Hello

[KatPad1984]

Hi my name is Kat and am about to buy my second is250. We owned the first one for 4 years but unfortunately someone may have used it as a battering ram and the body work ended up a major mess, it wasn’t serviced properly and then the dreaded check vsc came on- so she is sat on the drive. She was replaced with a Volvo s40 2.0D auto. what a pile of absolute rubbish. After 6 weeks we cannot survive without a working Lexus in the household. Have sourced a 2007 one with 115k in mint condition, that just needs the seats swapped out from the old one (leather heated and dvd screens) with the basic cloth.

so that is what brought me to you. So thank you for all the help you have provided so far.

 

happy driving

kat

[rich1068]

Welcome Kat!

[Vlady]

Welcome Kat!

They say Volvos are almost as good built as Lexus! Apart from diesel in your Vovlo, what else you don't like, if I may ask.

Vlad.

[rich1068]

Trust me, they're not. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the Volvos I had but Lexus are in a different league. In fact I'd say that about any of the European marques I've owned. Lexus are streets ahead.

[The-Acre]

10 hours ago, Vlady said:

Welcome Kat!

They say Volvos are almost as good built as Lexus! Apart from diesel in your Vovlo, what else you don't like, if I may ask.

Vlad.

I own a Volvo estate for practical reasons and it is a brilliant car, solid and safe, and enjoyable to drive, only let down by electrical problems due to some of these parts being Chinese.  As for the very latest models, I'd probably choose one over Lexus because I prefer the styling.

[The Bodyman]

11 minutes ago, The-Acre said:

I own a Volvo estate for practical reasons and it is a brilliant car, solid and safe, and enjoyable to drive, only let down by electrical problems due to some of these parts being Chinese.  As for the very latest models, I'd probably choose one over Lexus because I prefer the styling.

Welcome kat. 

I have the best of both worlds. Last month  I purchased my RCF. This month my wife took delivery of her new Volvo XC40. The Volvo seems to be well scrwed together as does my Lexus. Love my Lexus and time will tell with the Volvo. 

[PCM]

The Volvo XC40 looks nice!

 

[The Bodyman]

47 minutes ago, PCM said:

The Volvo XC40 looks nice!

 

Yes. I think it will be a good seller for Volvo. 

[rich1068]

Sorry, I helped to pretty much hijack Kat's first post!

 

[The-Acre]

23 minutes ago, rich1068 said:

Sorry, I helped to pretty much hijack Kat's first post!

 

We all do it. Anyway Kat, welcome the the Lexus/Volvo owners club!😁

[i-s]

Welcome Kat.

I think there's quite a lot of crossover between Lexus and Volvo ownership - Both are marques that appeal to those who want something well built, not german, comfortable, not german, with a different style and not german. 

Like Lexus, Volvo's supposed reliability and longevity have been elevated to mythical levels by fans when the reality doesn't match. Our V70 was mostly reliable over the 46k miles we had it, but the gearbox wasn't totally happy (shunt into drive, caused by sticking solenoids in valve block) and we felt that it was time to move it on before anything expensive happened (just shy of 9 years old). The S40 is question is one of the most "Ford-ish" Volvos, and i think as it's a 2.0D (Ford TDCI engine) that means that the "auto" is actually the Ford Power$hit gearbox which was a disaster... For all their failings, the Aisin-Warner (aka Toyota) gearboxes fitted to the Volvo engines were better than that.

Like The-Acre I think that Volvo's current range has brilliant styling (standouts for me are the V60 (better proportioned and more wagon-y than the slopebacked V90) and S90 (has the length required, the S60 looks like it got rear-ended and squashed the rear passenger door) and the XC60 (easily better looking and nicer inside than the X3 and GLC. I'd have to drive both to choose between it and an NX in that class). I hope that the SPA platform offers significantly improved driving characteristics over the P3 V70 that we had. My main bugbear with the current volvo lineup is actually drivetrains... They don't offer any drivetrains that appeal to me. I'm not one that's chest-beating about "it's absurd that they don't have a 5 or 6 cylinder engine blah blah blah" - the 4 cylinder provides plenty of output  (320bhp in the T6) and Volvo isn't and shouldn't try to be BMW. The 4 cylinders are fine.... it's just that I don't want to buy an ICE car. I generally dislike PHEVs (not very good as ICE cars, not very good as EVs) and no one else integrates the hybrids in the way that Toyota/Lexus do. The XC40 isn't my kind of car, but I'm glad to see that they're coming out with an EV version. The Polestar 2, however, is disappointing - it's a £50k+ car that is built on the lower-end Volvo CMA platform (mac strut/ control blade) which for me echos our P3 V70 too much (built on the mondeo mac strut/control blade setup and badly compromised because of it. Our GS450h is the same weight as the V70 but drives so much better through having a far more sophisticated platform under it). Once Volvo get some EVs with proper platforms underneath then I'll get interested again - same goes for Lexus!

 

 

[KatPad1984]

Hello guys, I go off to work away for a few days and come back to a right royal full on debate! I picked the Volvo for all the reasons that have been aforementioned- it was white, it looked very very attractive and it had full service history and had been very looked after. But after 4K it is possible the clutch was going (delay on D to R and on gear shifts if they weren’t with a gentle acceleration) both headlights had blown and the Battery had to be replaced (I don’t care much about that that comes as standard) but then after the warning of over 2k on a clutch the engine was leaking oil all over the auto gearbox. I didn’t do my research and didn’t realise I was buying a ford mondeo in a sexy yet safe volvo shell. So I was left fearful of finding out any more- with no extra dough to check her out properly and put her back together, so sold to someone with full disclosure who can take the car and look after it properly, and I absorbed The 2 grand hit- ouch let me tell you. My partner couldn’t sit in it (r design) for longer than 30 mins without extreme discomfort and migraines so she is over the moon at having a Lexus back.

I drove her the 50 miles home tonight- she was an absolute dream, didn’t put a foot wrong. Plenty of spare change from 3k, pristine car not a mark on her who runs sweeter than honey, and has a full set of winter 16 alloys and Continental tyres as well as refurbed 17inch ones that she is currently running. 
 

i am over the moon...

long live Lexus!

[rich1068]

11 hours ago, KatPad1984 said:

and has a full set of winter 16 alloys and continental tyres

Oh!! You have just set off a light bulb over my head!