My 2015 V60 was the unfortunate victim of a mystery parking lot incident in mid December. The rear glass was smashed and the tailgate had some damage. It took a while to repair - I have a very good body shop locally. The repair is perfect but it took Volvo a long time to deliver the needed parts. In the interim, I've been driving a rental - Mazda 6 sedan. Not a bad car - looks are pretty good, seats OK and the Nav system is a bit more sophisticated than the Sesus in my car but, it terms of driving dynamics, responsiveness and overall performance, it can't hold a candle to the Volvo. In particular the transmission is far inferior - shifts are slow and noticeable and, in heavy, slow traffic ~ 20 mph - it hunts continually. Very happy to have the Volvo back.

 

LOL, my 23 y/o son took his 2000 S40 to the dealer to diagnose a shifting issue (3 hours away, too far for me to help) and they wound up giving him a a 2019 S60 as a loaner. Needless to say, it was a life altering experience for him. BTW, shifting issue was resolved by cleaning the contacts on the TCU. Go figure.

 

I think a lot of the problems of modern cars could be avoided by spending just few $ more. There are multiple electronic modules interconnected and scattered all over current cars. Spend enough time with electronics (for me almost 70 years) and you learn that interconnects and contacts (e.g. switches) are the Achilles heel. This is particularly true in digital systems that are easily disrupted by spikes, drop-outs etc. Gold is inert - will not tarnish and is typically used in high quality cable connectors. It is not a cosmetic or sales driven gimmick - it works better. The incremental cost to use gold plated connections would be small, probably in production quantities less than $10/car. I would guess that the savings in warranty costs due to juvenile failures would more than repay that and the difference in customer satisfaction would be a bonus.