2021 Volvo

[537playing]

Would you buy a 2021 Volvo given the opportunity? Are they a better brand these days? Pros / Cons?

[Blacklab467]

I've looked at them recently, they're certainly beautiful cars!
I am wary however of all newer cars these days. Too much electronica to fail or need service at too much expense to the owner. My neighbour is a Mercedes guy and has owned all manner of 63 series AMG cars and wagons, I watch from a neighbourly distance at all the problems he has and failures on his premium quality European ride, not to mention the cost.
I found that the new Volvo offerings didn't include a model that suited my lifestyle or needs. The V60 is a fine enough automobile but is not a replacement for an XC 70.
I like the elegant simplicity of the P2 interior and I hate cars with screens on the dashboard instead of gauges. I also think the seats are much more comfortable on the older models.
Money is better spent IMO on making a reliable older Volvo "new" again and enjoying it as it would have been new. I don't know what I will do when my XC 70 wears out or is no longer viable to keep on the road. I have been eyeing up P3 XC's for that occasion and suppose I will have to one day submit to one. The brand new Volvo's just aren't very interesting vehicles anymore.

[Blacklab467]

So I just spent some time on the Volvo website, decided I would pick the 2021 Volvo that most suited me. I came up with a T5 XC90 in Denim blue, not very interesting interior colour options so went with off white. The exterior colours were white, silver, black, and silver birch, a few wheel and technology options. In the end my mid range tastes equated to a $78000 new vehicle that doesn’t get me very excited. I’m sure it’s a wonderful driving experience but I don’t think I’d love it like I do my 03 XC 70 that I paid $2700 for plus about $3000 in new parts. The V 60 was a bit less in similar trim but wouldn’t be as versatile as my XC 70.

[ljsommar1]

I bought a 2020 V60 a year ago. I can't really disagree with the criticisms above except for the seats which I find very comfortable. Really, my wife bought the car because she lost confidence in our 2002 V70 after 2 on the road failures and 220K miles.
I was OK with her decision because at age 67, I was tiring of the repairs myself. She drives the new V60 and loves it, and so far it has been trouble free. I took over the V70 and it has been mostly failure free, certainly nothing serious.
I don't know what the future holds for our V60 but I also do not like the trends all manufactures are following. The V60 does not even have a oil dipstick for heavens sake. I would like to have a talk with the engineer that thought that one up. I also am not a fan of direct injection.

[darrylrobert]

Are you also getting the Volvo adds -> i had a little look, couldnt find anything available in manual in my region so im out. I think they are only available in Europe, but might be special order?

2021 manual xc40

2021 xc40.jpg (89.52 KiB) Viewed 1905 times

[ljsommar1]

New Volvos with a manual transmissions are not available in the USA. I would have loved to get one myself. There are a few things you can change via special order but a manual transmission is not one of them unless perhaps you have some kink of inside connection with Geely.
I was able to order 17" wheels instead of the standard 18" but it was an ordeal, only one dealership (and I tried about10) would do it.

[jimmy57]

If you looked into the powertrain offerings worldwide you will see the engines that are the equivalent of what we get in NA only get auto trans. They offer some much lower output engines in other markets where taxation or emissions rules make the higher performance engines a lot more expensive. The lower suds engines can have manuals. Manual transmissions have declined in sales in all markets. Traffic gets heavier (maybe not in a pandemic) as time goes on and stop n go traffic shifting is not desireable to persons in those countries where manual trans was previously very high % of what was sold. With more gear ranges in the auto trans the MPG and rate of acceleration is better even with 3 cylinder engines with turbo. The tiny engines with really low torque and torque peaks at high revs.

[oragex]

The new V60 is quite a big car overall, not sure I would enjoy driving/parking in a city such as NYC. I would also wait another 1-2 years for Volvo to fix any issues on the last model, otherwise I would perhaps only only lease it. One thing I'm really not fan is the lack of knobs on the center console. It still not a 2021 'digital' Golf (Youtube), but I'm not into voice command or touch screen scrolling.

[ljsommar1]

It is a myth that automatics get better mpg. Yes, the mpg figures reported on government testing say so, but in reality they lie. Check out high mileage forums, virtually everyone there supports manual transmissions. They know that in the real world drivers who know to drive can always get better mpg with a manual.
I would also rather have a manual because I am capable of performing the required maintenance for them i.e. mostly replacing clutches. If an automatic transmission were to fail, I would not have a clue, especially today's automatics. In fact, I would go so far to say that few automatics are ever repaired well. That is why warranties on auto transmissions are very limited despite the very high price tag. I am a fanatic about fluid flushes because I never want to face repairing one.
I know in today's world everyone wants ridiculously high powered cars. I would be quite satisfied with the lower HP offered in other markets. Yes, I guess I have turned into an old fa##, but really who needs 200 HP let alone 300+. I would gladly accept less performance for better gas mileage and greater reliability.

[abscate]

The HP offerings for the US commuter marketare ridiculously high. It does seem like you have to choose between a 36 HP Beetle and a 300 HP Toyota