1st annual service - report
 

My xc60 has just had its first annual service (under the 3 years servicing for £300 arrangement).

The first point is that I get a free renewal of Volvo Recovery. An interesting point is that I got an invitation through the post from Volvo a few weeks ago to renew for a price, which I refused. This possibility of charging a customer for something unnecessarily looks like a case of volvo not being entirely joined up in its customer service.

Before accepting the car from me, the dealer was careful to make sure I understood that any private changes to the software could be lost as a result of software updates. He was a bit vague when questioned about this, but I got the impression that a potential problem area is unofficial engine remaps. Not a problem for me.

The dealer was very keen that I should feel entirely happy with the service. Fair enough. I expect I will receive a customer satisfaction survey in the near future.

On the defects side, the power tailgate actuator had started to make a creaking sound. Apparently this is a known technical issue (load spring rubbing on the inside of the casing) with a defined solution. It seems ok now.

The service checklist caters for years 1 - 13. Most items are annual and some mostly AWD related are every two years. It seems timing belts and related items come under scrutiny every 10 years.

The next question is going to be whether the mpg has changed as a result of the service.

Examples of what can be lost are all of your POIs that you have recorded in the satnav system, seat settings, mirror setting, etc.

It is good that they have learned from the lessons of the past when they have wiped out the settings for previous customers - me included :(

You'd think it would be trivial to add a menu option to save all your custom settings to a USB stick. Setting which could be reloaded in the event of a dealer reset, or even for use in a courtesy car... :nah:

Bootnote: I should patent that, just in case Volvo are reading this forum ;)

I started to post here but decided it merited a new thread:

http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showth...75#post1128075

If you are referring to the creaking tailgate, I did report that beforehand.

I can think of three problems with that idea.

Firstly, it assumes customers are technically savvy. That would make the marketing people nervous.

Secondly is the question of whether settings would actually be transferable between versions. As a one time software developer, I can say it is surprisingly easy to create incompatibility. Then making settings transferable can be a major effort.

Thirdly, following the question of software reliability is the question of user reliability. What if you try to update the settings after you have already changed something, or try to update with the wrong saved settings, etc, etc...

I think it is a sensible idea, but tricky to implement.

No it is a general question, which is why I took it out of this thread.

Interesting. I have my first annual service booked next week. My car is leased so I did not have the opportunity to get the 3 years/£300 offer (retail only, apparently), and so far, I have not seen anything about renewing my Recovery Subscription.

I have my doubts whether I will get a free renewal, but I will let you all know.

I have had it for the past 2 years and as far as I can see ffrom the documentation this comes because Volvo did the service, not because I had any special deal - though I am on the 3 year free servicing offer :)

It seems that even private lease guys get the free breakdown cover as a result of having an official volvo service. :thumbs_up: