Love my new 2004 XC70

Replaced a 1998 V70 AWD. Amazed at how much better this new car is --
handling, design, features, and all for just about the same price as six
years ago. Or perhaps I've become a much better negotiator.

Any others as pleased with their XC70?

About the price - Volvo prices haven't jumped drastically... In fact they
have essentially gone down over 10 years (taking inflation into the mix).
Our 960 had a list price of $42000 CND when we bought it new (minus 7000 we
got knocked off because we got it year end, and a little bit more thru
haggling for a better trade in and a bit more knocked off the car since we
could only get one in charcoal silver, and only with black interior)....
For around 45000-50000 you can get a comparably equiped V70 2.5T... More
power, safer, more solid feeling car (after 11 years the 960 is pretty
solid, but it's nothing compared to a new car...we have some good squeaks
from the dash and the body seems to give a little more over bumps) with
slightly improved features. Then again no really NEW features other then
cupholders, dual zone climate, and a slightly better radio with CD now....
The sound quality IMO isn't much better, in fact the stereo seperation and
distribution seems better in the 960, it just can't handle the same amount
of bass, and there aren't as many speakers either, and no optional NAV
system of course.

The 2004 XC70 is the one my dad wants right now, either that or a Titanium
Edition 2.5T. It's been test driven, but no one in the family feels we
really need a new car, our 960 is young in mileage (going in for the 144K Km
service next week) and there has been no headaches, we will take this car
for long trips without second guessing the descition (okay, if it's only two
people they steal my diesel Golf to save on fuel...then I get the Volvo, so
all is well). Personally I want a normal V70.... maybe a T-5 so I can rake
in the speeding tickets ;-), don't feel I need the added ground clearance or
the body cladding... tho I love the seats in the XC, they seem beefier, with
nicer stitching.
"shs" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:08WdnWj1KagP9qjdRVn-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Replaced a 1998 V70 AWD. Amazed at how much better this new car is --
> handling, design, features, and all for just about the same price as six
> years ago. Or perhaps I've become a much better negotiator.
>
> Any others as pleased with their XC70?
>
>

We really love our '04 as well. Two small issues: 1) I find the brightness
of the readouts in the instrument cluster and the screen brightness of the
navigation system to be far too dim in direct, bright sunlight; 2) the
windshield acts like a partially-silvered mirror in the same situation,
reflecting a great deal of the dash. I use polarized sunglasses for the
latter--haven't figured out what to do about the former.

Otherwise, it's been a wonderful car for the first 10,000 miles!

Joel Cook


"shs" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:08WdnWj1KagP9qjdRVn-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Replaced a 1998 V70 AWD. Amazed at how much better this new car is --
> handling, design, features, and all for just about the same price as six
> years ago. Or perhaps I've become a much better negotiator.
>
> Any others as pleased with their XC70?
>
>

"None" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> 2) the
> windshield acts like a partially-silvered mirror in the same situation,
> reflecting a great deal of the dash. I use polarized sunglasses for the
> latter--haven't figured out what to do about the former.

I have the same problem on my '01 V70 XC. The problem with wearing
polarized sunglasses is that the radio display is polarized in such a
way that I have to turn my head sideways to read it if I have my
polarized sunglasses on. Did they fix that on the '04?

--
Pardon my spam deterrent; send email to (E-Mail Removed)
Cheers, Steve Henning in Reading, PA, USA
Owned '67,'68,'71,'74,'79,'81,'87,'93,'95 & '02 Volvos.
The '67,'74,'79,'87,'95 and '02 through European Delivery.
http://home.earthlink.net/~rhodyman/volvo.html

No, the '04 has the same issue and I have to do just as you do.


"Stephen M. Henning" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
newsighash-(E-Mail Removed)...
> "None" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
> > 2) the
> > windshield acts like a partially-silvered mirror in the same situation,
> > reflecting a great deal of the dash. I use polarized sunglasses for the
> > latter--haven't figured out what to do about the former.
>
> I have the same problem on my '01 V70 XC. The problem with wearing
> polarized sunglasses is that the radio display is polarized in such a
> way that I have to turn my head sideways to read it if I have my
> polarized sunglasses on. Did they fix that on the '04?
>
> --
> Pardon my spam deterrent; send email to (E-Mail Removed)
> Cheers, Steve Henning in Reading, PA, USA
> Owned '67,'68,'71,'74,'79,'81,'87,'93,'95 & '02 Volvos.
> The '67,'74,'79,'87,'95 and '02 through European Delivery.
> http://home.earthlink.net/~rhodyman/volvo.html

On Sun, 22 Feb 2004 15:08:27 GMT, "Stephen M. Henning" <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>I have the same problem on my '01 V70 XC. The problem with wearing
>polarized sunglasses is that the radio display is polarized in such a
>way that I have to turn my head sideways to read it if I have my
>polarized sunglasses on. Did they fix that on the '04?

We have a 2003 XC70 (my 4th Volvo) that we put 30,000 miles on the first
year that we had it, and we "love" it!

Regarding seeeing the info in the LEDs (?) for the instruments and the
radio, I could not see it through my sunglasses. I then bought a pair of
driving sunglasses which have lenses that are not as dark at the bottom as
they are at the middle and top of the lenses. I can now see all of the dash
and radio info just fine. The pair I bought are Foster Grants "endorsed by
a NASCAR driver" and sold at WalMart for $14.95 or $19.95, I don't remember
the exact price.

Sandy

"None" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> No, the '04 has the same issue and I have to do just as you do.
>
> "Stephen M. Henning" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> > > windshield acts like a partially-silvered mirror in the same situation,
> > > reflecting a great deal of the dash. I use polarized sunglasses for the
> > > latter--haven't figured out what to do about the former.
> >
> > I have the same problem on my '01 V70 XC. The problem with wearing
> > polarized sunglasses is that the radio display is polarized in such a
> > way that I have to turn my head sideways to read it if I have my
> > polarized sunglasses on. Did they fix that on the '04?

I complained about this issue 3 years ago. Apparently this information
never got back to the engineers. All of the other displays are
polarized in such a way that you can see them with polaroid sunglasses
on without turning your sideways. It seems like it would be easy to fix
this.

--
Pardon my spam deterrent; send email to (E-Mail Removed)
http://home.earthlink.net/~rhodyman

(E-Mail Removed) wrote:

> Regarding seeeing the info in the LEDs (?) for the instruments and the
> radio, I could not see it through my sunglasses. I then bought a pair of
> driving sunglasses which have lenses that are not as dark at the bottom as
> they are at the middle and top of the lenses.

You missed the point. All polaroid sunglasses have a plane of
polarization which is vertical. Light reflecting off a highway or other
horizontal surface is polarized horizontal and the glasses don't pass
it. The digital display on Volvo radios is also polarized horizontal.
If you rotate the glasses 90 degrees you can see it fine. It has nothing
to do with the darkness of polaroid lenses.

The advantage of polaroid lenses is that it selectively eliminates the
reflection off the inside of the windshield if you light colored dash so
that you can see out the windshield.

--
Pardon my spam deterrent; send email to (E-Mail Removed)
Cheers, Steve Henning in Reading, PA, USA
Owned '67,'68,'71,'74,'79,'81,'87,'93,'95 & '02 Volvos.
The '67,'74,'79,'87,'95 and '02 through European Delivery.
http://home.earthlink.net/~rhodyman/volvo.html