[SG1]

Continuing my pattern of cheap: I spent $5 on some blue reflective tape and applied a strip to each of the side doors. My goal was to increase visibility for other drivers at night. I have a motorcycle that I added black reflective tape in the past and I liked the results.

I haven't seen what it looks like a night in the dark on the Volvo, yet, but I've attached a couple of pictures comparing the difference between no flash/with flash.

 

[satrya]

I spent $5 on some blue reflective tape and applied a strip to each of the side doors. My goal was to increase visibility for other drivers at night.

Interesting. I opted for red on that spot for my (non-volvo) vehicle because it generally faces traffic behind. I don't know how different vehicle laws are in Canada, but in most states in the US, rear facing retroreflective surface are generally red. Ones that are front-side facing can be amber.

I put 3M red retroreflective tape on the back of the xc90 as well

 

[SG1]

rear facing retroreflective surface are generally red. Ones that are front-side facing can be amber.

I put 3M red retroreflective tape on the back of the xc90 as well

Oh, yeah, that totally makes sense. I never thought about it, actually. My motivation was mostly superficial because I wanted it to blend into the blue exterior. Plus, you can only see it when the door is open. I thought the reflected surface might look like an extra door light.

You wouldn't have a nighttime picture of your reflective tape, would you? I'm going to try to take one of mine....

Edit: In the pictures, clockwise from the left: Front door with camera flash; rear door with flashlight on tire; both rear doors with flashlight on license plate. So, it's not super bright, but it is visible enough ?.

 

[Seti]

Interesting. I put 3M red retroreflective tape on the back of the xc90 as well

Where did you put them? The rear of yours looks normal to me, like our Volvos

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[Seti]

Oh, yeah, that totally makes sense. I never thought about it, actually. My motivation was mostly superficial because I wanted it to blend into the blue exterior. Plus, you can only see it when the door is open. I thought the reflected surface might look like an extra door light.

You wouldn't have a nighttime picture of your reflective tape, would you? I'm going to try to take one of mine....

Edit: In the pictures, clockwise from the left: Front door with camera flash; rear door with flashlight on tire; both rear doors with flashlight on license plate. So, it's not super bright, but it is visible enough .

Since it blends perfectly well with your car's blue colour and not noticeable in the sun, maybe put some towards the bottom of the door side skirts so when you make a U-Turn or parked, others can see it?

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[satrya]

Where did you put them? The rear of yours looks normal to me, like our Volvos

The red part that joins the left and right taillights up on the spoiler.

 

[Seti]

The red part that joins the left and right taillights up on the spoiler.

Aahh! Looks nice

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[satrya]

Plus, you can only see it when the door is open. I thought the reflected surface might look like an extra door light.

Yes, my comment was from thinking of a scenario where you're parked on the shoulder of a road with the door open. With headlight beam from passing traffic, it might appear that you have active blue light (instead of retroreflective surface), which in the US (again, not sure about Canada) is generally reserved for emergency vehicles and peace officer vehicles.

You wouldn't have a nighttime picture of your reflective tape, would you? I'm going to try to take one of mine....

Not night yet; here's one with dim ambient light from behind me, but the garage door windows create a competing contrast.

 

[likeXC90]

I spent $5 on some blue reflective tape and applied a strip to each of the side doors. My goal was to increase visibility for other drivers at night.

Absolutely a great idea - I've done the same on my other cars (since having kids) and will do the same if the OSD car ever leaves Sweden!

 

[SG1]

Since it blends perfectly well with your car's blue colour and not noticeable in the sun, maybe put some towards the bottom of the door side skirts so when you make a U-Turn or parked, others can see it?

Well, I wouldn't say that it blends completely since it is reflective tape and designed to be seen. Depending on the angle of the sunlight, I think it could be very visible. I'm not ready to be THAT visible, yet 😁.

 

[satrya]

Aahh! Looks nice

Thanks. Subtle enough to be unnoticeable unless reflecting light at night (when it matters).

 

[satrya]

You wouldn't have a nighttime picture of your reflective tape, would you? I'm going to try to take one of mine....

Didn't turn out very well; was supposed to be a comparison between no flash vs flash. No flash is too grainy. On the right, the 3M retroreflective tape seem to return more light than the retroreflective portions of the OE tailight closer to the reverse light. This may be because the 3M tape was closer to the center line of sight of the flash than the OE taillight.

Either way, 3M makes good retroreflective tape, imho.

 

[SG1]

Stainless steel bumper protector installed

I didn't think I needed the rear bumper protector, but as I started living with the XC90, I realized that some kind of protection would be helpful--especially when I noticed a very small pinpoint indent on the top of the bumper cover that must have occurred during loading/unloading. It was very small, something most people wouldn't notice, but I'm picky.

My local dealer wanted $140 CAD for the official part. Installation was extra but it would be something I could install myself. I found one on eBay for less than $60 CAD but was worried because it looked about twice as wide. Instead of just a thin narrow strip on the OEM one, this one covered the entire top of the bumper cover and I was worried about the fit. For $60, I took the risk and after over 1 month of waiting it finally arrived.

It was packaged well so that it was 100% safe during transport, but I noticed that one end was slightly bent, I think from the manufacturing process. I carefully bent it back into shape and tested the fit to make sure there would be no rubbing anywhere. All was good 😊. The most time consuming part was making sure I had it aligned the way I wanted. I'm picky 😁.

I've attached pictures bellow. I was a little reluctant to add more "silver" to the R-Design, I'm pretty pleased with the protection that's there now and that I got such a good price.

 

[satrya]

I've attached pictures bellow. I was a little reluctant to add more "silver" to the R-Design, I'm pretty pleased with the protection that's there now and that I got such a good price.

Interesting. Thanks for sharing.

From what I can see, the width is (almost) identical, but it also protects the portion that would have been obscured by the tailgate.

 

[Heimdall]

It actually looks great
A can of a black plastidip to paint that sliver will blend in nicely with the blackedout RD trims


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[canadag]

Looks God.
Can you give us the eBay seller?

 

[SG1]

OEM bumper cover vs Aftermarket

Interesting. Thanks for sharing.

From what I can see, the width is (almost) identical, but it also protects the portion that would have been obscured by the tailgate.

Looking at the picture below from the Volvo website, I would say the part that I bought is DOUBLE the width of the OEM one, unless Volvo's image isn't accurate. That's why I was worried about clearance issues. Luckily, clearance is not a problem and when the hatch is open the entire top portion of the bumper is protected.

 

[SG1]

It actually looks great
A can of a black plastidip to paint that sliver will blend in nicely with the blackedout RD trims

Thank you! Actually, I like the stainless look and because it is so flat, it's not really that noticeable from a distance .

 

[SG1]

Looks God.
Can you give us the eBay seller?

Well, I don't know if I would take it THAT far ?.

This is the listing: https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Stainless-S...-Cover-For-2015-2016-VOLVO-XC90-/162636477302

 

[satrya]

Looking at the picture below from the Volvo website, I would say the part that I bought is DOUBLE the width of the OEM one, unless Volvo's image isn't accurate.

Yes, what I meant when I referred to "width" isn't the width when looking at the strip by itself. Rather, I meant width as in the lateral direction of the vehicle. What you called width is in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. So, I guess they're both "width", depending on your frame of reference.