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Yeah, I know that much. Volvo was on its deathbed for a long time. That's the point of this thread.
After the 2008 crash a lot of car companies were in trouble. I owned several volvo's years ago. The 1980's and 1990's ones that were practically bulletproof. I had an XC90 and it was obvious the quality was not what it used to be. They also went from having that unique swedish brick style to looking like all the other cars.
I think they would do well with a retro wagon, something like a Nissan Cube. With the old curves brought up to date.
Why would you spend your hard earned money on a car with questionable relaibility? There are so many other options out there. We had 3 Volvos: a 122, 144, 164. The 122 was a tank and lasted forever. The 144 was the worst car we had ever owned. Everything broke. The engine, transmission, front end, suspension, door handle, mirrors, the window even fell inside the door and shattered. The 164 was pretty bad an we never bought another. We had a bunch of SAABs (somethings almost always broken) which were ok but not reliable. SAAB was bought out by GM and the rest is history. Volvo was bought by Ford and then Geely. Its basically a Volvo in name only.
A new XC90 starts around $45k and the mid level trim is roughly $55k-$60k. I don't know where you guys are getting your information. They are very competitively priced alongside the equivalent luxury brand cars. Their depreciation is less than standard.
Keep in mind they are also the only self driving car besides Tesla out there.
Only a select few models are made in China however I honestly expect that to change moving forward as US consumers gain acceptance. Lots of nice, expensive quality things made in China...
The reliability aspect really won't be known for 5-10 years. Used to be all their offerings were good, until the early 2000's came and they started getting more electrical and AWD-y. Their inline five cylinder engines were bulletproof as long as you changed the timing belt. I replaced a tail late on my car after 21 years - had "made in France" stamped on it.
Let's be honest, they don't make anything like they used to because no one would pay for it.
Big mistake to ditch the XC70 wagon. Had a 2006 that I'd still be driving if somebody didn't come out of a side street and total it......with their 2004 XC70.... My wife has permanent injuries from the crash. Bought it with 140k miles and it ran great after some ignored maintenance items got fixed....by me... it was a car the backyard mechanic could still do a lot of the work in the driveway.
Like all the Honda, Nissan, Toyota, and Subaru vehicles built in the US trying to still pass as Japanese???
Are you saying all these manufactures are committing fraud???
I have seen nothing indicating Volvos from China are subpar in quality in comparision to those assembled elsewhere...NOTHING.
IIRC, any Volvo plants in China are only producing vehicles for the Chinese market.
Gheely's role was mostly providing capital for Volvo, for the most part the Chinese stayed out of the way and let the Swedes have a free hand regarding research, development, and production.
Robots don't assemble interiors, you know the part where most people like to spend their time in a car, and have you forgotten about the raw materials component of quality?
Chinese steel is recycled and has many alloy impurities and there are processing and manufacturing issues too. Their fabrics and plastics have horrendous records for chemical safety. You think that "Chinese Stink" (I'm using the polite term instead of the one that rhymes) is a myth?
If you can imagine the amount of underhanded sneaky stuff that has gone into electronics manufacturing, just apply that to something mechanically complex, where design and strength of materials problems have real-world impacts on health and safety. Your iphone catching fire because the Fourth Shift used counterfeit widgets is nothing compared to the carnage that is possible when there is a structural failure in a collision and what would have been a safe design becomes a deathtrap, because inferior parts were installed, or the fabrication process had a half-assed QA program.
IIRC, any Volvo plants in China are only producing vehicles for the Chinese market.
Gheely's role was mostly providing capital for Volvo, for the most part the Chinese stayed out of the way and let the Swedes have a free hand regarding research, development, and production.
Volvo is manufacturing in China for the Chinese market and was exporting the S60 Inscription and now the S90 from China.
Wish they would bring back the Volvo 240 DL. Boxy, simple, best car ever.
We had one that we bought new, after 2 years, the thing left us stranded more times than I can count. It was worked on at the Volvo dealer in Dallas as well as the best indi mechanic in town. Granted, the body was made well but the fuel injection system and other stuff was a PITA. I couldn't wait to get rid of it. Held on to it just long enough so we could qualify for a mortgage. Got a new '83 Accord expecting it to fall apart after 4 years, ended up keeping it for 13 years. That is what we were expecting from Volvo.
The Volvo dealership here in a city of 750K sold 35 Volvos last year. Same dealership sold 350 Audis and 750 Subis. They gave up the franchise and now the city is without a dealership for the poor souls that bought their cars. Warranty work, they have to drive 4-5 hours to the nearest authorized dealer. Sorry, they look pretty cool, but I wouldn't buy another one.
What's racist about it? That's what many many people call it. It doesn't convey a belief system...Its a slang term, obviously....akin to "_ _ _" (short for Japanese), which yes, some people now find "offensive" in this age of "Everything is Racist", but it has only the same meaning....anyway, it refers to the real-world actual issue of unusual outgassing (which is caused by tainted materials and improper control or manufacture of adjuvants), due to China's traditional complete disregard for the regulatory and environmental protections space.
Its a notorious, long-standing, well-known issue with Chinese-manufacturing, and its not only plastics and fabrics. Its even metals, because the oils used for lubrication and packaging are tainted. You can find right now, Made in China tools, all metal, that smell and outgas noxiously from their industrial coatings. From what I have observed, its always China.
I have no doubt China is capable of making safe quality items. And maybe in their domestic market they have those. But the stuff they send here...mostly is garbage...and much of it is harmful and wouldn't be allowed to be produced by a domestic manufacturer because it would not pass our regulations.
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