The best cars were built between 2000 and 2010. Pretty much the pinnacle of the internal combustion engine without all the millions of lines of buggy code that apparently no longer allow you to open your car freely.
In ~2005 I worked with a world-renowned expert on industrial automation and computer control of machines. He drove a 1989 Mercedes 300 sedan with a manual transmission, which he claimed was the last car made with no software in it at all. These two facts are not un-related.
Unsafe and Unpredictable: My Volvo EX90 Experience
251–260 of 436 posts
Re: Unsafe and Unpredictable: My Volvo EX90 Experience
#252Volvo sadly no longer stands for Swedish quality and safety. What you’re buying is essentially an overpriced Chinese car with Volvo stickers. And I’m saying this as a Swede. Buy German cars, specifically within the Volkswagen auto group (Audi, VW, Skoda etc) if you want reliable quality.
Re: Unsafe and Unpredictable: My Volvo EX90 Experience
#253Earlier quoted context omitted.
> the environmental cost of producing a new electric car is WAY greater than the petrol I’m burning. The environmental cost of producing an electric car happens once. But driving a car is an ongoing environmental insult. This is an apples/oranges comparison unless you integrate the driving damage over time. This analysis suggests EVs are overall a win for the environment after 5 years of ownership, assuming your elec…
Ive driven 5000 miles since I bought the car as a panic purchase at the start of lockdown. So according to that article it’d take 13.5 years of driving an electric car to pay it back. You let me know an electric car that lasts 13.5 years and I’ll head on down to the dealership. Otherwise I will wait out the remaining 8.5 years as best I can
Re: Unsafe and Unpredictable: My Volvo EX90 Experience
#254Earlier quoted context omitted.
The Polestar 2/EX40 probably have the most mature software of that lineup. Not without issues (and certainly underpowered pre-‘24), but relatively stable by comparison. I don’t understand the logic of having each Polestar model running a unique software stack rather than progressively improving one system across all models - but must be a downstream impact of the fractured Geely badges.
Also the Volvo C40 (same platform). I've been driving it since January and other than the software being slow to start up when it goes into sleep mode, it's been stable. They did recently issue a software recall for the backup camera, so now when the backup camera crashes it goes into 360 camera mode instead of just a black screen. Overall I'm happy with this car though and would recommend it.
Re: Unsafe and Unpredictable: My Volvo EX90 Experience
#255Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'd guess Rivian SW is good, because Volkswagen's SW got so bad they hired Rivian to rewrite it for them. (That contract is the only thing keeping Rivian afloat right now.)
Rivian software is pretty meh. I've never had a safety critical failure while driving, but have had multiple other issues including being trapped in the car unable to exit until after a reboot. Worse -- rivian has no mechanism for reporting software issues. If you don't want a service appointment (which is available in 3 months!) then don't bother reporting it.
Re: Unsafe and Unpredictable: My Volvo EX90 Experience
#256Earlier quoted context omitted.
Mazdas too. I find Toyota's suspensions and driving dynamics terrible. Mazda represents a perfect combination of good Japanese reliability and good handling dynamics. I also like that they still offer a proper automatic transmission in their cars (as opposed to the CVT epidemic in other makes), as well as naturally aspirated engine options (whereas many other makes only offer turbos now). The days of their collaborat…
Yessss. Happy to hear this. A Miata has been on the wishlist for a while now.
Re: Unsafe and Unpredictable: My Volvo EX90 Experience
#257Earlier quoted context omitted.
> the environmental cost of producing a new electric car is WAY greater than the petrol I’m burning. The environmental cost of producing an electric car happens once. But driving a car is an ongoing environmental insult. This is an apples/oranges comparison unless you integrate the driving damage over time. This analysis suggests EVs are overall a win for the environment after 5 years of ownership, assuming your elec…
Ive driven 5000 miles since I bought the car as a panic purchase at the start of lockdown. So according to that article it’d take 13.5 years of driving an electric car to pay it back. You let me know an electric car that lasts 13.5 years and I’ll head on down to the dealership. Otherwise I will wait out the remaining 8.5 years as best I can
Re: Unsafe and Unpredictable: My Volvo EX90 Experience
#258Earlier quoted context omitted.
>German companies don't seem to understand the growing importance of software VWAG is now on attempt number two of fixing their Software problems. They tried Cariad, the result was your experience. The next attempt is giving billions to Rivian. If you believe that these companies do not understand how important software is you are totally delusional. Literally Billions worth of money have they spent trying to fix tha…
Sure - they get the trouble reports. But it's almost as if all the critical decision makers don't drive their own cars in real-life scenarios (drive more expensive cars? Have chaffeurs?) and don't understand how much BETTER it is to have a specific button/dial for "fan speed" and a separate one for temperature, instead of trying to control it via a touchscreen that has 100+ different screens it could be displaying wh…
And because all critical people hate physical buttons VWAG all new models and even concept cars now come with physical buttons on the steering wheel and dedicated climate controls outside of the touchscreen? Very weird things going on, where the things which are developed are the exact opposite of what you say the critical decision makers want.
Have you actually looked at new VWAG models or their new concept cars? Because this complaint seems to exist purely in your head.
Re: Unsafe and Unpredictable: My Volvo EX90 Experience
#259Earlier quoted context omitted.
Toyota, Lexus, Subaru, Honda. Not sure if Hyundai & Kia are quite as reliable, but if not it's on them because they have some of the best warranties in the industry.
The two main Achilles Heels of Hyundai/Kia are their ICE Engines and their EV ICCUs. Google reliability for both and proceed accordingly. They're good about replacing/fixing both issues when they come up, and normally have extended warranties, but they are critical components too and long lead times to fix. Outside of those issues, which don't happen on all vehicles, I view the brand as pretty rock solid. I'm impress…
One local dealer refused to honor under warranty the work another dealer did.
If you have any damage (even minor cosmetic) they will blame that on your issues regardless of relativity.
(I have a Hyundai that's had the ICCU replaced once, the ABS IEB twice, and the low-voltage battery 3 times, two of the 3 times on my dime. All on a less than 3-year-old car with less than 100k miles)
The company has been miserable to deal with compared to my past experiences with other brands.
Re: Unsafe and Unpredictable: My Volvo EX90 Experience
#260Earlier quoted context omitted.
Also the Volvo C40 (same platform). I've been driving it since January and other than the software being slow to start up when it goes into sleep mode, it's been stable. They did recently issue a software recall for the backup camera, so now when the backup camera crashes it goes into 360 camera mode instead of just a black screen. Overall I'm happy with this car though and would recommend it.
I’ve been eyeing the CPO P2s. Sub-30k is tempting depending on the year.