[StopUnderrides]

Originally Posted by psispace

It definitely isn't fool proof. One of my drivers pressed the accelerator in panic when it auto braked and he ended up nudging the car in front of him

This is by design. It has only Level 2 automation. Meaning the human driver's inputs override all ADAS commands. The human always can take back control. When your driver panicked and pressed the accelerator he overrode the auto brake.

[V.Narayan]

The Brown Mare completed 88,888 kms yesterday. So I stopped and clicked. The Chinese would consider it a very auspicious number. And coincidentally it turned out to be a very fortuitous day for my organization and me The car's doing Delhi-Uttrakhand, Delhi-Mathura trips quite often these days and I expect the 10th service at the 90,000 kms mark should be due in end December or so. Delhi-NCRs 10-year diesel rule is a real pity with this marvellous locomotive. She is such a sweetheart on highways. I typically cruise at 70 to 80 kmph. But when I need to overtake all of 200 horsepower is on tap to just go accelerate full of torque and a throbbing engine beat.

[V.Narayan]

The Brown Mare will be going, tomorrow, for her 10th service at 90,000 kms tomorrow. In three weeks she will be 8 years old. But for the pandemic she would have crossed 100,000 kms by now. I'll be putting up a post with photos on the service. I plan to keep her for one more year and move her out of Delhi-NCR, but in my control, to Raipur, CH or Panvel, MH so she can continue serving for several more years and stay far away from Delhi's irrational 10-year diesel ban. At either of these two locations her running is likely to be around 20,000 kms a year.

[Sanidhya mukund]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

The Brown Mare will be going, tomorrow, for her 10th service at 90,000 kms tomorrow. In three weeks she will be 8 years old. But for the pandemic she would have crossed 100,000 kms by now. I'll be putting up a post with photos on the service. I plan to keep her for one more year and move her out of Delhi-NCR, but in my control, to Raipur, CH or Panvel, MH so she can continue serving for several more years and stay far away from Delhi's irrational 10-year diesel ban. At either of these two locations her running is likely to be around 20,000 kms a year.

As someone who has used a Volvo for so many years and miles, would you suggest a Volvo to someone who frequently travels to rural areas with little to no service support? More specifically, do you think an XC40 will be a good travel companion to travel to Bihar, Odisha, West Bengal etc. from Delhi? Do you think they will be able to provide roadside assistance and service support incase something goes wrong?

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by Sanidhya mukund

As someone who has used a Volvo for so many years and miles, would you suggest a Volvo to someone who frequently travels to rural areas with little to no service support? More specifically, do you think an XC40 will be a good travel companion to travel to Bihar, Odisha, West Bengal etc. from Delhi? Do you think they will be able to provide roadside assistance and service support incase something goes wrong?

Two views here - one view is that you stay within towable range of a service centre. The second view is that unless you drive over rocky ground that damages the underside you are not likely to face any stoppage. I drive often to the hills in Uttrakhand including rural roads which are 300+ kms away from the closest Volvo service centre. So far all has been well. Thus far except once I have not had a road side 'assistance needed' event and even in that (timer belt, I think) Volvo diagnosed the problem while the engine was kept running and advised my driver to slowly drive off to the workshop 20 kms away and all ended well.

[V.Narayan]

10th Service :: 90,000 kms :: 8 years :: Costs are beginning to tell

Two weeks ago the Brown Mare completed her 10th service. Total cost Rs 226,000 including taxes. Next week she will complete 8 years with an average of 940 kms a month. Normally by now she would have crossed 100,000 kms but for the slowdown imposed by the various lockdowns.

This time my two big expenditures were 3 shock absorbers of ~Rs 87,000 including labour & taxes and the exhaust gas recovery valve costing ~Rs 76,000 including labour & taxes. Two of these 3 shockers were changed 3 years ago so I'm a wee bit scratchy that they needed changing again. But after some argument let it go. Other than these the costs were the routine servicing, wheel balancing, polishing, fluid changes and minor part replacements. I like to go for the maximum work rather than the minimum work possible. This I believe rightly or wrongly, helps keep the car in the best possible mechanical trim as well as looking and driving its best. It also means I spend somewhat more on upkeep than some others might.

Total cost of maintenance, spares & upgrades so far is Rs 903,000/- over 90,000 odd kms or Rs 10.03 per kms. This does not include the Rs 48,000 invested on the polestar upgrade to add more zest and smoothness to the driving experience. In terms of time this works out to a little over Rs 9200 a month. The big items in here are – all four brakes twice, tyres once, battery twice, drivers side ORVM, transmission oil, polestar upgrade, replacement of the alternator, replacement of 3 shock absorbers and a new exhaust gas recovery valve. For a car at this price point I believe this is reasonable and probably a lot less than a German luxury vehicle.

The car continues to serve the family and me very well. Touchwood.


Showing off after a polish job


The part marked needed changing on one door. It controls the 3-step door opening mechanism. It could easily have continued till the next service but I prefer keeping her in top trim.


The leather has remained ship-shape except for the drivers seat


Harness to separate the passenger compartment from the baggage compartment. Actually we haven't used it often.


Both the side vents needed fixing as they had got loose.


I am understandably proud of this car and the way she has aged gracefully

What I love:

Easy to maintain and very reliable
Excellent A.S.S.
Maintenance costs are reasonable for a car at this price point. Total cost of maintenance including a tyre change is around 18% of the original purchase price or 2.25% a year.
Torque, muted growl, high ground clearance, 4WD
Interiors have aged very well even by my own fussy expectations
Parts have always been available on time
Drives well on bad roads

What I don't like:

Too many buttons placed in an unergonomic manner
Hard suspension like a typical European car
I wish the rear doors opened a full 90 degrees to ease ingress and egress. This is a wish I have for all cars.
Navigation system from the Paleolithic age.

If you want a reliable understated luxury car without your neighbours knowing it then this is the car for you.

[GTO]

Your XC60 looks fabulous, V.Narayan! And is on our homepage today .

Agreed with your approach. These cars perform best when kept in top shape & you are clearly maintaining it meticulously. But I would suggest considering a very good independent garage. They will cost you 1/3rd that of the Volvo dealer, and there are many good ones in North India. Personally, once my Euro cars cross the 5 - 6 year mark, they are sent to indie garages.

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

Total cost of maintenance, spares & upgrades so far is Rs 903,000/- over 90,000 odd kms or Rs 10.03 per kms. This does not include the Rs 48,000 invested on the polestar upgrade to add more zest and smoothness to the driving experience. In terms of time this works out to a little over Rs 9200 a month.

One way or the other, all of these luxury cars end up costing between 1 - 1.5 lakhs a year (averaged) in long-term ownership....it's the same with your Volvo.

Happy Driving & wishing you + your Volvo a fabulous 2023 .

[psispace]

Wow ! 90,000 already. Nice mileage considering you have a multicar garage and Covid not withstanding.

I just crossed 96,000 yesterday.

Its very appreciable how you have maintained her in near showroom condition.

Wish you many more happy miles

[M.Dua]

Love your passion for the car and your attitude to keep it in top shape. I touched 95000 kms on my S60 yesterday (also 8yo).

What are your plans for the car considering you like me are also from Delhi NCR, has the 10 year rule started bothering you. Every time i drive my S60 I feel there is no damn way this car can not do another 10 years with me, it still drives like Day 1 and always passes the PUC test but we cant not do much about it.

I am waiting for the 100000 mark and then with heavy heart make a forced move to sell the car. Have you thought of any other brand or car to match the long term ownership experience with that of a Volvo.

Thanks.

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by M.Dua

Love your passion for the car and your attitude to keep it in top shape. I touched 95000 kms on my S60 yesterday (also 8yo).

Congratulations Please share photos.

What are your plans for the car considering you like me are also from Delhi NCR, has the 10 year rule started bothering you.

Please see my private message

Every time i drive my S60 I feel there is no damn way this car can not do another 10 years with me, it still drives like Day 1 and always passes the PUC test but we cant not do much about it.

You bet. The car drives like new literally. This is the way Mercedes cars were built till the early 1990s.

I am waiting for the 100000 mark and then with heavy heart make a forced move to sell the car. Have you thought of any other brand or car to match the long term ownership experience with that of a Volvo.

I plan to stick to Volvo and Lexus as my two preferred brands as engineering reliability, interiors that age gracefully and great A.S.S. are very high on my priority list. I've done a lot of homework with MB and JLR and some with Audi and a little bit with BMW and have come to the conclusion that for me Lexus and Volvo will work best.

[DicKy]

When I read the NGT comments, had to have a second look and realised that the heading of the thread said it was 8 years old!!!

Brown Mare is in such mint condition that it hurts to know it will be illegal to ply in NCR, which undoubtedly has crisp air thanks to the NGT.

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

Too many buttons placed in an unergonomic manner

I am sure you must mean the swarm of buttons in the centre console, but the fifth picture speaks volumes about the ergonomic issues. Pretty sure most would have opened the boot or fuel lid by mistake.

[vjbox]

Incredible maintenance and it inspires us Volvo owners to better the upkeep. I am at the 60K mark with my V40 CC and it has been largely fuzz free. The service support has been mostly good too except for the change of dealership due to Covid. Since the new dealer here in Chennai retained the older team, I continue to have the rapport for service/ repairs or when I need a general check up done prior to a long trip at a shorter notice. They usually accommodate that.

It is honestly very hard to look for another brand having used to a Volvo and I still have my reservations on how our soon to be new car, the Kodiaq would fair, fingers crossed.

[Air_Kerala]

Narayan Sir, every time I get a notification that a new post has been added to this thread, I start off reading the new post and then scroll back and eventually start reading it from the beginning. This is like reading Jeffrey Archer’s Kane and Abel, I have read it at least four times, I know exactly how it pans out but I still read, because attention to detail, the prose and the love. Wishing you and your majestic Brown Mare many many more kilometres of adventure. Peace

[M.Dua]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

Congratulations Please share photos.

Sir, here are some of the photos of my beloved. Have read your PM on your plans

Sir - would you want to throw some light on why Volvo and Lexus over Merc, BMW & Audi? Is it to do with reliability? I believe maintenance would not be the reason for you as you maintain your cars in top notch condition.

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by M.Dua

would you want to throw some light on why Volvo and Lexus over Merc, BMW & Audi? Is it to do with reliability? I believe maintenance would not be the reason for you as you maintain your cars in top notch condition.

For me a half crore investment is a lot. Till then the most I'd spent on a car was about Rs 22 L on a Superb. So like many others I did my homework just like we would if buying a flat or equity stock of the same amount. You may find this some where in the first post of this thread - I spoke to a few existing customers of Volvo cars on service, reliability etc plus I also met with the then Managing Director of Volvo India and he gave me a test car to keep for a week or so and drive it on my regular routes. My senior employees had bought Audi's and Mercedes Benz's and their experiences over a few years of callous and dishonest A.S.S. was enough to turn me off both brands. Many in my social circle owned Mercs and only one of many had a nice thing to say about reliability, attitude of A.S.S. and he was related to the local dealer T&T Motors!! BMW I didn't want because of no stepney policy of theirs. Also I knew that Volvo had top quality engineering standards that MB were once famous for. So Volvo won.