I have owned Volvos for the past 30 years, off and on.
In 2017, I leased an S90 with a turbocharged/supercharged 4 cyl engine. The car was beautifully built — like an Audi, MB, or BMW.
But, it had a control panel/user interface from hell. It was so slow that I thought it had an Intel 8088 processor and 1 MB of RAM. 2-3 second lags from touch screen controls to movement on the screen were common. I hear that in 2022, Volvo is switching to an Android platform for all of their cars. Unfortunately, no retrofits will be offered.
The engine only delivered 23 MPG at 70 MPH on long, flat trips, such as Texas to NC. The car looked aerodynamically efficient, so I blame the engine design. That poor little 4 cylinder sounded like it was in pain and struggling all of the time.
I guess the Chinese owners decided to offer a crap engine to the faithful on the way to an all-electric platform, so the electric would seem like an upgrade.
I returned the car from lease and bought a Buick Regal TourX station wagon with the global GM 250 HP turbo 4 cyl and the same Japanese 8-speed transmission as the Volvo S90. The car is discontinued here, but is really a German Opel rebranded as a Buick.
Absolutely a terrific machine. 27 to 31 MPG, built like a MB or BMW and it has the best lane control and braking software I have ever experienced.
Volvo is just making one bad decision after another and another...
I used to live next door to a guy who owned the only Volvo dealer in Milwaukee. He was always trying to get me to buy one and stop driving Toyota. Maybe because we were just two guys talking in the back yard but he put down his guard a few times and admitted that if you want a Volvo to run over 100,000 miles you have to spend $2000 per year in maintenance.
I still have a Toyota Prius with 400,000 miles and I think besides oil changes and plugs, I changed the water pump once.
“Buick Regal TourX”
That’s really a nice looking little car. Will consider that in the near-future car purchase lineup. Thx for the mention.
Ooops, never mind...just saw the “discontinued here”.
Nice post AFCH