Feb 2026 MVS Newsletter

Get the newsletter delivered to you.

Welcome to the February MVS Newsletter! If you want to contact me, just reply to this email. If you have a forum account, thanks for being an MVS member. If you don’t have one, join the community. It’s fast and free.

Support MVS by getting a T-5R Yellow MVS t-shirt or new black t-shirt or MVS stickers.

See MVS Forums latest posts

My Sister Bought an EX30

Did someone say EX30? My sister just bought one. I’ll relay her thoughts and opinions month-by-month as an EX30 owner. She didn’t like her XC40 Recharge, so I was a bit surprised at this news. She got the top trim level, Ultra. Twin-motors, powder blue paint.

The new EX30 Cross Country has a hilarious and cool Easter egg… stamped right into the front bumper!

Select Volvo Model Histories

Still On The Touchscreen Warpath

Fasten your (Volvo-pioneered in the 1950s) seatbelts because I’m again on my intergalactic, certified Anti-touchscreen Rampage™ and I’ve been nagging Volvo Cars’ Facebook account about it. I will not rest until victory is ours.

Quick summary of my view: they’re dangerous because there is no muscle memory involved, unlike buttons where your hand knows to go. Now all new Volvos have touchscreens, and settings like heated seats are two menus deep. On a screen. While you’re driving.

Here is a chance for Volvo to once again lead an automobile safety revolution. The problem is they’d have to eat crow, because they’re guilty of making touchscreens integral to infotainment in Volvos since the SPA cars. If anyone at Volvo is reading this: this is the best it’s ever going to be.

The pressure is only going to get worse from here on out. The pressure will only grow. My advice is to get out ahead of this issue. Do a mea culpa, explain why you’re pivoting back to physical buttons, and show the world you care about safety. You’d be heroes and sales would go up.

European regulators are already on it.

Yes, this issue bugs me in a bad way. It’s “stuck in my craw”. Touchscreens are dangerous in. I’ve been writing about it for years. No, voice control is not a substitute for buttons. What if you’re on a call? What if you’re playing your favorite song? What if you have passengers and they’re having a conversation?

More than once I’ve read complaints of voice control… some people just don’t like to use it. I’m one of them. I’m not a big talker. I am a button-pusher.

Volvo Forum

A few years ago Volvo photographed the same lady from the famous and ubiquitous “Volvo standardized the seatbelt in the 1950s”
The process of fixing plastic headlight lenses
No heat in your P80? Check that the recirc arm is still connected!
IPD TCV: “I did not expect to see much from this upgrade but I am now boosting better than I have ever seen in all my years of driving this car.”
2009 XC70 3.2 engine replacement runs into problems
2007 XC70 poor heat… a tale of Eliminate Variables Until You Find The Problem
Which parts to buy only OEM only? Which can be aftermarket?

If you appreciate the work I do at MVS but don’t care to buy things, become a subscriber via PayPal or Patreon, or use MVS Amazon links to buy anything from Amazon: USA | Canada | France | Sweden

QOTM

“I need to put a proper boost gauge in. Even if Im overboosting now, im really loving the acceleration. Im not sure I would want to fix it.””
– member ZionXIX in this post

POTM

Photo and copyright Bryce Bradford. He owned his 850 T-5R Yellow for several years, selling it circa 2023 to pursue his love of 4-wheeling (bought a Landcruiser). He would go on lengthy solo road trips in his T-5R and snap magnificent photos, and this is one of those… Utah, if memory serves.

MVS has 0.65 million posts, so chances are if you need to know something about a Volvo, it’s at MVS » Search the forums. If it’s not there, join (free, quick) and ask. We are always friendly and welcoming. Follow MVS on Facebook.

Many thanks to IPD and XeMODeX for sponsoring MVS. I couldn’t do it without you guys.