Have Volvo vehicles improved since being bought by Ford?Rating 1 to 6. (1 - Yes, 6 - No)

[monkeh]

Originally Posted by CTCNetwork

Can you say the same of their cars today?
New computerised systems, and methodologies for wiring cars have been introduced as much to reduce the cost of the car (copper is very expensive) as to improve it..
It leads to a number of problems with loom failures and wiring problems..
Any number of times I have been behind cars where as soon as the indicator and brakes are on the car throws a wobbly or the lights are not working correctly..

Take the Citroen C2 for example, put an aftermarket stereo in and the thing goes into 'limp-home' mode!!
As what was said, theyre only designed to last 5 years tops... cant remember who told me that though.

[tewboss]

As I'm new to Volvo I really can't comment on whether there has been a slide in quality, at the expense of a larger market share.

What I will say, similar to the Citroen comment, is that Volvo are not alone in that regards. I'm only had two cars in my 10 years of ownership which have both been VW. My current car will be lucky to reach the 100k mark, where as my first reached 134k before I sold it (obviously just at the breaking in point for Volvo).

[Greyhound1]

Greets peeps...

Over the years I've had a fair few 2, 7 & 9 series estates and never really had problems with any of them. That is except my last 740SE manual. I got rid of it a short while ago with nearly 400,000 on the clock (original untouched by mechanic engine and still no smoke at all) but she had to go because of a rather large hole in the floor which was hidden by underseal etc. It was a Belgian built car. I was led to believe they were built better than the Swedish equivalent but there you go.

I had a 940 2.3GLE lpt auto ('96), full leather, sunroof, air con which was very nice and I sold it to a friend who loves it to pieces. Solid as a rock and to quote someone else, 'like driving a big armchair'. Air con is now kaput but friend doesn't care about that because it's always been autoglymed and looks a picture.

My current beast is a Swedish built '97 940 Classic 2.3 manual lpt with even better spec than the GLE and is the fastest lpt I've ever driven, manual or auto. I haven't a clue why that should be unless someone tweaked the turbo b4 I got it. Having said that, the previous owner had it from new and was a family man. It has full leather, cruise, climate control, sunroof, power seats and many more little things that were not on the GLE.

There is a down side. I've always felt that the older cars had a more solid feel to them (apart from the bitch with the hole in the floor!) and I'm still not sure if it's real or imaginary.

Finally, (almost) I scrapped a 740GL last week (D reg) who's only crime was to have a dying auto box. She had been languishing in a lock up for nearly 5 years and I just used it for spares. 3 of the 4 tyres were still inflated. I had to remove front & rear bumpers & remove the garage door guides to get her in. When we dragged her out of the lockup I had a good look around the bodywork and underneath. Not a spot of rust was evident anywhere. The engine was a goodun and I'm convinced a new gearbox would have put her back on the road and given many more years of service. To this day I maintain she felt more solid than any 7 or 9 series I've driven since. The '89 7 series I replaced her with felt like a lightweight by comparison.

Would I buy another Volvo? Don't know is the answer to that. I see lots of 850's with bits falling off and rust everywhere. A series 1 V70 might be an option but it doesn't quite have the same interior space as my 940. I also much prefer rear wheel drive. I'm also wondering if (despite what they say) safety is as good as it was. Recently I've seen several reports of accidents involving 'Ford Volvos', where the occupants have died. Is this just coincidence or pure bad luck? It does make me wonder if things are as they were in the past. If the occupants die in a head on with a Modeo and the Modeo occupants are relatively ok, what has happened to the safest cars in the world?

Happy motoring...

[BillB]

Look, a 740/ 760/ 940 is a shed on wheels. A nice old shed but still a shed. I've got an '89 745GLE, owned it for 14 years. Never had to touch the fuel injection, NEVER (well, the relay of course, but that's electrical). Superb car. Easy to work on. Pushing 195k. I love it. BUT, 24mpg is yesterday's consumption. Serious body roll (yes, I know I can put stiffer shocks on it, but that's not the point, is it). No emission control - you can't really have that now, you just can't. So it's a great shed and, oh yeah, a REAL Volvo.

I bet the V70 body lasts longer. And which one do you fancy in a head-on? Are you sure? Regards.

[telmo]

Originally Posted by BillB

I bet the V70 body lasts longer. And which one do you fancy in a head-on? Are you sure? Regards.

Simply putting V70 or a 740 with a 10000quid bag aside, I prefer the 740.

[CTCNetwork]

Hi,

The newer Volvos crumple. The older beasts crumple a little bit, but otherwise crush most items in their path.
The 740 and 940 maintain a rigid and secure passenger cell too.

So if coming up to a head-on meet, I too would prefer to be in the 740, or my 940..

Des. . .

[TangoDeltaSierra3]

I think its safe to say that Fords have improved, and that was the reason Volvo was bought by Ford group, to gain access too better technology and buy the Volvo idea.

[Jim760]

and basicly gut volvo of everything it was worth..
so whats left? not alot really.

[STUpid]

F-O-R-D Fix Or Repair Daily!!!!! Need I say any more?? New fords/volvos look really nice but it should stop there! Let Ford do the asthetics and leave volvo to everything else inc building them! I dread the day my 760 dies will only consider another 7 / 9 series! Oh and as I have mentioned in another reply, if I were unlucky enough to be in a head on i know what i would rather be in and she is sitting outside my house now!!!!!!!

[Clan]

Originally Posted by gizz'y

I don't think that there was anything wrong with the Volvo range before Ford took ownership. The last of the true Volvo's was the 900 series as far as I know. The only Ford components on the latest range is the chassis every thing is Volvo, so gone are the days of robustness, and good old ruggedness. My 760 turbo saloon litteraly fell of the back of a recovery truck whilst being deliverd to my local specialist after the throttle cable broke and only sufferd minimul damadge to a susspension arm. My mechanic said he would be very surprised if a Ford chassied Volvo would escape with as little damage as my true Volvo.

Regarding Ford , the Fords are getting better due to Volvo's influence, they are all put through the volvo safety centre now , whilst volvos are being hit by fords penny pinching ... so kind of meeting in the middle somewhere .
regarding the S 40/V50/C70 ...
Only the floor pan and suspension is focus the rest of the body shell is pure volvo and far superior to the focus with 4 or more grades of high strength and Boron steel , ( you will see for the first time FORD using boron steel on the new mondeo, Volvo were 10 years ahead ) have a look under a new focus at the rear for example and compare it to a S40 / V 50 ... there is a massive HSS beam and double box section across the volvo , this is strong enough to mount the towbar to .. look at the focus .... NOTHING just the end of the floor pan and a token of a bar going across the back ...
The S40/V50 range has many components with Fo Mo Co stamped on them most of the interior components , electrical components , also an increasing number of the parts are made in Poland , eg the upholstery and wiring ..
The C70 is a very heavy car the same weight as a V70 its very strong and has massive sills and sections around the rear seats a big improvment on the old 850 based convertible . The doors must weigh 40 kg each ...

The 2000- V70 changed in 2005 , FORDs influence started then by removing one of the two bonnet gas struts , and even reducing a lot of the bolt sizes to save a penny here and there and a lot of the well tried volvo quality plugs and sockets were replaced with troublesome FORD ones .The seat frames were redesigned by FORD creating new problems , creaking seats ! Even the wash pumps were changed to FORD reversable pumps so one pump can do front and rear screens , far more trouble than the old VDO pumps pre 2004 ..the headlamps changed too which meant that to change the headlamp bulbs you would need finger 6 inches long ,and even longer time than the 36 minutes specified to change 2 headlamp bulbs , it is easier to remove the air filter housing and the ECU box .. The headlamps at that time gained plastic lenses , what will these be like in 10 years time let alone 20 years .. The XC90 ones are already blooming ..The modules were simplified and a new CEM introduced which was prone to water ingress due to FORDs meddling ...

Regarding the 700 , do you remember the volvo advert where one drove off a quayside and landed nose down on the dry dock? It did crumple somewhat !

To sum up volvos were still volvos up until the end of the 2004 model year .. with the demise of the S 60 in a year or so they Will be far less Volvo than they used to be .... no more galvanised subframes , no more plated bolts , ( you can undo a suspension bolt on a 20 year old 700 and it is still like new , on a one year old V50 its already rusty ) no more painted drive shafts ( look at a V50 , rusty ! ) No more painted suspension castings , no more glass lights , no more everlasting upholstery , and lots more creaky ford seats ! The Paint laquer was dropped from under the bonnet some time ago , how long before there is no paint anywhere except where you can see it ala Citroen for example ..?


For me volvo's peak quality was around the end of the 1980's ..where money didnt seem to be any object to getting quality right .. now quality is compromised due to costs ... much like everyone else ... It would cost £50000 to build a 240 to the same quality these days