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Unsafe and Unpredictable: My Volvo EX90 Experience

myvolvoex90.com

271–280 of 436 posts

Re: Unsafe and Unpredictable: My Volvo EX90 Experience

#271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I rented an Audi Q7 for a week recently. The drive quality of the car is excellent. But the software is terrible. Just getting CarPlay to work every time is a challenge. I will not be buying an Audi any time soon. As more and more of the vehicle's experience becomes software controlled, manufacturers who don't have good software development teams are going to lose out. German companies don't seem to understand the gr…

Software is indeed a differentiator, as in I want as little as possible of that shit in my car. Any car where all the controls are on a giant iPad in the middle are a non-starter for me.

Software is not an alternative to physical controls. You don't have to copy Tesla in that regard.

Re: Unsafe and Unpredictable: My Volvo EX90 Experience

#272
post #45

Volvo may not want to replace the car for the guy...but from a marketing standpoint, they truly picked the wrong hill. The site is very nice and pretty thorough. Makes me not want to get this car or any Volvo!

I was genuinely thinking about buying a Volvo car today. This blog changed my mind now. It seem they are the exact opposite of what I thought.

I loved our XC90 (non electric) but one day rainwater began pouring in through the windsheild behind the rear-view mirror. It quickly got into the electrical system and nothing worked reliably after that. Volvo absolutely refused to fix it, or acknowledge that there was a problem, despite hundreds of posts pointing out similar window leaks. Was very disappointing.

Re: Unsafe and Unpredictable: My Volvo EX90 Experience

#273

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Software is indeed a differentiator, as in I want as little as possible of that shit in my car. Any car where all the controls are on a giant iPad in the middle are a non-starter for me.

Physical goods companies just don't get software, and they never seem to be able to do it right. They treat firmware and software like just another line item on the BOM. Like a screw or a silicon gasket: Source it from a cheap supplier, spoon it into the product somewhere on the assembly line, and then never touch it again. As long as it meets a list of checkbox requirements, the quality doesn't matter at all. A car…

Yup.

Case in point: any time the rear view camera comes on in a car commercial. Beatufiul car, awesome interior...potato-quality backup camera.

Re: Unsafe and Unpredictable: My Volvo EX90 Experience

#274
post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not even, BYD and other Chinese car companies make great, reliable cars. This is simply Volvo intentionally and likely knowingly cheating out as much as possible to make a quick buck, burning their brand in the process

> great, reliable cars There was fuel tank burst open in cold weather overnight incident, sudden fires and explosions of (presumable hybrid) Chinese cars, etc. Chinese cars are not on market for time enough to even consider their reliability. Let's wait for ten years, at the very least. The quality of ride of Chinese cars is not even close to their European counterparts, children get sick even on the front row in ten…

You've clearly not driven one recently. I'm shopping at the moment, and the BYDs in particular are great to drive and have an amazing fit-out. Model 3/Y are the most direct comparable on both fronts, if I'm looking to European counterparts with similar ride and fit I'm also jumping 2x in price.

Re: Unsafe and Unpredictable: My Volvo EX90 Experience

#275
post #88

I wouldn’t buy Tesla again but I’ve never experienced software issues in mine. Although some of the menus could be re-arranged for clarity, it’s otherwise clear and responsive. The app is great and the third party apps are even better. I’ve not heard positive things from VW or MG owners in terms of software either. Is there any good alternative to Tesla in this domain?

Software-wise, there is not. Their software is years ahead of the industry in pretty-much all dimensions.

Rivian is the closest next-best option, but loads of people have complained about bugs in their software.

Re: Unsafe and Unpredictable: My Volvo EX90 Experience

#276
post #88

I wouldn’t buy Tesla again but I’ve never experienced software issues in mine. Although some of the menus could be re-arranged for clarity, it’s otherwise clear and responsive. The app is great and the third party apps are even better. I’ve not heard positive things from VW or MG owners in terms of software either. Is there any good alternative to Tesla in this domain?

I'll never buy anything other than Tesla (mainly for FSD) but some of the software can use some work. Apple Music sometimes can't connect, it saturates your internet uploading telemetry if you let it, and probably the worst thing is that the maps don't cache. Kind of awkward to have a robust off-roading vehicle with unusable maps when you actually go off-roading.

Re: Unsafe and Unpredictable: My Volvo EX90 Experience

#277
post #62

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.

meh, not for all brands. current BMWs are light years more reliable than 2000-2010 models

Re: Unsafe and Unpredictable: My Volvo EX90 Experience

#278

The open secret to EV ownership is to lease. This effectively mitigates depreciation and forces a dealership to own any problems (sooner rather than later).

This is compounded by the fact that EV tech is rapidly improving, fueling depreciation. It's like personal computers in the 90's/00's. Compare to gas cars which is a very mature technology, and really only perks and features get updated.

Not really. Battery density and cost has been improving steadily for a decade. Most manufacturers are installing heat pumps now. The speed of DC fast charging is inconsistent between OEMs, but that's still a factor of infrastructure too. Vehicle to home and Integrated trip planning with battery charging are the biggest areas of improvement for most OEMs.

Re: Unsafe and Unpredictable: My Volvo EX90 Experience

#279

The open secret to EV ownership is to lease. This effectively mitigates depreciation and forces a dealership to own any problems (sooner rather than later).

and mitigates technological risk, like if Toyota makes good on those solid state battery claims, Tesla might be screwed

Re: Unsafe and Unpredictable: My Volvo EX90 Experience

#280

Volvo 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.

> Buy German cars, specifically within the Volkswagen auto group (Audi, VW, Skoda etc) if you want reliable quality.

German cars, as a rule, are made with complete disregard for the people who will have to work on them. They are reliable while meticulously maintained and before anything even remotely important break. Then they become a nightmare.

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