Volvo C70 Convertible test drive...

Yesterday I went to my local Volvo dealer (UK) and asked to see a C70
Convertible. Luckily they had a demo one available. It was 53 plate 2.4T
auto with the 17" Propus alloys and the light leather inertia. Before
yesterday I was quite impressed with the pictures I had seen and was eager
to see one in the flesh. Other than being blue and wrong colour inside it
was the one I wanted!

We had a look round and before I had even sat in it the sales bloke
mentioned Scuttle Shake. Now being a nooby with convertibles I looked
suitably blank and he explained that all convertibles suffer from some
shaking in the steering wheel and window screen due to the lack of a roof!
I though nothing more of it and we got to the boot. As he opened it I
nearly fell over. For a car this size the boot was tiny. I made that
remark and got "well the roof got 'a go somewhere!" from the sales bloke.
He is losing me by now and only the test drive can rescue the situaition.

Finally after some paper work we went for a drive. We had the roof down
initially, but it started to rain so up it went. The "scuttle shake" was
bad and did not improve with the roof up. The steering wheel shook in my
hands and after about 2 minutes was quite annoying. I then stopped at a
round-about and when a gap appear I pressed the accelerator. Nothing
happened, so I pushed it a bit more and the car lurched forward. Initially
I thought the sports mode must be on, but a quick mention to the sale bloke
confirmed it was not! So I am thinking manual gear box is the way to go
then. At set of lights I looked in the rear view mirror and got my next
shock. The visibility is diabolical. All I could see of a Fiesta that was
following was it' roof!!!! The lowered suspension might improve this but I
doubt it! I would not want to parallel park one of these things.

So we get back to the show room and sale bloke say's "So...". I highlighted
a positive and then mentioned the observations I had made. He took on the
appearance of a man who you just told his girlfriend is a minger! I said I
had a few other cars to look at and he asked when he should ring me "Should
I ring you in one, two weeks...never..?" I said "probably never would be
good for me". We shook hands and I left.

It's a nice car when it's stationary, looks good on the move as long as your
not the poor bloke driving the blood thing!

2 out of 10

--
Christopher Povey.