Volvo Forums - Volvo Enthusiasts Forum - 08 XC70 New Owner

Traded in my 06 Lexus GS300 last week on an 08 XC70. I needed more cargo space to support my 13 year-old son's RC airplane addiction (and mine too). I absolutely didn't want a big SUV and don't care for most of the crossovers on the road, so I'd decided that a BMW 328iT (wagon) was the way to go. I pulled into the BMW dealers lot in Athens, GA. I walked up to the black 08 wagon and couldn't go any further. It looked ugly on the website, but I assumed it would be more impressive in person. It wasn't. I didn't bother to drive it and confided to the salesman that I'd never be able to look at that thing every day and feel good about my decision. He gently agreed.

I stopped next door at the Volvo dealer where they had a number of 07 XC70's still on the lot...new and demos. I drove 3 of them with different equipment, etc. Perhaps it's because I came out of a Lexus that I found them noisy and with noticable vibration at idle and under acceleration. There was also a vibration in the chassis when underway that the salesman thought was flat-spotted tires from sitting. Ultimately, I settled on a silver 07, but was only luke warm on the idea of trading. They had 3 08's and one was a 2000 mile demo (oyster gray metallic). I test drove the demo and the difference was profound.

The straight 6 was very smooth and quiet (although a bit noisier than my Lexus...to be expected I guess). Although rated about the same, it didn't seem to have quite the tourque of the 07 (5 cyl turbo). I appreciated the smoothness and quiet over the small difference in torque. It's a station wagon. When I want to go fast, I ride my K1200RS. But, the interior was a profound improvement. The seats, steering wheel, dash layout, overall quality perception, sound system, and feature-set was a night and day improvement. Sitting behind the wheel, the car has a very Scandanavian feel to it. The dash-top, for example has a smooth textured, clean flow to it that is very appealing to the eye without creating reflection in the windshield. It also has a 6 speed transmission rather than a 5. I honestly felt that this car would fit my needs and the final price was about the same as the smaller, lesser equipped and uglier 3 series BMW. Sticker was just over $43k and I bought it for $39.5 (it was a demo).

I've only put about 400 miles on it so far and I'm getting about 22mpg (mostly rural/highway driving). I believe the turbo was more fuel efficient, but for a 4300 lb car with awd, low-mid 20's seems reasonable. Overall, it feels more like a luxury car than a ute, and I like that. My complaint with the Lexus GS was thatToyota madean effort to bridge the gap between luxury car and sports car...and it compromised both to get there.

It's got XM (added), power lift gate, push-button starter, heated full pwr seats, rain sensing wipers, pwr moonroof, etc. I know it's the first model year of the design update, but Volvo has been building these wagons for a long time. The chassis is based on the S-80 now (perhaps part of the reason for it's improved road manners) and the engine has been in use in the S-80 already. Supposedly it's been used elswhere in the world for 3 years (not verified). There's not a rattle or squeak (yet). If problems arise, I'll post them here.

Hope this preliminary report is helpful. Glad to have found this site.

Mike