April 2026 MVS Newsletter

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Welcome to the April MVS Newsletter! If you want to contact me, just reply to this email. If you don’t have a forum account, join the community. It’s fast and free.

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NEW VOLVO 144 STICKER

The “25” in the window celebrates MVS’s upcoming 25th anniversary later this year. Whoo! This sticker is transparent, good for glass placement. More info and pre-orders here starting Saturday.

VOLVO NEWS

Ongoing EV sales pain in the US, showing no signs of stopping, forces Volvo Cars to consolidate Polestar 3 production at its US plant. (Volvo and Polestar are joined at the hip, though fully separate companies.)

“Volvo’s US manufacturing facility is already a global production hub for the fully electric Volvo EX90 SUV. The EX90 is built on Volvo Cars’ SPA2 architecture, which also underpins the Polestar 3. Apart from building Polestar 3 cars in the US, Volvo Cars previously announced that it will introduce its best-selling XC60 mid-size SUV to the South Carolina production line as well.” source

STOPGAP HYBRID INCOMING

And that (pure EV) pain also further delays Volvo’s shift to an all-EV lineup. Volvo Cars plans to add a new, next-generation hybrid model to the production line of the plant in Ridgeville outside Charleston, South Carolina before 2030. This new model is designed to meet the specific demands of the US market and reinforces Volvo’s long-term commitment to manufacturing in the country.Volvo continues its furious backpedaling from its now-abandoned doctrine of being an all-EV manufacturer. Whoever made that decision saved Volvo from ruin. There, I said it. I’m neutral on the EV thing because it comes with a serious amount of politics. But I’m happy for the pivot. You can have all-EV lineup, or you can have a non-bankrupt Volvo, but you can’t have both.

SALES

“Sales in the Americas region decreased by 28 per cent, totaling 29,651 cars as a result of weak customer sentiment, made worse by the ongoing geopolitical conflict in the Middle East. Deliveries of electrified models decreased by 30 per cent compared to the same period last year, due to the negative impact from the removal of subsidies on fully electric and plug-in hybrid cars.” source

Remember, Volvo recently killed off the EX30 in the US market, and it had only been available to take actual delivery for fewer than 18 months. In the US, EV sales incentives via a federal rebate program ended in 2025, and here we are. GM, Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Mazda all saw year-over-year EV sales declines, so it’s not just Volvo.

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VOLVO STUFF

I recently finished the third of a trio of articles about historically significant Volvo concept cars. This is fascinating stuff. You can see the birth of design decisions that live in modern Volvos. Here’s the three:

Photos of the exciting Volvo meet at Ikea this past Sunday in Centennial, Colorado. See page 2 for my dozen interviews with owners, including an S70 T-5 with a sidepipe exhaust (what!!), a bonkers modified 740 wagon with an amazing engine history (love, loss, love again). Also an 850 Platinum with BBS classic wheels, an XC90 with a big turbo, a 740 Turbo sedan with 88k miles in excellent++ condition, and a 2015 V60 Polestar wearing Rebel Blue paint (rare).

MVS Polls page: it’s a pretty fascinating set of polls created by, and voted on, by forum members over the years. It gives a good sense of what repairs owners are doing to our Volvos, and what questions we ask to get insight into decisions on repairing and buying Volvos and parts.

How much are classic Volvos worth? Brief analysis of 140 vs. 240 vs. 850 values on Bring a Trailer, over 10-year spans:
140 values on BaT
240 values on BaT
850 values on BaT

MVS Contributor rolsen11 solves his automatic transmission problem with the help of Vida. I’ve been watching this thread for a week. Was it going to be the end for his transmission, and if so, the end for his 2000 V70? It’s his only car, so diagnosing this was important. Glad to see he’s figured this out.

The story of the hilarious C30 taillights photoshoot: I formally apologize to Simon Lamarre. This is a Volvo sideshow story that will never actually go away.

Here’s an exceptionally well thought out used Volvo buy choice, and all the steps that went into the decision. MVS member VolvoOwl98 documents what seems to me to be every possibly angle of which Volvo to buy, breaking every sub-decision into a benefit÷cost calculation.

What happens when you ask two different AI services to draw a 7-cylinder engine (very difficult) over the course of almost two years? Find out in The rare and powerful Volvo B7xxx engine: A Journey to the Depths of Artificial Intelligence. I do this stuff so you don’t have to. I might have too much time on my hands.

QOTM

“… the 1/4″ ratcheting wrench with the t40 bit that had to be ground down about 3/16″ (from its original 1″ length) to fit into the space to break loose the lower bolt on the thermostat housing. I had to use an extra wrench attached to the open end to add the leverage needed to break the bolt loose. Turning the bolt in very small increments with the wrench and needle nose pliers, the bolt finally came off.“
This shows how determined MVS member 5rivers was in solving his P80’s thermostat problem. I love this stuff.

POTM

Photo by yours truly at the Volvo meet at Ikea April 19 in Centennial Colorado. If you’ve made it this far, good job and thank you. If you have suggestions on how to make this newsletter better, please just hit Reply and let me know.

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