XC90 V8 questions

In article , James Gifford wrote: [ ... ]

Have you considered custom ordering one for overseas delivery, then travelling to Sweden to pick it up?

Gary

I'm not THAT into the Volvo culture. :)

Well, you don't have to be; if you've ever wanted to visit Europe, that would let you accomplish two objectives with one trip, and the savings on the vehicle would partially offset the cost of the trip.

Gary

Nah, none of the above. I thought of it with our Merc, but I'm just not all that interested in European travel.

I did go look at a row of XC90's today. The black metallic and the nearly-black blue metallic are pretty. The Lava Sand bronze is okay, but just not my color. Rest are pretty boring.

Looks like no markups, but the salesperson let it slip that the three V8s they have are gathering a bit of dust. Besides being expensive, perhaps it's the reported city mileage of 12-14 mpg. I have her looking for a black or blue metallic, graphite interior, with NOTHING except the Touring package. We'll see what turns up and how much they try to hold MSRP on it.

Not entirely sure I want such a gas hog, but my choices are limited and nothing in my range gets much better mileage. Bleah.

Sacramento.

Little too far to drive this time of year, but if I was making one of my regular trips to NYC any time soon, I'd think about it.

We only have two Volvo dealers here, but there are about eight within a hundred miles. If I get serious, I'll go arm-wrassle with as many as I have to. I might be looking at an S80, too, so that gives me some leverage.

Then again, word is that the 4.4 V8 is on its way into the car line. That might be worth waiting for.

Well, that is a bit of a haul.

Rather than making the rounds in your area, send out for quotes to all Volvo dealers in your area. This is how I got to Byer in Syracuse --- he responded with the best price and we went from there, and he's consistently low-quoted every time since.

Put together an email (used to be, it was hard copy letter), laying out EXACTLY what you want --- model, style, color, options, everything --- and indicate if this is a cash deal or whether you want their financing. If it's a lease, that involves other criteria they need to provide). What you want from them is the best price they'll commit to selling you that car for. Period --- lease cash, whatever) Your end of the deal is that you won't use their quote to bargain with another dealer, but will come to them for them to honor their quote. If you get there and they don't. you quickly move on --- this is a one-shot deal as far as the dealer is concerned --- no negotiating on your part..

Byer not only came in low, he found the car I wanted in Atlanta and had it trucked to Syracuse for him to prep and deliver (I always stipulate zero miles (under 10) on the odometer --- I want a new car, not a demonstrator). So the dealer doesn't necessarily need to have the car in stock --- he can switch it out with another dealer.

If you have a trade, that's a separate deal, in which case you make the rounds of the three lowest quotes to get the best deal for your trade.

All of this switches the game to your rules, not the dealers'. It works for me, and it makes an otherwise troublesome exercise fun.

Yep. I have pretty much all the cards in my hand, anyway, so I can play hardball. So far, my local dealer just amazingly hasn't been able to find an XC90 without at least two options I don't want - usually the Climate package, which is for cold/snow weather that we don't get here, and the fraggin' $800 headlights I don't want even if they're free.

She's still looking.

We're waiting on our XC 90 V8. I have already purchased a Hidden Hitch from Hitch Mart,

Item #87810, $138. Install in a half hour, they say. From there, you can download a PDF of the installation instructions. The hitch came with 2 bolts, washers, and lockwashers. There are a total of 6 bolt holes, three per side. The instructions say the 4 are "existing hardware" so I hope our XC 90 really comes with them. On the left, you have to drop the muffler bracket, and on the right I think all it is is a tow loop fixture. I called Hitch Mart after I got the hitch to verify that the same model hitch will work with the V8, which has dual pipes on the left side. They said it should be fine.

Same with the Reese and DrawTite models. In fact, I was told all three hitches are made by the same company - as evidenced by the identical instructions for each (even though the pix of each differ).

Can also try

Mike

I looked under mine, and yes, I think four of the bolts are already there. I plan on adding a hitch someday, when needed.

Much is made of the reviews of the V8 having a "dual pipe," but I can't see any difference except that the V8 has a chrome tip.

What about the connector? Are you going with a Volvo unit or something aftermarket?

James,

Yes, looking at my hitch, the way they designed it they added a short, roughly 2-3" reinforced extension below the main horizontal bar, in order to have just the receiver tube visible just under the bottom of the bumper. On the install notes, it shows that the bumper "fascia" rests on the top of the reciever tube. The rest of the hitch assembly appears to be behind and upwards, as to hide it all from being viewed.

Mike