Me with a big paddle... a spoon is too small

[100K+]

Today, while washing the 2004 V70 I noticed again the sticker on the car door jamb about the air bags fitted to my car and how certain components needed servicing or replacing by Jan 2014. I then read an article that stated that Volvo was telling owners that the system performed a self check each time the vehicle started, and so the system could be said to "last the lifetime of the car"
That statement made me smile...as straight away I can think of a couple of components that Volvo claim are "last the life time of the car but experience has shown that not to be so...
auto box fluid
various oils ie haldex, rear diff, bevel gear
haldex filter..
the list perhaps goes on..

So fingers crossed that
a) I never need to find out if the SRS system will last the lifetime of the car
b) But if I do need to find out, it actually will last the life time of the car..

Cheers

Bob

[OV4]

Think you’re right there

Originally Posted by 100K+

That statement made me smile...as straight away I can think of a couple of components that Volvo claim are "last the life time of the car but experience has shown that not to be so...
auto box fluid
various oils ie haldex, rear diff, bevel gear
haldex filter..
the list perhaps goes on..

Never understood why automatic gearbox oil is said to last the life of the car...unless you don’t want that life to be as long as it could be!

[SwissXC90]

Originally Posted by OV4

Never understood why automatic gearbox oil is said to last the life of the car...

But a dead gearbox is a dead car!

Don't change the oil
Gear box dies
Car dies
Oil has thus lasted the life of the car...
Volvo's promise was fulfilled

It's just logic....

[100K+]

Originally Posted by SwissXC90

But a dead gearbox is a dead car!

Don't change the oil
Gear box dies
Car dies
Oil has thus lasted the life of the car...
Volvo's promise was fulfilled

It's just logic....

By that logic ( and excuse my dark sense of humour ) when the air bags go off in many instances with old cars the cars dead too. As the cost of repair outweighs the cars value...
Volvo's promise is 0.01 seconds shy of the life of the car..

(Sorry but I've had a strange sort of week)

Cheers
Bob

[Dippydog]

Depends really how you read "lifetime of the vehicle" manufacturers -although the didn't go out of their way to advertise it-used to reckon a vehicles lifetime as 10yrs.Gearbox/diff oils etc are basically in constant use in a very harsh environment and as everyone knows will over time lose their efficacy and should be renewed.Airbags on the other hand are more of a one shot single use item and therefore should[in theory]outlive the vehicle.Manufacturers have to cover their backs in respect of claims arising from non operation of such devices hence a "sell by" date.

[Marty Dolomite]

I remember Volvo once saying the expected life is eight years with the airbags etc when it was a new thing on the market no one really knew what was going to happen to the nags after a few years but they (car manufacturers in general) have decided that Airbags will last forever.
there was a bulletin about if a few years ago going into the fine details of why they don't need changing.

[blueblock]

This is quite an interesting article on the subject https://www.edmunds.com/car-safety/d...gs-expire.html

tl;dr most are fine, some older ones (25+) may get slow.

[OV4]

Originally Posted by SwissXC90

But a dead gearbox is a dead car!

Don't change the oil
Gear box dies
Car dies
Oil has thus lasted the life of the car...
Volvo's promise was fulfilled

It's just logic....

That was my point ‘Life’ doesn’t mean the same thing to everyone.

A manufacturer might not worry if no oil changes and a dead gearbox at 150,000 miles ‘killed’ the car because it was uneconomic to repair; but owners like me might be happier to change the oil and extend the serviceable life of the car to 300,000 miles or so. My Saab has 176,000 miles and as far as I’m concerned it’s only middle-aged; but I could believe that Saab (if they still existed) would think it’s high time for me to buy a new one

[green van man]

Manufactures life of car, + 1 minuit of warranty.

Colin Chapman of lotus fame always said if the car falls apart a foot past the finish line it's fulfilled it's perpous. While lotus were fun to drive they were a high maintenance vehicle and more than one self ignited. As one owner said to me, " my Webber's were molten pools running down the gutter as I cried."

Paul.