages, let's proceed to checkout, fill the same billing address, pick a random PO number and the only thing left is the payment.
4. Filled in my credit card details (MasterCard) and vuola, finito - VolvoCarsNA had received the payment... and it got rejected - as a Fraud. After a few minutes, the money came back. Tried again with my Revolut card - the same story again - fraud detected, money came back.

Hope this thread will be seen by those who are thinking of doing so, and for the ones that have any ideas to share.

What you described works if you use an American plastic credit card, so, it should also virtual one as suggested above.

At least for most softwares...

However, some softwares are restricted for purchase from non dealers (in the VIDA North America platform). Aledgedly, Volvo has a deal with the dealership network so that some softwares an only be installed at a dealer. And these are blocked from being purchased in the NA platform if you are not a dealer, even if you are a regularly registered US person or independent shop with Volvo Tech Info VIDA platform.

 

I've had a subscription multiple times and not a dealer... They may block "prepaid" cards to help reduce fraud and thus foreign accounts.

 

Interesting thread.. Once the payment would go through, I think the next issue is running VIDA itself. I guess that would have to be done over VPN as well or there is a risk of getting caught..
@Amadejus Were you able get any further?

Also, apart from requiring a VAT nr in the EU, I think the VIDA subscription pricing is on a completely different level! Like 10x or something, don't recall the exact figures..
Or then it was just that you couldn't get the 3 day subscriptions etc in Europe..

Greetings from Finland!

 

I think I can finally put an end to the story. In short, no go with the US variant.
Payment will be rejected, even through Revolut or other 3rd parties like PayPal or even US-based ones if you would to create a virtual account in the US. If you would have a friend there who would pay for the license, you would still fail at authorizing your PC. If you would try to use VPN and run a VM based on US settings, the next point of failure will be your car - if it's not from the US, the OBD connection will be rejected saying the VIN could not be recognized in the given region settings, which you cannot change because your license is for the US only.

Now, for us in the EU/EEE. You will need a VAT number. This step is easy, you can ask for any garage or local automotive business, and they will accept as you have to pay at the moment, not by the invoice. It's even good for them, as in some countries you can get an annual VAT payback. But that's just the start of the story. You will have to go through interviews and inspections from your local Volvo HQ or a dealership admin. They will look into your business, what you plan to do, what is your qualification, and for what reason you need the license, as they will look into you as a partner rather than an individual guy. EVEN after that, they will require you to renew your ''validation status" for you to use the license. This process differs from country to country, in Lithuania, there's only ONE place, not a dealership where you could get the job done. Oh, and I haven't mentioned - you can't have a new company and apply for the license - they will look into your income and how long you have been in the business.

 

It seems Volvo could be monitoring discussions such as these and adjusting their access to assure they are adherent to their policies… so sharing here could eventually close some alternatives…

 

Thanks for the info.. I happen to have a US credit card.. and my VIN is a US one as I took the car with me from the US to Finland.. so maybe still got a small shot at this.

PS. Interesting that Vida would care about the VIN.. as the dealer in Finland has already done several updates to the car. But I guess the dealerships have a better license for Vida, capable of managing any VIN

 

Dealerships use a global license. They don't give a fk about the regions, only if it's not Volvo If you have a US card, maybe you'll be able to succeed as long as you have your rig set correctly. . Would be interesting to hear if you would do so.

 

If I only want to open the VIDA account to view repair instructions, do I still need to enter a US VIN?

If I understand correctly, the registration should be done via a VPN and with a virtual us credit card if you live outside the usa.

I just need some repair manuals, the question is, will it work?

 

If I only want to open the VIDA account to view repair instructions, do I still need to enter a US VIN?

If I understand correctly, the registration should be done via a VPN and with a virtual us credit card if you live outside the usa.

I just need some repair manuals, the question is, will it work?

If you get as far as getting logged into Vida (meaning, IP and Credit card checks have passed), then getting a US VIN is no problem..
You can just go to cars.com and search for a similarly spec'd Volvo as yours. All ads contain the US VIN..
You enter it in VIDA and find manuals related to that car.

 

Alguien avanzó y lo pudo conseguir??? Necesitaría entrar para ver instrucciones de cambio de correa distribución en Vida de un XC60 2018 D4 AWD

 

The whole process sounds pretty tough, especially when it comes to making the payment. I've heard of people trying virtual cards or prepaid cards, and sometimes they work, but it's really hit or miss, especially with strict fraud checks. If you run into issues with ID verification during registration or payment, I’ve found that using a tool like https://www.idanalyzer.cоm can really help. It makes ID checks faster and smoother, which can be a big help in situations like this.

 

Getting a legal VIDA subscription from outside the US is a real grind. I have personally tried with a US VPN, a Revolut card, and even a friend's US-issued card without success. From my experience, the payment always bounced back, and even if it did not car region mismatch with the license later killed the setup. If you are after a repair is reliable access to manual and maintenance support, maybe look into a car subscription service (Auto abo) that includes service and repair coverage. Best of luck.

 

I guess people saying that Volvo is monitoring such forums is correct. There were some apps, most of them of russian origin, that were able to mimic Volvo server proxy and through which you were able to use new VIDA for cars of >MY2015.5 (before that, you can use offline VIDA 2014D from roxy). Guess what - no more. Volvo changed policies and now every login has to go through one and only Volvo gate that checks if license, device and network is matching records in Volvo database of VIDA licenses. No more VIDA diagnostics and advanced functions for SPA/CMA/late P3 cars. Only viable option left is d5t5 vdash for configuration changes and even so limited as they do not offer a lot of diagnostic options. Just as Volvo set in action their new authentification algorithm, Autel launched huge update for their high-end diag devices, people say it is really accurate, but damn these devices cost so much…