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Author Topic: The New Car Saga (and general auto chat)  (Read 158892 times)

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ohhgourami

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Re: The New Car Saga (and general auto chat)
« Reply #1470 on: September 10, 2015, 06:25:40 PM »
My mom's company is looking at financing 2 large European SUVs. I test drove the new Volvo XC90 T6 and the interior is fantastic. Power isn't bad from a stop but struggles to continue picking up speed. I think it's better than an X5 overall for my mom and her business partner. Wondering to preorder the T8 model with more power. Business partner is slightly interested in audio so must be the Q7.
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Prydz

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Re: The New Car Saga (and general auto chat)
« Reply #1471 on: September 10, 2015, 06:51:16 PM »
XC90 got pretty good audio from B&W.
Audi's B&O is so overrated, imo. And Audi itself is garbage. I hate Audi. I'm a BMW guy, born with BMW.
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DaveBSC

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Re: The New Car Saga (and general auto chat)
« Reply #1472 on: September 10, 2015, 09:23:07 PM »
Quote from: ohhgourami on September 10, 2015, 06:25:40 PM
My mom's company is looking at financing 2 large European SUVs. I test drove the new Volvo XC90 T6 and the interior is fantastic. Power isn't bad from a stop but struggles to continue picking up speed. I think it's better than an X5 overall for my mom and her business partner. Wondering to preorder the T8 model with more power. Business partner is slightly interested in audio so must be the Q7.

The top level audio systems in all of the EU luxury trucks are very good. I would strongly advise against buying either the XC90 or the new Q7 though. These are both brand new models. The XC90 in particular is a clean sheet redesign, with all new electronics. That means lease. Especially for business use, there are all kinds of incentives to lease vs. buy. You don't want to pay to be a beta tester.
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ohhgourami

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Re: The New Car Saga (and general auto chat)
« Reply #1473 on: September 10, 2015, 10:18:22 PM »
Ugh no wonder you guys were talking about sound systems. Phone autocorrected "Audi".

Just talking about the cars in general. Though I agree that lease makes more sense, they are leaning on financing with company money though. Sort of works out the same but the reliability factor. Volvo has a good record of being reliable? I see more older Volvos than older BMWs on the street and BMW greatly outsells Volvo.
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Anaxilus

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Re: The New Car Saga (and general auto chat)
« Reply #1474 on: September 10, 2015, 10:28:37 PM »
You can look at the data to determine how reliable Volvo is, but this is a new product from a new Volvo ownership with little to no data.

A key difference is the driver. Volvo drivers tend to be very cautious and put much less stress on their vehicles. They tend to torture their cars with a long slow boring life of servitude. BMW drivers tend to put more stress on their vehicles and push them harder. That said, most modern performance oriented BMWs aren't built to be owned past the warranty period if that. Your best bet at a reliable bimmer would probably be diesel.
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Marvey

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Re: The New Car Saga (and general auto chat)
« Reply #1475 on: September 10, 2015, 10:32:16 PM »
Quote from: ohhgourami on September 10, 2015, 10:18:22 PM
more older Volvo... than older BMWs on the street and BMW greatly outsells Volvo.

Aunts with grey hair drive Volvos. Young douchebags who live in Irvine and want the latest piece of German Engineering get BMWs.* Heck, even the old liberals of The (San Fernando) Valley or Silly-Con Valley still drive their Volvos.


* I actually respect those people who still drive their E46/E39 or earlier BMWs.
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Marvey

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Re: The New Car Saga (and general auto chat)
« Reply #1476 on: September 10, 2015, 10:39:18 PM »
Quote from: evanft on August 21, 2015, 01:36:53 AM
AND WE'RE BACK.

2015 Mustang Ecoboost w/performance package
Looks
Still want to have sex with it.

Interior
Still love the interior.

Drive
Remember everything I complained about with the GT? Yeah, pretty much completely gone. Car feels tighter and more balanced. Torque is available below speeding ticket speeds. Ride quality strikes almost perfect balance for me between stiffness and compliance. Automatic transmission doesn't hold car back. Car doesn't feel as fat/pig-like as before.

This is it.

I need confirmation on the shocks. Did Ford still go with the non-functional shocks on the Mustang? Limits where always high, but I was never a fan of the waterbed handling characteristics of the Mudstains. Might want to go test drive one, but don't want to waste my time.
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Anaxilus

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Re: The New Car Saga (and general auto chat)
« Reply #1477 on: September 10, 2015, 10:45:41 PM »
From Edmunds:

"The (performance) package includes 19-inch wheels, staggered-size summer tires, six-piston front brake calipers, 380 mm rotors, a strut bar, a front splitter, a Torsen differential (not ecoboost apparently) and a 3.73 final drive ratio."

From Car n Driver:

"they’ll come with specific springs, unique bushings, and monotube rear dampers, along with additional engine-cooling capacity, a thicker rear anti-roll bar, a K-brace under the hood to tie the strut towers to the bulkhead, and a center gauge pack. In addition, there are different calibrations for the ABS, stability control, and electric-assisted power steering."

 :-\

When testing performance cars, might pay to also log tire pressures for comparison. I've seen dealers do funny stuff.

Btw, I heard the new flat plane crank V8 the other day on the road. Soooo much better than the videos. OMG, sounded nice, like a pissed off Bull snorting.
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DaveBSC

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Re: The New Car Saga (and general auto chat)
« Reply #1478 on: September 10, 2015, 10:47:07 PM »
Quote from: ohhgourami on September 10, 2015, 10:18:22 PM
Ugh no wonder you guys were talking about sound systems. Phone autocorrected "Audi".

Just talking about the cars in general. Though I agree that lease makes more sense, they are leaning on financing with company money though. Sort of works out the same but the reliability factor. Volvo has a good record of being reliable? I see more older Volvos than older BMWs on the street and BMW greatly outsells Volvo.

Ah, gotcha. The short answer is no, once Volvo went FWD, their cars stopped being reliable. Aside from a few specific failures like upper engine mounts, Volvos tend to have the same sorts of problems as other EU cars once they get beyond the warranty period: eating through every soft bit of the suspension (sway bar end links, strut mounts, etc) as well as ABS control module failures, transmission problems, and various electrical nightmares.

A Volvo should be considered basically the same as an Audi, BMW, or Mercedes in terms of long term reliability and durability. The same sorts of stuff goes wrong, and you'll pay basically the same prices at the Volvo parts counter.

If it's going to be a 5 year purchase, I wouldn't worry too much about it. If it's going to be a 10+ year purchase, buy a Lexus GX460. It's an ugly box with a "what decade is this again?" interior, but it's basically unkillable.
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ohhgourami

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Re: The New Car Saga (and general auto chat)
« Reply #1479 on: September 10, 2015, 11:08:43 PM »
My mom wouldn't push the car hard at all. Overall, I was very impressed by the interior on the XC90. Also looks very good from the outside.

Is MPGe almost directly comparable to MPG? I can't find a straight answer online but from what I understand it seems so. Not sure how the XC90 T8 can be twice as efficient with the electric motor compared to the combustion only T6 (59 MPGe vs ~24 MPG).
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