V50 General : Bad brakes, electrical gremlins, poor dealers

[guy-taliesin]

So it's out of the frying pan (Saab) and into the fire!
I thought my 9-5 was bad enough, but reading the postings on this site... Should have looked here before.
First proper long drive in our brand new 2 litre petrol yesterday and I was really impressed. Goes really well even with 150 miles on clock.
Stupid key - do you really have to use a plastic key ring? Ridiculous door 'pockets' - what can you put in those?
What's the weird bag holder thing about in the boot - why not just a couple of straps on the side of the luggage compartment?
I forgive all those, great car to drive on our twisty roads, fuel economy 33-34, just over 70 at 3k revs. S spec means 16 inch wheels with fatter tyres which give bit softer ride, but roadholding still brilliant, over bigger wheels. Beige interior trim brightens up the interior over the schoolboy grey flannel.
Iffy electrics and handbrake failiure sound much more worrying though - anyone any idea on percentages?
And finally, does anyone know of a good qualified independent in/near mid Wales?

[tigerbalm]

But on my new S40 D5 my brakes are fine, everything electrical (including the superb premium audio system) works fine and my dealer in Dublin is fantastic !

Has any of these things happened to your car yet?

Remember, that issues will arise with cars and forums like this are brilliant for people to bounce there problems off each other to get opinions. It can give a bleaker picture of a cars reliability than there really is.

-- tigerbalm

[Marmoset]

Not had any electrical gremlins or brake issues on mine in 2 years and mine's a reasonably early car.

With regards to independant dealers, I've found the one's around here (chester) are only about £20-£30 cheaper on servicing than the main dealers - I think it's as the car is still relatively new to them.


Rich

[AdrianD]

As one of the people complaining of electrical problems I'd accept that the V50 has some problems. However, as pointed out above, you do get an artificially depressing view of the car from the discussions here.

I'm prepared to cut Volvo some slack - my experience is that the dealers haven't quibbled about fixing the problems, and let's face it, some issues can be expected to still arise with a (fairly) new design.

I think the V50's still a great car, despite the issues I've had. I'd rather rely on Volvo to iron out these issues than buy a much older design from another manufacturer (A4...??? zzzzzzzzz.....) in the hope of the nirvana of hassle-free ownership.

[Alec Dawe]

Originally Posted by guy-taliesin

So it's out of the frying pan (Saab) and into the fire!
I thought my 9-5 was bad enough, but reading the postings on this site... Stupid key - do you really have to use a plastic key ring? Ridiculous door 'pockets' - what can you put in those?
What's the weird bag holder thing about in the boot - why not just a couple of straps on the side of the luggage compartment?
I forgive all those, great car to drive on our twisty roads, fuel economy 33-34, just over 70 at 3k revs. S spec means 16 inch wheels with fatter tyres which give bit softer ride, but roadholding still brilliant, over bigger wheels. Beige interior trim brightens up the interior over the schoolboy grey flannel.
Iffy electrics and handbrake failiure sound much more worrying though - anyone any idea on percentages?
And finally, does anyone know of a good qualified independent in/near mid Wales?

Not had any electrical problems yet in 31,000 miles, brakes noisy in wet sometimes, and prone to getting mud in them on grotty country roads, but still WORK fine, and noise vanished in a few miles.
2.0D average copnsumption in the high 40's. can get it to 50+ if featherfooting on long motorway, but that's stupifyingly boring!
Silly bag holder is a gimmic
NO you don't have to use a plastic keyring. Mind came from the dealer with a metal one, and metal Volvo tag.