Volvo sweet deal

[Desslok]

Originally posted by: JTsyo
They allow you to drive left sided cars in Europe?

I believe it is only England that have right hand drive cars.

 

[996GT2]

Originally posted by: cparent

Originally posted by: 996GT2

Originally posted by: rockyct

Originally posted by: cparent

Originally posted by: Inspector Jihad

Originally posted by: angry hampster

Originally posted by: Fardor

Originally posted by: Inspector Jihad
i never did understand the 'buy american' mentality

it's about having pride for your country. pride for BIG AMERICAN VALUES and BIG AMERICAN SUV'S.

I don't understand the "pride for your country" mentality or any part of it, and I never will. I will pride myself and things that I have affiliated myself to because I wanted to.

Putting money into american companies does tend to stimulate the economy. It's not all about pride.

i think supporting the superior competition will compel the american companies to produce better cars which would lead to better overall growth.

Allow me to help. This actually pertains to the hot deal in that it speaks of car quality.

When you buy an american designed and made car, you are supporting the approx 20+ million people that work in the auto industry in the U.S., which in turn watch movies (keeps california in business), buy toothpaste (keeps cincinatti in business), keep money in banks (keeps chicago in business), and buy stocks (keeps new york in business).....etc, etc, etc.

When you buy a "foreign" car made in the U.S., there's approx 1/10th the staff that make 1/2 the pay building that product. The profits and highest paying jobs are still over seas. Therefore the entire country hurts. (unless you live in another country)

When you buy a truly imported car, you are basically only supporting a car salesman, and the porting industry in your local economy.

Also, you are correct in that supporting "superior competition" did get the big 3 to improve quality. That's why the big 3 now, once again make superior cars over foreign cars. The hard part will be getting the ignorant public to notice and persuade public opinion. 3 of 5 of the most dependable name plates last year are Big 3 companies. Japanese and asian quality falling far behind U.S. companies. Suzuki, Isuzu, Mazda, Nissan and mitsubishi are more or less some of the worst cars you can buy now. Volvo lines up with mitsubishi.

All of this according to JD power VDS of 2007. not me.

(incoming story on how someone had a 1982 chrysler kcar and the hub cap fell off in 1983 therefore all chrysler cars suck)

Generally, you can't make a blanket statement that X brands are always reliable and Y brands will break down in six months. There are exceptions, but usually it depends on the vehicle. Mazda makes the very reliable Mazda3, Nissan the Xterra, Mitsubishi the Outlander, etc. The Big 3 do make reliable cars right now, but it's still a while before they are as respected as Honda and Toyota.

lol why did you even waste the time to write a thought out reply to cparent's post? He's the idiot dumb enough to believe that JD Power reviews are something OTHER than printed garbage...just let him buy whatever the hell he wants to buy while the rest of us move on with life.

Translation of above response: Someone posted facts that make sense for the U.S. and are backed up by a 3rd party companies information, and I'm just trolling and wont add anything or actually dispute anything with facts, because, well, that's what trolls do.

Translation of your original post cparent: I need to get some evidence to back up my claim that the big 3 are so frickin awesome...hmmm let's go to JD Power. HEY LOOK! They gave 4/5 stars to Jaguar and Mercedes Benz! That must mean that they are always right! Everyone KNOWS Mercedes Benz cars are the most reliable EVER! Hey look...they only gave 3 stars to Acura and Subaru! That must mean that Jaguars and MBs are SOO MUCH more reliable! Man, who would be dumb enough to buy an Acura or Subaru...they are so sucky in comparison to an uber-reliable Jaguar! Woohoo, let's post this up on AT so I can look super smart and educated about cars and so that everyone who doesn't agree with me on car reliability can look dumb! Oh wait, gotta pray to the Ford/GM/Chrysler/Dodge gods first so they won't take away my paycheck with the next wave of layoffs next week...then I'll go make my uber smart post so everyone on AT will envy me as T3H CAR GURU...yeah FTW!

Yeah, that's basically what you sounded like in your original post.

I would have actually wrote a full reply to your initial post if you didn't sound like you were high off the Big 3's crackpipe. Yes, American car companies have made good cars. Examples are the new Taurus and the Malibu/Impala. Does that mean that the big 3 are automatically the most dependable cars in America? Hell no. Your blanket statement that the big 3 are the most dependable companies is bullshit. Even JD Power (which you seem to admire SO much) gave 2 stars to Chrysler and Dodge. You know why? Because they suck. How much? So much that even Mercedes ditched them a few years ago. More reliable than Honda? Yeah, maybe, if you've been smoking crack for the last 5 years...

Actually think before you make blanket statements that ALL cars from American companies are automatically the most reliable and that Japanese companies are falling behind when many more American cars (like most Dodges) consistently are ranked at the bottom in car reviews from major magazines like C/D, MT, Consumer reports, etc.

Also, I hope you realize that every car company outsources...yes, even the admirable big 3. Honda just built a new plant in Indiana not long ago, and Subaru, Toyota, and every other big Japanese make builds their USDM cars in AMERICA. In fact, the difference is so big now that the Japanese and American versions of the Accord are COMPLETELY DIFFERENT cars now.

 

[Owls]

Originally posted by: Fardor

Originally posted by: Inspector Jihad
i never did understand the 'buy american' mentality

it's about having pride for your country. pride for BIG AMERICAN VALUES and BIG AMERICAN SUV'S.

I don't understand the "pride for your country" mentality or any part of it, and I never will. I will pride myself and things that I have affiliated myself to because I wanted to.

These days AMERICAN car companies use more labor and parts from outside the country than companies like Toyota and Honda. In fact, if you really want to support the economy, buy Toyota or Honda instead, they have lots of plants in the US.

 

[cparent]

Originally posted by: 996GT2gibberish

It's become quite obvious that you have a strong desire to buy products not made in the US and want to argue here. I dont want either. I like my country, and I dont want to TC. I support the country that I live in, as most intelligent people should. I dont fight against other people in an irrational and rather childish way. I made some facts backed up by professional companies. If you don't live in the U.S., then fine, good for you. I do live in the USA, and based off of the facts presented to me, buying from the big 3 supports my local economy more than buying foreign car companies products. And big 3 cars are on par or better in defects than any other manufacturer, again, backed up by a companies statistics that tracks this. I also like American styling, size, and power. Any one of these would be a good enough reason for me. I'm glad that I have them all.

 

[Desslok]

Originally posted by: JTsyo
They allow you to drive left sided cars in Europe?

Yep, only England to the best of my knowledge have right hand drive cars.

 

[cparent]

Originally posted by: Owls

Originally posted by: Fardor

Originally posted by: Inspector Jihad
i never did understand the 'buy american' mentality

it's about having pride for your country. pride for BIG AMERICAN VALUES and BIG AMERICAN SUV'S.

I don't understand the "pride for your country" mentality or any part of it, and I never will. I will pride myself and things that I have affiliated myself to because I wanted to.

These days AMERICAN car companies use more labor and parts from outside the country than companies like Toyota and Honda. In fact, if you really want to support the economy, buy Toyota or Honda instead, they have lots of plants in the US.

hrmmm. i did a bit of searching on a few random vehicles. not so sure what you say is true. maybe you have some links to back it up?

2007 vehciles
Ford F-150: 90% domestic content
Chevrolet Silverado 1500: 90%
Pontiac G6: 86%
Toyota Camry/Solara: 78%
Honda Accord: 65%
Toyota Corolla/Matrix: 65%
Dodge Ram: 72%
Honda Civic: 55%

 

[xyyz]

whoa... this is mind blowing. at least for someone who has never heard of this before.

who do you contact to get in on this deal? i take it isn't dealers in the US.

 

[Thump553]

No you do go through the US dealers. The dealer gets a piece of the action, somehow. But remember what ProfJohn said back on page 1, you need to get your money and financing together well in advance of your travel date.

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: xyyz
whoa... this is mind blowing. at least for someone who has never heard of this before.

who do you contact to get in on this deal? i take it isn't dealers in the US.

VW used to do the same thing with their Microbuses back in the day.

 

[medbiker]

XYYZ, yeah it is American dealers. Any volvo dealer, or now I learn, any or most european car dealers local to you have this program. They save money by not paying the foreign mfg country's export duty, so the mfg gets a cut, the dealer gets a cut, and so do you.

You have to have gotten the financing together one month before pickup. That having been said, my dealer (Herzog meieir volvo in beaverton, OR) can't get me the VIN until 2wks before I pick it up, therefore I can't get my loan until then, but they said, "don't worry about it". volvo has pretty sucky financing. what deals they have don't apply to the "tourist delivery service", so I got financing from a local credit union. I had to pay $2k upfront to hold the car. I'll have the confirmation number from volvo in a couple days, and can use that to make the plane reservation with their travel agent.

the link for the overseas delivery is:
Volvo Overseas Delivery

 

[TekDemon]

Originally posted by: cparent

Originally posted by: Inspector Jihad

Originally posted by: angry hampster

Originally posted by: Fardor

Originally posted by: Inspector Jihad
i never did understand the 'buy american' mentality

it's about having pride for your country. pride for BIG AMERICAN VALUES and BIG AMERICAN SUV'S.

I don't understand the "pride for your country" mentality or any part of it, and I never will. I will pride myself and things that I have affiliated myself to because I wanted to.

Putting money into american companies does tend to stimulate the economy. It's not all about pride.

i think supporting the superior competition will compel the american companies to produce better cars which would lead to better overall growth.

Allow me to help. This actually pertains to the hot deal in that it speaks of car quality.

When you buy an american designed and made car, you are supporting the approx 20+ million people that work in the auto industry in the U.S., which in turn watch movies (keeps california in business), buy toothpaste (keeps cincinatti in business), keep money in banks (keeps chicago in business), and buy stocks (keeps new york in business).....etc, etc, etc.

When you buy a "foreign" car made in the U.S., there's approx 1/10th the staff that make 1/2 the pay building that product. The profits and highest paying jobs are still over seas. Therefore the entire country hurts. (unless you live in another country)

When you buy a truly imported car, you are basically only supporting a car salesman, and the porting industry in your local economy.

Also, you are correct in that supporting "superior competition" did get the big 3 to improve quality. That's why the big 3 now, once again make superior cars over foreign cars. The hard part will be getting the ignorant public to notice and persuade public opinion. 3 of 5 of the most dependable name plates last year are Big 3 companies. Japanese and asian quality falling far behind U.S. companies. Suzuki, Isuzu, Mazda, Nissan and mitsubishi are more or less some of the worst cars you can buy now. Volvo lines up with mitsubishi.

All of this according to JD power VDS of 2007. not me.

(incoming story on how someone had a 1982 chrysler kcar and the hub cap fell off in 1983 therefore all chrysler cars suck)

JD power usually does initial quality ratings, which the American makers have indeed improved upon by quite a bit. But for long-term reliability those ratings don't really mean a lot. It's basically how nice the cars are when they're brand new. At least some of the newer GMs no longer have bootleg interiors. If you want to know what I mean just go sit in any circa 2004 GM vehicle [even the cadillacs unfortunately] and look at the door lock/latch-there's exposed sharp plastic seams and screw holes in the door lock/latches. Or go sit in the rear sit of a Chevy Cobalt and look up at the roof, and enjoy the wonders of exposed polyurethane foam (no, seriously) from the roof liner-because they were too cheap to tape the edges of the roof liner off (presumably this would have cost $1 in extra parts, but some insane labor calculation made it a no go).
This bootleg low initial quality thing has been improved by the newer vehicles (not the Cobalt though). But again, long term reliability isn't really represented by these results. As the other poster pointed out...Jaguar and MB get great initial quality too. I mean it fells nice to sit in a brand new Jaguar, before the transmission fails for the 2nd time at 30,000 miles because some plant worker (in England) forgot to install a screw at the plant (sadly this was the actual explanation someone was given about why their transmission committed suicide-a piece came loose because it wasn't properly bolted and it shrapneled through the transmission).

I hope you realize that Suzuki and Mitsubishi have never, ever, been reliable. Just because Toyota and Honda are reliable doesn't mean all Japanese makers are.

And Isuzu's have for years been GM VEHICLES, so trashing their reliability is kind of humorous when defending the big 3. They're also leaving the US market this year (since all their models are GMs anyway it doesn't really matter).

Mazda is owned by Ford, so again, trashing their reliability while claiming that the Big 3 are doing great is highly ironic. The Mazda 3 for example, uses the same platform as the next-generation Focus that'll come out any decade now (I say any decade because they've been out in Europe for years and only the USA still gets the piece of crap focus designed eons ago). And even Mitsubishi has heavy ties to Daimler (and thus formerly DaimlerChrysler).

The only 2 Japanese car companies that sell any real volume in the USA are Honda and Toyota, and their long term reliability is still great, especially for the most costly repairs. When stuff does go wrong with them it's usually cheap and easy to fix.

Finally, I'd like to point out that american car component suppliers also work for Toyota/Honda, and Toyota has models that were engineered and designed in the USA (like the Tundra) as well.

The funny part is that tons of car manufacturers are trying to move their production to the USA now because the dollar is so worthless. Volkswagen is going to set up a US production plant soon.

At the end of the day, Volvo really isn't that reliable, since being similarly reliable to Mitsubishi is...well, it's not too good.

On the bright side, cars tend to be more reliable in general than they were 20 years ago, so long as you don't go buy a car with complicated electrics in it.

 

[TekDemon]

Originally posted by: cparent

Originally posted by: Owls

Originally posted by: Fardor

Originally posted by: Inspector Jihad
i never did understand the 'buy american' mentality

it's about having pride for your country. pride for BIG AMERICAN VALUES and BIG AMERICAN SUV'S.

I don't understand the "pride for your country" mentality or any part of it, and I never will. I will pride myself and things that I have affiliated myself to because I wanted to.

These days AMERICAN car companies use more labor and parts from outside the country than companies like Toyota and Honda. In fact, if you really want to support the economy, buy Toyota or Honda instead, they have lots of plants in the US.

hrmmm. i did a bit of searching on a few random vehicles. not so sure what you say is true. maybe you have some links to back it up?

2007 vehciles
Ford F-150: 90% domestic content
Chevrolet Silverado 1500: 90%
Pontiac G6: 86%
Toyota Camry/Solara: 78%
Honda Accord: 65%
Toyota Corolla/Matrix: 65%
Dodge Ram: 72%
Honda Civic: 55%

You can't cherry pick your list like that. How about:
Toyota Sienna: 85%
Ford Escape: 65% (2008 model, 2007 models had 90%)
Ford Edge: 70% (2008 mode)
Toyota Tundra: 80%

I'd say that it depends more on the particular vehicle you buy whether it has mostly domestic content or more imported content. If you buying a Lexus LS460 it's probably not going to be highly domestic, but if you're buying a Tundra it's probably more domestic than something like a Saturn Vue (whose engine is made in China).

It's kind of funny though, because some of the domestic cars assembled in Mexico and Canada have pretty high domestic content ratings, because they actually ship the parts out of the US to have them assembled in Mexico, lol.

 

[TekDemon]

The one thing I honestly like better about the domestics is the fact that their dealerships don't treat customers like total a-holes (well, when you're buying anyway, not sure about warranty claims and such). I mean partially it's just because they can't afford to be pompous asses like BMW dealerships are reknowned for, but still my fondest dealership experiences were at Buick and Ford dealerships.

If Buicks didn't devalue so badly I'd totally go buy a Buick (they're actually fairly reliable yay).

Wow...I just looked on that Volvo overseas delivery website...they actually have unsold 2007 S80's?!

Heh, they're givint $7000 off...hmm...

Oh I see, the MSRP is like $49K for those V8 S80's...jeez...no wonder they're unsold, even at $7000 off that's $42K for a 2 year old car that sells used for something like 33K.

lol, apparently the 2005-2006 S80's have incorrect tire pressure labels on the doors. How the hell did that get past the factory.

 

[996GT2]

Originally posted by: TekDemon

Originally posted by: cparent

Originally posted by: Owls

Originally posted by: Fardor

Originally posted by: Inspector Jihad
i never did understand the 'buy american' mentality

it's about having pride for your country. pride for BIG AMERICAN VALUES and BIG AMERICAN SUV'S.

I don't understand the "pride for your country" mentality or any part of it, and I never will. I will pride myself and things that I have affiliated myself to because I wanted to.

These days AMERICAN car companies use more labor and parts from outside the country than companies like Toyota and Honda. In fact, if you really want to support the economy, buy Toyota or Honda instead, they have lots of plants in the US.

hrmmm. i did a bit of searching on a few random vehicles. not so sure what you say is true. maybe you have some links to back it up?

2007 vehciles
Ford F-150: 90% domestic content
Chevrolet Silverado 1500: 90%
Pontiac G6: 86%
Toyota Camry/Solara: 78%
Honda Accord: 65%
Toyota Corolla/Matrix: 65%
Dodge Ram: 72%
Honda Civic: 55%

You can't cherry pick your list like that. How about:
Toyota Sienna: 85%
Ford Escape: 65% (2008 model, 2007 models had 90%)
Ford Edge: 70% (2008 mode)
Toyota Tundra: 80%

I'd say that it depends more on the particular vehicle you buy whether it has mostly domestic content or more imported content. If you buying a Lexus LS460 it's probably not going to be highly domestic, but if you're buying a Tundra it's probably more domestic than something like a Saturn Vue (whose engine is made in China).

It's kind of funny though, because some of the domestic cars assembled in Mexico and Canada have pretty high domestic content ratings, because they actually ship the parts out of the US to have them assembled in Mexico, lol.

Just to add a bit to that...the Saturn Vue actually came with a 3.5 liter Honda engine from 2002-2007, and it was the most popular engine option in the Vue, accounting for more than 50% of all Vue sales. Also, during the early 90s, several Eagle and Plymouth vehicles used Mitsubishi's 4G63 engine (also found in Eclipse). Several "American" cars have just been rebadged Japanese ones, including the Geo/Chevrolet Metro (based on Toyota Corolla from 1989-2002), Eagle Talon (based on Mitsubishi Eclipse), and Pontiac Vibe (basically a rebadged Toyota Matrix). Also, the entire rear suspension assembly of the current Chrysler 300 series is based on that of the old Mercedes E320 (before Mercedes left Chrysler/Dodge). Those are only a few of the many examples.

Sure, if you cherry pick I'm sure you could find American cars with a higher degree of domestic content. But then again, if you cherry pick you can also find many American vehicles with little to no actual "American" content besides the badge.

EDIT: Just thought I'd put in a my experiences with cars from the Big 3. One of my friends drives an early 2000s Saturn, and the panel gaps are SO wide in that car you can literally fit your thumb through them. Everything is cheap plastic, and the seats feel like they're made of sandpaper. The Oldsmobile Intrigue driven by another of my friends has a better interior (still plasticky though), but the car has had so many problems that however good a bargain it was doesn't really matter anymore. With <80k miles on the clock, it's had a power steering pump failure, warped brake rotors, broken window motors, skipping CD player, wipers that won't go down, etc. More recently, I rented a 2007 Cobalt for a trip to Florida...the interior was much better than that of my friend's Saturn, but that's not really saying much. Everything seemed to be coated in a sea of hard plastics, and though the panel gaps were less noticeable, some of them are sill glaringly wide (in the car I drove, the gap between the glovebox opening and the dash was twice as wide on one side as on the other). I realize that some American cars have become quite good recently (which, cparent, you would have read if you didn't just quote my last post as gibberish)...the Impala is nice, as is the Ford Fusion/Five Hundred and the new Saturn Aura. However, just because some are good doesn't allow you to make the logical fallacy in concluding that ALL cars from the big 3 are automatically better. That would be equivalent to saying that just because one nVidia graphics card (let's say the 8800GT) is good value for the money, then ALL nVidia cards are automatically good value for the money...which, of course, is untrue (8800 Ultra anyone?)

I don't really think you understand all that from being blinded by your overwhelming personal preference for vehicles made by the big 3. I mean, after all, you didn't even bother to read my post and instead just quoted it as "gibberish." Perhaps because you couldn't really refute how extremely unreliable JD Power initial quality ratings really are? Whatever the reason, it's time to open your eyes and stop being so very biased towards your own opinions of what is "so much better" than everything else, ignoring all other opinions to the contrary. If Hondas, Toyotas, and other foreign cars sucked as much as you imply they do, then they wouldn't be selling like hotcakes while American cars need huge discounts to get moved off the showroom floor.

 

[Dirigible]

Back on topic...

OP, the previous owners of my Volvo did that. They had a really nice trip. They left the Euro license plates on the car under the US plates to remind them of the trip, and when I bought it they wanted to keep the Euro plates for sentimental reasons.

 

[thomsbrain]

Originally posted by: angry hampster

Putting money into american companies does tend to stimulate the economy. It's not all about pride.

Let's take the Honda Odyssey vs. the Chrysler Town and Country.

The Honda Odyssey bought by Joe Average is designed by American engineers working for American Honda Motor Co., built by American workers in American factories, shipped by American trucks and railways, sold by American salespeople, financed by American banks, serviced by American mechanics, and creates local American sales tax when sold. Honda is a publicly traded company on American stock exchanges through American brokers, that also employ American workers and allow all Americans to easily share in the ownership and profits of the company.

AFAIK, the Chrysler Town and Country is all of the above, except that Chrylser is NOT a publicly traded company and there is no opportunity for regular Americans to share in the profits of the company.

Sorry, but the days of black and white isolated national brands and economies are long gone. Buying an Odyssey does FAR more to stimulate the American economy than buying an "American brand" Volvo XC-70.

 

[TekDemon]

Originally posted by: 996GT2
Just to add a bit to that...the Saturn Vue actually came with a 3.5 liter Honda engine from 2002-2007, and it was the most popular engine option in the Vue, accounting for more than 50% of all Vue sales. Also, during the early 90s, several Eagle and Plymouth vehicles used Mitsubishi's 4G63 engine (also found in Eclipse). Several "American" cars have just been rebadged Japanese ones, including the Geo/Chevrolet Metro (based on Toyota Corolla from 1989-2002), Eagle Talon (based on Mitsubishi Eclipse), and Pontiac Vibe (basically a rebadged Toyota Matrix). Also, the entire rear suspension assembly of the current Chrysler 300 series is based on that of the old Mercedes E320 (before Mercedes left Chrysler/Dodge). Those are only a few of the many examples.

Sure, if you cherry pick I'm sure you could find American cars with a higher degree of domestic content. But then again, if you cherry pick you can also find many American vehicles with little to no actual "American" content besides the badge.

EDIT: Just thought I'd put in a my experiences with cars from the Big 3. One of my friends drives an early 2000s Saturn, and the panel gaps are SO wide in that car you can literally fit your thumb through them. Everything is cheap plastic, and the seats feel like they're made of sandpaper. The Oldsmobile Intrigue driven by another of my friends has a better interior (still plasticky though), but the car has had so many problems that however good a bargain it was doesn't really matter anymore. With <80k miles on the clock, it's had a power steering pump failure, warped brake rotors, broken window motors, skipping CD player, wipers that won't go down, etc. More recently, I rented a 2007 Cobalt for a trip to Florida...the interior was much better than that of my friend's Saturn, but that's not really saying much. Everything seemed to be coated in a sea of hard plastics, and though the panel gaps were less noticeable, some of them are sill glaringly wide (in the car I drove, the gap between the glovebox opening and the dash was twice as wide on one side as on the other). I realize that some American cars have become quite good recently (which, cparent, you would have read if you didn't just quote my last post as gibberish)...the Impala is nice, as is the Ford Fusion/Five Hundred and the new Saturn Aura. However, just because some are good doesn't allow you to make the logical fallacy in concluding that ALL cars from the big 3 are automatically better. That would be equivalent to saying that just because one nVidia graphics card (let's say the 8800GT) is good value for the money, then ALL nVidia cards are automatically good value for the money...which, of course, is untrue (8800 Ultra anyone?)

I don't really think you understand all that from being blinded by your overwhelming personal preference for vehicles made by the big 3. I mean, after all, you didn't even bother to read my post and instead just quoted it as "gibberish." Perhaps because you couldn't really refute how extremely unreliable JD Power initial quality ratings really are? Whatever the reason, it's time to open your eyes and stop being so very biased towards your own opinions of what is "so much better" than everything else, ignoring all other opinions to the contrary. If Hondas, Toyotas, and other foreign cars sucked as much as you imply they do, then they wouldn't be selling like hotcakes while American cars need huge discounts to get moved off the showroom floor.

Wow, I got really confused because you quoted my post then replied to cparent-I was trying to figure out why I was being attacked about JD power ratings.

On another funny note about the Saturn VUE, the domestic content on the Honda engine equipped Vue's was actually HIGHER than the non-Honda engine version because the Honda engine was made in Ohio at a US Honda plant. So even though it didn't have a GM engine it had higher domestic content.
(source: Christian Science Monitor)

 

[AmdEmAll]

Originally posted by: Insomniator
My dad and I are glad that our subaru forester is the only subaru not made in America.

Anyway I may be in the market for a new V50 in the upcoming months and this sounds like a great idea...

The Impreza is made in Japan also.

 

[Topper]

This import vs Big 3 debate on quality is pretty funny. Both sides are actually getting some of the facts right but are a bit off on others.

Forget JD Powers, you can buy a rating from them if you want it bad enough. No Joke.

Bottom line is that Big 3 quality IS indeed on par overall with Toyota, Honda, et al.

There are some models on both sides that don't make the grade certain years, IE Toyota quality issues on their new model launches in the last year. Toyota has been enduring growing pains.

Bottom line is that in a global economy with so many major companies tied together it really comes down to what you like as far as styling, design, features. Big 3 styling has been lacking but finally seems to have turned the corner. Anyone seen the Holden 60 concept (holden = GM's Australian outfit) ?

Unfortunately many people are under educated when it comes to purchasing ANYTHING let alone an automobile. Many still believe Big 3 quality is inferior to Toyota & Honda which just isn't the case anymore.

 

[Nebor]

Yup, it's a cool deal. I got to have breakfast in a conference room with a bunch of Volvo execs when I went (in the late 90s.)

Which Volvo are you getting? I'm assuming an S60 judging by the prices you're giving. Too bad they stopped making the R.

 

[medbiker]

the Volvo website lists a price for unsold '07's, but there weren't any left. They didn't have any s40 '08's left, and I got one of the last s60's.

$49k for the s80 seems high, and it is, but that's Volvo's flagship luxury vehicle, with options can run up to $80k, equiv. to the top end BMW's. Those were discounted more than $7k, but even so my pockets aren't that deep.

The dealer at volvo and audi were both extremely nice, no experience with the BMW dealer.

alot of my bias against the big three cars is that in the past they've been fugly. my practical bias has been purely based on rental cars. I really wanted to get a mustang, but I rented an '07 w/about a hundred miles on the odo, and it was an absolute dog. I'd only had motorcycles for about 10 yrs, broke my thumb and had to get an automatic car to get around, ended up with a late 80's volvo soccer mom car. That old crappy volvo 760gle blew doors on the mustang. what the hell? it handled better, braked better, and was much much faster. (don't know about top speed).

Buicks are flat out ugly. the volvo s60 is a soccermom car, too, but it's a lot cooler looking than most big 3 cars. and I'm buying it for my soccermom wife., who likes it.

we really liked what we read and saw about the lexus 250's (we were only looking at AWD cars), but everytime we went to the dealer, they were closed. They're and American car I believe. I actually liked the way they looked better than the volvo. but inaccessibility (we live inthe sticks and it's an hour drive to the dealerships), and the tempting overseas delivery ended our search.

 

[medbiker]

yeah, it's a titanium S60, with black leather, wood panelling, power everything, fancy headlights, AWD, and a kid-seat. for my 6mo pregnant wife. her 12 yr old 2d tercel wasn't going to do it for a kid seat.

I've got a leased pickup that we're returning in Dec. at which point I go back to my '91 BMW 325 convertible, assuming I can get all the pieces together again by then. So, we needed at least one reliable kid friendly vehicle. The BMW was reaally unreliable, but I took a lot of it apart as a long term project and discovered the prev. owner had rewired the fuel pump with a wire running straight from the battery, forced through an existing hole in the firewall, run under the carpeting to the in-tank pump under the rear seat. No fuse, and constant on. I can't imagine why the pump failed or the battery wouldn't hold a charge for more than 2-3d.