This is an interesting question for me - why do you like Volvo? What made you buy a Volvo?
There are many things I like about Volvo - the fundamental values they claim to be close to their "heart" being safety, quality and environmental care ring well with me.
A modest thinking person's car
I like the fact a Volvo is not an ostentatious "look at me" type of car, unlike a BMW or Mercedes - it signifies understated intelligence. To me it's the type of car that has an aura of intelligence - I don't care about whether you're impressed by the badge, but what it does for me. You can turn up at the traffic lights with an S60R and blast a rice cooker away, and yet most people won't even realise what you have there. With a few exceptions, Volvos tend to scare the "rice me up look at me with my VTECinside sticker" crowd away, and that's a great thing in my books
![Image]()
Quality
A Volvo is a quality car. You know, you might read some of these forums and they might give you the impression that a Volvo is a poorly built car. Coming from Australia, sometimes I wonder whether this is put in perspective. The cars certainly aren't perfect - but they're pretty good in my books.
Just look at durability. It's not a fluke that the world's highest mileage car is a Volvo. It's not a fluke that in the late 80s that the Swedish Vehicle Inspection Company stated the average life of a Volvo is 20.7 years. It's not a fluke that in late 80's, 95.7% of all Volvos sold were still on Australian roads (99% of Australia has no roads).
In various recent ownership and quality surveys, Volvo has performed very well, in fact they're now one of the best European makes in this regard. According to this 2001 What Car Reliability survey http://www.whatcar.com/default...e=345, Volvo was the 6th best manufacturer, the second best European manufacturer.
Our S70, 5 years down the track feels the same as it was when new. Sure the new car smell is gone and the door panels have bubbled, but otherwise it's the same as it always was. No problems starting, whether it be hot or cold - everything works - dependable.
You look at the newer cars. An S60 is a well built car - in fact, in all the ownership studies I've read, the S60 is the most satisfying Volvo according to owners. The doors slam with a quality thunk that Volvo had lost with the S40 & S70. The panel gaps are good. The interior switches are all damped. The materials are generally very good. You don't have that many rattles in the cars I've driven. Yet some people go on about their cars as if it were built by Lada or Yugo!
Intelligent Design
Another thing I like about Volvo - intelligent design. Many people have this arrogant idea that a BMW or Mercedes is automatically better than Volvo. But consider some of these examples - sometimes, Volvo has smarter logic.
Satellite Navigation
BMW
![Image]()
Volvo.
![Image]()
Ergonomically, BMW's system is irresponsible. By positioning the sat nav screen in the middle of the dash, where you must consciously take your vision off the road, BMW's system encourages you to divert attention from what's ahead of you. Volvo's doesn't - it puts the screen in your line of sight.
Secondly, it has the various fiddly buttons and dials - again, not a system that is particularly useable on the road. Volvo's uses a small joystick behind the steering wheel. I'm not saying this is perfect, it's probably best to program the system at a standstill - but its far superior to BMW's system from an ergonomics perspective (let's not worry about the quality of mapping, directions, etc).
Retractable Rear Headrests
In a Mercedes, they fall back into the hatshelf. There is no incentive for a passenger to put them back up - heck, most don't even notice they're there. In a Volvo, they fall forward, so when a passenger gets inside - they put it back up, otherwise they have this thing jutting into their neck. Not only does this make sense, by ensuring passengers use the headrest, but it's also a great tool to make kids in the back behave
![Image]()
Climate Control
You can't argue with the ergonomics of this system. Simply brilliant - no other system has such a simple to understand system. You don't need fancy digital displays to tell you what's going on - if the feet are lit up, the air's going to the feet. If you want air to the feet - you press the feet. The buttons are well shaped - who needs the miniscule buttons you get in other makes that require tweezers to operate!
Side Airbags
Years ago BMW thought they were very clever putting their side airbags in the doors. The problem with doing so is that the side airbag won't necessarily be placed optimally and you need a larger airbag. Volvo puts it in the side of the backrest, so no matter how you position the seat, it's at your side. As a result, you can get away with a smaller bag - one that will inflate quicker. Again - Volvo's smarter.
Practicality
The cars are practical. It's little wonder the V70 won What Car's Best Estate for 3 years straight. It may not have been the roomiest or best to drive estate - but it's just a clever easy to live with design. Even if you look at something as simple as mats - those old floor trays were designed for life. Forget about your yuppie cafe latte sippers, you could put your plants, muddy shoes, etc all in the car and who'd care - you'd just spray them clean. The current mats fit the car perfectly. Durable and practical.
These are the things many tests will ignore. Your average Volvo may not with the comparison, but when you put it in a long term test, then it will shine. It might not be the quietest, the fastest, the smoothest, the sexiest (actually they perform damn well in many of those fields now
![Image]()
), but it's a car that is just so easy to live with.
Performance
You can't really accuse Volvo today of building slugs. The 5 cylinder engines are simply fantastic - they have character and grunt. Yet they don't guzzle fuel unlike some other engines. Who's going to argue with a T5 or T4, let alone a T6
![Image]()
Safety
A Volvo is a safe car. But not only is it the safety that impresses me, it's the holistic approach to safety. Lets take two examples - things that NCAP tests ignore but affect you in the real world.
1. XC90 & the lower crossmember - noone says you have to do it, there is no legal reason why a XC90 should have a lower cross member for compatibility with conventional cars - but it does. It adds weight, it decreases performance, but it's the right thing to do. Noone else seems to care about this issue, but this is a feature that probably will save many lives, for those who end up hitting an XC90. But it's a feature that isn't going to win you points in your traditional NCAP tests.
2. WHIPS. Your typical evaluations of car safety such as NCAP, real life accident data never take into account WHIPS. But even though it doesn't earn credit, Volvo has still designed the most effective system, even though it's now 5 years old. Only recently have bodies tested whiplash, which is one of the major injuries from rear end accidents, and Volvo's system has come up on top. But it's an example about how Volvo doesn't design for tests - it designed WHIPS long before these tests came out on the scene and despite being 5 years old - it is still the most effective system out on the market. Sure you won't die from whiplash, but your quality of life will be affected.
Here are some results for WHIPS.
USA's IIHS: http://www.highwaysafety.org/n...2.htm
USA's IIHS/HLDI http://www.hwysafety.org/vehic...o.htm
UK's Thatcham Institute http://www.ameinfo.com/news/Detailed/11365.html
SE's Folksam http://www.aftonbladet.se/vss/....html http://www.aftonbladet.se/vss/....html
You can see, despite being 5 years old - it's still the best system out there. But maybe because it doesn't earn you 5 stars in EuroNCAP, other manufacturers have put less effort into it. Yet rear end accidents and whiplash are very common.
Environmental Care
It seems these days that many have forgotten about the environment and I'm sure it doesn't sell that many cars these days, but it's an area that Volvo has been progressive in - again, without needing a shove from government or non-government agencies. It'd be great if the XC90 were more fuel efficient, but unfortunately there are some parts of physics we can't overcome.
When you consider the above - the thing that does it for me is that Volvo is a car with a conscience. They do the things that others can't be bothered to do, but make the world a better place. I'm not going to pretend they are flawless, they do have flaws. For example, whilst they're getting better - they need to get lessons in steering feel.
Remember the slogan in "Crazy People" - They're boxy, but they're good? They're no longer boxy, but they're still good
![Image]()
Cheers,
Justin
There are many things I like about Volvo - the fundamental values they claim to be close to their "heart" being safety, quality and environmental care ring well with me.
A modest thinking person's car
I like the fact a Volvo is not an ostentatious "look at me" type of car, unlike a BMW or Mercedes - it signifies understated intelligence. To me it's the type of car that has an aura of intelligence - I don't care about whether you're impressed by the badge, but what it does for me. You can turn up at the traffic lights with an S60R and blast a rice cooker away, and yet most people won't even realise what you have there. With a few exceptions, Volvos tend to scare the "rice me up look at me with my VTECinside sticker" crowd away, and that's a great thing in my books
Quality
A Volvo is a quality car. You know, you might read some of these forums and they might give you the impression that a Volvo is a poorly built car. Coming from Australia, sometimes I wonder whether this is put in perspective. The cars certainly aren't perfect - but they're pretty good in my books.
Just look at durability. It's not a fluke that the world's highest mileage car is a Volvo. It's not a fluke that in the late 80s that the Swedish Vehicle Inspection Company stated the average life of a Volvo is 20.7 years. It's not a fluke that in late 80's, 95.7% of all Volvos sold were still on Australian roads (99% of Australia has no roads).
In various recent ownership and quality surveys, Volvo has performed very well, in fact they're now one of the best European makes in this regard. According to this 2001 What Car Reliability survey http://www.whatcar.com/default...e=345, Volvo was the 6th best manufacturer, the second best European manufacturer.
Our S70, 5 years down the track feels the same as it was when new. Sure the new car smell is gone and the door panels have bubbled, but otherwise it's the same as it always was. No problems starting, whether it be hot or cold - everything works - dependable.
You look at the newer cars. An S60 is a well built car - in fact, in all the ownership studies I've read, the S60 is the most satisfying Volvo according to owners. The doors slam with a quality thunk that Volvo had lost with the S40 & S70. The panel gaps are good. The interior switches are all damped. The materials are generally very good. You don't have that many rattles in the cars I've driven. Yet some people go on about their cars as if it were built by Lada or Yugo!
Intelligent Design
Another thing I like about Volvo - intelligent design. Many people have this arrogant idea that a BMW or Mercedes is automatically better than Volvo. But consider some of these examples - sometimes, Volvo has smarter logic.
Satellite Navigation
BMW
Volvo.
Ergonomically, BMW's system is irresponsible. By positioning the sat nav screen in the middle of the dash, where you must consciously take your vision off the road, BMW's system encourages you to divert attention from what's ahead of you. Volvo's doesn't - it puts the screen in your line of sight.
Secondly, it has the various fiddly buttons and dials - again, not a system that is particularly useable on the road. Volvo's uses a small joystick behind the steering wheel. I'm not saying this is perfect, it's probably best to program the system at a standstill - but its far superior to BMW's system from an ergonomics perspective (let's not worry about the quality of mapping, directions, etc).
Retractable Rear Headrests
In a Mercedes, they fall back into the hatshelf. There is no incentive for a passenger to put them back up - heck, most don't even notice they're there. In a Volvo, they fall forward, so when a passenger gets inside - they put it back up, otherwise they have this thing jutting into their neck. Not only does this make sense, by ensuring passengers use the headrest, but it's also a great tool to make kids in the back behave
Climate Control
You can't argue with the ergonomics of this system. Simply brilliant - no other system has such a simple to understand system. You don't need fancy digital displays to tell you what's going on - if the feet are lit up, the air's going to the feet. If you want air to the feet - you press the feet. The buttons are well shaped - who needs the miniscule buttons you get in other makes that require tweezers to operate!
Side Airbags
Years ago BMW thought they were very clever putting their side airbags in the doors. The problem with doing so is that the side airbag won't necessarily be placed optimally and you need a larger airbag. Volvo puts it in the side of the backrest, so no matter how you position the seat, it's at your side. As a result, you can get away with a smaller bag - one that will inflate quicker. Again - Volvo's smarter.
Practicality
The cars are practical. It's little wonder the V70 won What Car's Best Estate for 3 years straight. It may not have been the roomiest or best to drive estate - but it's just a clever easy to live with design. Even if you look at something as simple as mats - those old floor trays were designed for life. Forget about your yuppie cafe latte sippers, you could put your plants, muddy shoes, etc all in the car and who'd care - you'd just spray them clean. The current mats fit the car perfectly. Durable and practical.
These are the things many tests will ignore. Your average Volvo may not with the comparison, but when you put it in a long term test, then it will shine. It might not be the quietest, the fastest, the smoothest, the sexiest (actually they perform damn well in many of those fields now
Performance
You can't really accuse Volvo today of building slugs. The 5 cylinder engines are simply fantastic - they have character and grunt. Yet they don't guzzle fuel unlike some other engines. Who's going to argue with a T5 or T4, let alone a T6
Safety
A Volvo is a safe car. But not only is it the safety that impresses me, it's the holistic approach to safety. Lets take two examples - things that NCAP tests ignore but affect you in the real world.
1. XC90 & the lower crossmember - noone says you have to do it, there is no legal reason why a XC90 should have a lower cross member for compatibility with conventional cars - but it does. It adds weight, it decreases performance, but it's the right thing to do. Noone else seems to care about this issue, but this is a feature that probably will save many lives, for those who end up hitting an XC90. But it's a feature that isn't going to win you points in your traditional NCAP tests.
2. WHIPS. Your typical evaluations of car safety such as NCAP, real life accident data never take into account WHIPS. But even though it doesn't earn credit, Volvo has still designed the most effective system, even though it's now 5 years old. Only recently have bodies tested whiplash, which is one of the major injuries from rear end accidents, and Volvo's system has come up on top. But it's an example about how Volvo doesn't design for tests - it designed WHIPS long before these tests came out on the scene and despite being 5 years old - it is still the most effective system out on the market. Sure you won't die from whiplash, but your quality of life will be affected.
Here are some results for WHIPS.
USA's IIHS: http://www.highwaysafety.org/n...2.htm
USA's IIHS/HLDI http://www.hwysafety.org/vehic...o.htm
UK's Thatcham Institute http://www.ameinfo.com/news/Detailed/11365.html
SE's Folksam http://www.aftonbladet.se/vss/....html http://www.aftonbladet.se/vss/....html
You can see, despite being 5 years old - it's still the best system out there. But maybe because it doesn't earn you 5 stars in EuroNCAP, other manufacturers have put less effort into it. Yet rear end accidents and whiplash are very common.
Environmental Care
It seems these days that many have forgotten about the environment and I'm sure it doesn't sell that many cars these days, but it's an area that Volvo has been progressive in - again, without needing a shove from government or non-government agencies. It'd be great if the XC90 were more fuel efficient, but unfortunately there are some parts of physics we can't overcome.
When you consider the above - the thing that does it for me is that Volvo is a car with a conscience. They do the things that others can't be bothered to do, but make the world a better place. I'm not going to pretend they are flawless, they do have flaws. For example, whilst they're getting better - they need to get lessons in steering feel.
Remember the slogan in "Crazy People" - They're boxy, but they're good? They're no longer boxy, but they're still good
Cheers,
Justin
