Chinese close to buying Volvo

Post by **polskamafia mjl** » 17 Nov 2009, 19:38

Hahaha, you guys...

mtm3200 · Post by **mtm3200** » 17 Nov 2009, 23:16

My family currently owns a 2007 toyota camry 4cyl(my moms) with 37,000 miles and a 1999 volvo S70 NA (mine) with 236,000 miles on the clock. The toyota may be "reliable" but it is the biggest piece of sh** we have ever owned in my opinion. No one wants to drive it any more and my S70 often gets "borrowed" while the camry becomes a driveway ornament with a loan. Yes, the S70 does spend a little more time in the shop or an afternoon on jacks in the driveway but it still seems like a better car. The camry is loud even when idling and sounds like it might explode under average acceleration. It has a mind of its own and only responds to the gas pedal when it feels like it. It breaks your neck with the lightest tap of the accelerator but often refuses to do anything while trying to pass on the highway. I once tried to merge into a lane of traffic going much faster than I was and I firmly planted the accelerator to the floor and it did absolutely nothing as i repeatedly mashed the accelerator trying to get the car to "wake up". It does this all the time. The toyota dealer said it was because it was "drive by wire" and that was normal. Bullsh**. Im pretty sure my S70 qualifies as "drive by wire" and it does what i want when i want it to (and pretty quickly for a non-turbo) and is very predictable even after 200+k miles. The paint on the camry seems to chip and scratch from gusts of wind and is very hard to clean and almost seems as if they forgot to put the final coat of paint on. My 10 year old S70 is not easily scratched and is also much harder to dent (I have had a 180lb friend stand on the roof and and walk around followed by a hop onto the hood and didn't leave a mark). One day an A-pillar cover in the camry just fell off exposing the curtain airbag and to this day it refuses to stay in place and pops off shortly after pushing it back on. The "premium audio" in dash cd changer doesn't even work anymore and is holding a few cd's hostage and refuses to play or eject them. Everything on my S70 still works from the power antenna to the headlight wipers.

Reliable or not, I can't stand the camry and love the S70.

Post by **polskamafia mjl** » 18 Nov 2009, 00:38

+1 mtm3200. People say the Japanese cars are reliable, but I think that's only if you consider reliable to mean the engine runs and everything else doesn't.

will bj robinson · Post by **will bj robinson** » 18 Nov 2009, 13:52

My mother owns a 06 corolla and it does that same break your neck accelerator thing, i hate it, the driving postion reminds me of my grandfathers old massey ferguson tractor. my volvo may be in the shop a few more times a year but at least i can relax while driving and not have my arms fall asleep. these may be Japanese cars we compare too but if the chinese buy out volvo they better keep the soul with the brand.

PS, i agree that its not just swedish car that get me revved up. tall blondes......thats all ill say!!

Post by **marginal** » 20 Dec 2009, 19:43

In the news: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid= ... 8O37Uub8sI

Post by **polskamafia mjl** » 20 Dec 2009, 20:41

Damn it.

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/volvo-concept.htm Try this....haha

First V · Post by **First V** » 23 Dec 2009, 03:49

According to Swedish news it's official... Volvo is dead

We should never have sold it to America in the first place!

Post by **marginal** » 23 Dec 2009, 04:37

I agree with you.
The problem is, most of the time, you don't do it by choice

...

turbotim2 · Post by **turbotim2** » 23 Dec 2009, 05:28

First V wrote:According to Swedish news it's official... Volvo is dead

We should never have sold it to America in the first place!

Yes, then it would have died years ago.

Post by **meine39** » 23 Dec 2009, 06:29

turbotim2 wrote:
First V wrote:According to Swedish news it's official... Volvo is dead

We should never have sold it to America in the first place!
Yes, then it would have died years ago.

As harsh as that may sound, I think turbotim is correct - Volvo sold their car operation to Ford years ago but still exists as a (presumably) healthy company manufacturing trucks and the like - I assume they wanted out of the passenger car business which is why they sold to Ford.

If they hadn't found a buyer, I suspect they would have shuttered the car operation years ago. I can't imagine their car division could have survived as a "boutique" operation given the huge development costs required to remain competitive in a global auto industry - I don't think their cars, as good or bad as they might have been, sold in large enough numbers to remain profitable for Volvo the parent company.

While many may feel that Ford may have "ruined" Volvo, Volvo cars could have just as easily already been a footnote in automotive history by this point. Love 'em or hate 'em, Ford recognized the cachet of the Volvo name, and leveraged it pretty well. At the end of the day fellas, as passionate as we might be about these cars, it's just business.

Chinese close to buying Volvo

Re: Chinese close to buying Volvo