2016 XC90 Initial thoughts

Post by **SuperHerman** » 09 Aug 2015, 22:31

My wife just took delivery of her 2016 Volvo XC90 Inscription and here are my initial thoughts after putting 600 miles on it driving it up to Grand Marais Minnesota. The car drives bigger than her old 2004 XC90 T6. Power is not a problem with this car at all. I was surprised. Transmission is exceptional and other than not really liking 60mph it spun about 2k at 70mph. Fuel efficiency was impressive, much better than the 2004. Ride quality was rock solid and the car ate up the miles happily. We did the voyage in the "Eco" mode. I have no complaints. Usually I drive a A4 B6 with a 3.0 for reference.

The interface device takes some getting use to, but is pretty intuitive. In the end I learned it pretty quickly and it is loaded with things. Seats front and back are superb. Plenty of adjustments for all size folks.

The safety features are first rate. At one point a doe ran into the road and my wife hit the brakes real hard - the belt tensioners instantly engaged and snugged up - a strange but gratifying feeling. All the other vehicle avoidance safety alarms were interesting and usually worked well, sometimes they were a nuisance as the program did not really know what was going on and assumed the worst.

My main dislikes so far are the front side mirrors are a horrid design. The actual mirror is recessed about an inch into the housing. The housing is glossy black, the paint color. The paint reflected all sorts of things and I kept thinking something was there - even changes in clouds reflected back. A serious distraction in this paint scheme. It would have been better to paint it flat black.

My second dislike is the chop job the dealer did to install the trailer hitch. The dealer actually took a cutter to the OEM bumper and made an opening for the hitch. This is a factory trailer hitch and the dealer did it per instructions. When not in use the hitch is covered by a low quality plastic cover, which I am sure will fall off over the years. What is left is a total hack job on the bumper. Folks, this is a pricey vehicle and the factory hitch looks like an after thought. I don't understand this one, even my wife was offended by what they did to her ride. I am sure that it will get all scratched up when tow chains are used as little space in the hack cut job is present. Very sad.

Other than that, the 2016 is a huge leap forward from the 2004. Do not fear the engine, it is very good, even through the huge hills up near Duluth. The maiden family voyage was a joy.

Snowmann · Post by **Snowmann** » 10 Aug 2015, 19:35

Glad u like the car! I myself am new here so I'm going to give my thoughts on my 2016 limited edition.
Had the car now since late May and luv it!!
Already have 3000 miles on it!! Going to ballpark in Miami is 80 miles round trip so adding up quickly.
The drive is so smooth and quiet inside. Seats are comfy and the I pad thingy is so great, just have to learn how to use it properly.
I'm surprised to hear about the trailer hitch. If it was a big problem and didn't look right why take delivery? I know now I'm having problems with the leather seats in my car. For what ever reason my belt was rubbing against the leather and I now have a black mark running across the seat from belt!!! Hopefully they will get a new seat cover. Yes I did try the Volvo leather cleaner, did not work;(

Ou2mame · Post by **Ou2mame** » 10 Aug 2015, 22:43

Yeah if you weren't happy with the job they did, you should have requested they clean it up or get another bumper cover and try again with a little care. When I installed the hidden hitch on my 04 I used a dremel and took my time and it came out very good.

Post by **SuperHerman** » 11 Aug 2015, 20:15

I will keep an eye out for the seat belt issue. Regarding the trailer hitch - I don't find hacking a bumper for an OEM install is acceptable. It is aftermarket butchery.

The dealer did say they would clean it up, but that is not the point. The car was special order - Volvo should have a bumper already made for this, and not rely on the dealer chopping up a bumper and hiding the butchery with a cute cheap plastic cover. On my old BMW X5 the factory trailer hitch had a specific bumper, after market chopped the bumper. Here Volvo chops the bumper and hides the horror.

Here is a picture, although for some reason it is upside down.

Post by **jimmy57** » 11 Aug 2015, 20:42

I have put a few hundred on one and I still look under the hood for the other engine they have hidden. I just can't get over 2 liters moving just a bit under 5K pounds (curb weight plus fuel plus me) so damned well.
I also am WAY impressed with the LED headlamps.
I do keep thinking that one day an eye test chart is going to show up on the windshield from the heads up display. The font of the HUD looks just like those projector shown eye test charts.

Ou2mame · Post by **Ou2mame** » 13 Aug 2015, 13:14

That looks pretty horrible actually. I don't know why they didn't make a separate bumper if it's supposed to stick out through it. Or at least design some molding and whatnot to clean it up.