So what is the point of this STUPID forum that no one interacts with? Are all S90 Volvo drivers inept?

 

Hi, richards90. LOL. In my experience with this forum, I've also noticed that far more people read the posts than respond to them. I personally don't have a problem with this. However, specifically for my threads, while the number of responses have been limited, I've still found them to be very helpful (and even helped me in my decision to order my 2020 V90 Inscription Estate Wagon). If you're looking for a more "active" Volvo forum, consider https://forums.swedespeed.com/

 

Thanks Maggs

 

My observation is somewhat similar, and I think it has to do with the relative rarity of the S90 / V90 numbers of cars on the road. I suspect we are the real "outliers" in terms of the number of people actually owning and imore importantly, interested enough to care to look at forums for information related to our cars. I think the majority of buyers are folks who only look at a specific car as either a status symbol or just transportation and do not know or care about any issue, and they rely on the dealer for any needed work. I'm sure there are folks who are interested in their cars, but haven't found this forum or just don't have the time to investigate. I also found a similar situation with the forum for the Mercedes I owned previously, just a handful of forum members active and many of those with awful attitudes that tended to push away folks genuinely trying to get help or information. The more common the car, the more likely you will find forums with many active and helpful members. I check this site daily and try to respond when I have something useful to offer in response, otherwise, I read to learn and don't waste others time by just replying to increase my post counts....

Gil

 

GRock, I agree with your comments. I have a 2020 V90 Inscription on order. IMO, it isn't a "tuner" car, nor one that I would consider modifying. I'm buying it and intend to keep for a while (at least 7 years). Also, considering my age and the "electronic/computer" complexity of the vehicle, my DYI days are over ... and I'll maintain it at the dealer. As I use my V, I'll probably check in on the XC90 forum for any issues that might require attention, particularly since the V has (relatively) few owners and the basic technology is shared by Volvo among most of its models.

 

I keep looking at this forum and they are sometimes days to perhaps a week or more between updates or new threads, but I guess that is normal with such a rare car. It can also mean not many are having issues either. which is fine. I also have no interest in "mods' as the one I have is fully loaded as is, EXCEPT that Volvo has decided no one needs a CD player, which means my wife prefers to take our Acura MDX on long trips so she can listen to books on disc. I tried copying discs to a memory stick, but the player in the Volvo refuses to play the chapters in order, you have to manually select the next chapter on the screen which is dangerous. I've looked for the "optional" CD player that is supposed to mount in the center console, but haven't been able to locate one that states it will work in the V90, Volvo parts USA is no help at all, they say you can't add one. Otherwise, this is a great car. And to be fair, most other manufacturers have dropped the CD player as well.

 

Hi, GRock. I was surprised, when ordering my V90 Inscription, that I could still get the CD player. If it didn't come with the car, I planned to contact a custom car audio shop to get one installed.

Here's a youtube url that I found that you may find helpful. Let me know if you find a solution.

 

Thanks for the video link, and yes I had seen several players, but none would easily integrate in the center console. If I had ordered to car as you have done, I would've ordered it with the car. I only found a few V90s that were close to what I wanted and the local dealer in Richmond was terrible, and wanted $1200 to go get one from another dealer. I just contacted the dealer in Maryland and bought it from there. They just said, buy a Bluetooth player, but those do not work in a car, so they were misinformed, not surprising, but annoying none-the-less. I called Volvo parts and they showed the player for the V90, but said it was only for replacement of a defective unit, not a new install. Still looking......

 

Suggest contacting the installer from the video I sent you. Even if he isn't local, perhaps he might know of an installer in your area.

 

Found this cd player on Amazon.

 

Thanks, I may do that if other options don't work out. His price is $495 just for the player. If Volvo would offer the kit to add it, I'd buy it. I want it tucked away in the center console, not laying on it. In any case, thanks for the info. At least a few folks here are being helpful. I did respond to several Volvo surveys and I mentioned this in each survey, but I doubt if the input gets to the right people at Volvo. I wonder if they read this forum.....

 

Oh, and thanks for the link to that player on Amazon, I had seen that one before and may end up trying it. Would like to have the filler plate Volvo uses to hold it in place, but may just go with this so my wife is happy to listen to her audio books.

 

Hi, GRock. Recently found these links on Youtube re: cd player. Regarding instillation, my factory install has the player in the center console storage area. From an aesthetic viewpoint, this might sound good but, IMO, it might be a bit of a pain when wishing to insert or remove a CD. If I were installing a CD player on my Volvo, I would probably opt to place it on the outside of the center console, on the passenger side, using a velcro strip to secure it. This maximizes ease-of-access. Plus, the CD players in the following links are fairly small and not un-attractive, IMO.

 

Wow, thanks for all these links! I will review all and probably get the player and give it a try. It is mostly just me, but I don't like to see "add-ons" exposed in an expensive car. I'll likely put it in the center console storage area, my wife can deal with inserting and removing the disk as we travel. Until audio books are made available in a usable format other than the CD, I will keep using them. Our local library carries a good selection of novels that we both listen to. My smartphone can play books and with the Android Auto built in, we can resort to that assuming she can find the books she wants to listen to. The aggravating thing is a CD drive isn't that expensive nor is it hard to integrate in the dash, but I get it, millennials don't do anything except by phone, so the older population loses out, and we are the likely ones to purchase the higher end cars, not the millenials! Sorry if I offended anyone by this, but facts and marketing research drives everything, and as a Boomer, we are losing influence. Auto manufacturers will cater to their perceived market, but I think they are missing who really buys their high end offerings. And yes, I could have ordered my V90, but didn't. There should be an easier way for dealers to supply options on cars they buy for inventory. The people ordering cars for inventory just pick popular option packages and hope they sell. I think going forward this has to change. I know manufacturers don't want to build a myriad of options to simplify manufacturing, but some are figuring it out to give the customer what he/she wants, if not they will lose market share.
Standing down off my pulpit now, and putting on my flame shields!

 

I agree...This is a very dull forum compared with Swedespeed.

 

From my experience, in general, people go to these type of forums to address one or more of the following:

* DIY repair advice
* Car performance problems/complaints
* "Gadget" questions/complaints
* Info. on new vehicles
* Sharing of purchase/financing/leasing information

For our Volvo forum, my sense is that members here are not actively consumed by the above, but rather causally look at posts to compare with their experience. I think this lack of intensity may be a key contributor to the few post responses you see here.

My guess is that V90 owners, particularly the Inscription ones, may differ somewhat from other car buyers. Putting it politely (I'm in this group) their DIY days are behind them, and the dealer is relied on to address any problems. Regarding new car info, again, specifically related to the V90, since the 2016 model change, nothing significant has changed ... and probably won't in the near future, due to low volume sales (particularly in the USA) and the push towards electrification.

In my case, my V90 was purchased because I'm pragmatic and it best suited my and my wife's needs (I had considered the E-Class estate wagon, but found its front seats to be very uncomfortable, although it was better in many other respects ... engine, steering, dashboard layout, rear storage space, etc). Regarding new "technology", I like it best when it's used strategically, as opposed to over-engineering any-and-every thing (e.g., soft-close doors, kneeling when approaching the car, run-flat-tires ... why re-invent the wheel?, etc).

In general, as a member of the Benz forum, I see a lot of posts that share high performance engine and driving experiences, seek vehicle acquisition and "gadget" use advice, and share complaints. These owners, typically, lease rather than buy, and replace their vehicles every 3 years or so. I'm not sure how this compares with the "typical" V90 owner.

While the Swedespeed forum is a more active Volvo forum, IMO, it doesn't compare with the Benz forum ... which may be a good thing.

 

As a moderator, I'm always looking through many of the posts on this forum (down to only 1 Volvo now) but I also own a VW CC where I log into VWVortex to look for info. That forum is totally outside my demographics :-) if you are looking for DIY or diagnosing a problem no luck. If you want to tune your turbo with a new downpipe or install blue LEDs along the rockers - that's the place!! Point being is each forum develops a personality based on the member's interests. I'd add one area of interest which is similar to DIY is a lot of visitors/posters want to diagnose a problem so they are well informed when talking to their shop. There's a lot of negative sentinment about repair shops, which IMHO is related to surprises in cost and scope of a repair or a missed dianosis (we've all had a few of those). The good news is there's a ton of good content whether its Volvo forums, Swededspeed, Matthews, Volvospeed or a online store's blogs and repair guides. There's been quite a few posts where my advise is as simple as "google xyz". All good here, nothing wrong with lurking and searching posts - but if you have some hands on or recent experience on a topic, post up.

 

MT6127, totally agree with your comments. What I like about our V90 sub-forum is the ability to talk "Volvo", without getting too intense about things. If I want to find out more about "issues" and diagnose engine or brake concerns, I switch over to the XC90 sub-forum. Regardless of the body style, the underlying mechanical and electronic systems are the same or very similar. Considering the V90 Inscription is a very low volume vehicle in the USA, being able to look at other sub-forums is a good thing, in my opinion.

 

I also agree with the idea of being to talk about anything related to our cars without the "intensity" that exists on some forums. I found a lot of heated animosity on the Mercedes forums to the point I just quit looking. I appreciate information and shared ideas, but not spite or name calling that some seem to fall into. Being stuck at home now means more time to research issues and it is pleasant to find helpful people here, even if it takes days to get a response. This seems ot go with our V90s being somewhat of a "unicorn" so that limits the number of people taking the time to post, or the type of people buying these cars, many of which was pointed our being of an age where they rely only on the dealer for help, and that's OK, but there are times when being "forearmed" helps being taken at the service department. I have found a wide disparity of competence at the 2 dealerships here in Richmond, even though being owned by the same company..

 

May be if you knew more about your car you'd go to the 960 forum which is what a S90 is! Since the renamed S90 lived in the US for a year not too many out there...
I admit I didn't bother to read the whole thread, the title was enough... Forums are hit and miss but overall Volvo forums are great comparing them to other brands, this one is so-so...