EVERYONE ELSE HAS THEIR GAS DOOR ON THE DRIVERS SIDE SO YOU CANT GET IN LINE TO GET GAS! This just pissed me off today I roasted a patch out of there and went to Exxon, pulled right in!
What are your experiences? This could be fun!

 

There are quite a few cars that have the gas tank door on the passenger side. I think they should make it mandatory that all cars have it on the same side. When I had multiple cars with one having on one side and the other on the other, I would constantly pull to wrong side of the pump and **** myself off.

 

So what is one thing you could deal without on your 850?

 

Better cupholders.

 

Ditto on the cupholders. Intermittent wipers would be nice. All in all the dash controls are not quite logical. The leather seats could be a bit more durable. The micro shift switch is a little annoying. Plastic panels that fade to chalky grey. The location of the window switches is tough, and the locking system is unique. Strut caps that don't crack. Better Keyless remote system, and a smaller key.

Other than that we truly LOVE this vehicle. Many of these comments are some of the quirks that make driving a Volvo different.

 

Dude. I agree with the dash controls.

They are undecodable! I can't tell whether light on or off means recirculate on and I also don't know if tracs is on or off when the switch is hit...

 

The number 1 problem for me is the service network in my country. They absolutely rip you off.

The a/c system:
* evaporator location and lack of cabin filter
* compressor durability
* lack of high pressure service port
* blower motor / resistor durability

Gray plastic termination on the bumpers. It becomes ugly with time.

No cup holders

Interior door leather panels wrinkle.

Odometer gears

Awkward location of the switches. The hazard switch location is DANGEROUS, way too hard to find in an emergency.

I can list many positive things about this car but that would be off topic.

 

If all cars had their fuel caps on the same side there would be bigger queues at the gas station! Ha Ha!

 

ditto on the cupholders. If you are using them, you can't get to the window controls... not to mention spilling coffee all over the console due to the crappy cupholders. [8D]

My only other complaint so far, is the expensive parts like the evaporator and timing belt change. But, luckily, those kind of repairs should be few and far between with a Volvo.

 

I do this a lot, because I drive Toyotas all day at work, then I go to get gas in my 850 and pull to the driver side.

 

Never thought of that. I guess I prefer not to have cupholders then.

 

Sounds like a lot of folks are unhappy with the car I for one enjoy the quirks as it is what gives the car character.

 

I quit reading this thread. The power of suggestion is too much for me. I read something that somebody does not like and I never noticed before and all of a sudden it is bothering me. Like one time I read about the drivers side wiper coming off the edge of the windshield that I had never noticed. Until Tech told me how to fix it, it bothered me and it would not have had I not read that.

 

I'm not at all unhappy with our Volvo. Infact, I'm willing to spend the money to keep it on the road and in our garage for a very longtime. It just makes me wonder what the designers were thinking at the time they designed things, is all. If we hadn't had my parents Subaru Legacy GT fall into our lap, we would have been looking for another 850.

I need to find your thread, Jim, on the wiper. Our drivers side is useless, and it's snow season. I need to fix it ASAP!

 

Expensive blower motor resistor


Really though, European cars never fail to have worthless cupholders. Like another poster said previously, I already spilled my French Vanilla on my console, so now every time I go to put my window down my finger smells like coffee. I gotta clean that up this weekend..

 

- Leaky fluids.
- PCV complaints.
- CEL & ABS indications always on.
- Front spring seats.
- Poorly designed A/C+expensive resistor & blower cage.
- Poorly made trim parts.
- Sunroof.
- Cracking leather seats.
- Poorly designed electrical & electronic systems (for all European makes).
- Trunk/liftgate rods.
- Mysterious water leak into cabin.
- Mysterious noise coming from God knows where.
- Mysterious cupholder sized for Japanese people.

...and I still like 850 turbo better than many newer cars!!!

As to the wiper edge lifting off the windshield, I myself used a half-washer and installed the blade at an angle, which fixed the problem permanently.

Volvos would be perfect if:

- Body shell, engine & tranny are made by Volvo.
- Suspensions are made by Germans.
- Electrical & electronic systems are made by Japanese.
- Priced by Koreans with generous warranty package.


JPN

 

The reason that most European cars seem to have crappy cupholders is that drinking anything while driving is illegal in several European countries.At least it was in Italy, Austria, and Germany about 8 years ago when I was there. They consider it a distraction. So, I would imagine that cupholders are a last thought/add-on for vehicles destined for a distracted, multi-tasking obsessed North American market.

Glenn

 

Welcome back JPN! haven't seen you post in a while.

I have one more to add... the driver's side windshield wiper losing it's ability to clean the windshield. [8D]

I still need to fix that.

 

bingo

 

Mine doesn't even have cupholders. If I open the glove compartment I can put two cups there, but I wouldn't call that cupholders....