[3569]

Like many of you I am waiting on an XC40 Recharge that seems to be stuck in port, or a black hole, or recall car jail of some sort. This recall software issue seems straightforward enough, but what I don’t understand is the total lack of communication from Volvo corporate. I am totally new to Volvo. Is this their normal? Are they the US airlines of the car industry and actually hate their customers? Am I an idiot for being willing to cut a $60k check for this thing?

I could live with delayed delivery -- but the insulting lack of any apology, estimated timing, or direct explanation of any kind has me thinking about getting my deposit back and walking away from this whole mess. Anybody else feeling this way?

 

[scans]

I'm with you. Not the way to do it. But they know the car has great reviews and they will sell.

BTW - Thanks for your suggestion re: trading vs. selling car. Went with Vroom. Now I can enjoy the Boxster in the warmer weather until XC40 P8 arrives....

 

[dtaylor89]

I am in the same boat here - my "concierge" assigned to manage communications during the process was non existent, and lied to me about the status of my car. Tried to escalate and the supervisor even ignored my calls, but luckily the dealership slightly took ownership. But I agree, Volvo Corporate is completely failing on this rollout and has already announced that they plan to move to this digital sale model. The biggest grip I have is the same, a 60K vehicle that is the forefront of their all electric by 2030 - yet are penalizing the earlier adopters. From what I can find the XC40 Recharge is excluded from the current 0% financing offer and is not on the current list of vehicles for A-Plan. Serious? And still no concrete information on their partnership with ChargePoint and if there will be a discount available for the in home unit. I swear it feels like i'm the only one asking the logical questions when I've dealt with this process and trying to plan ahead. Without a release date, can't plan any financing or incentives as they change monthly.

FWIW - I just sold my car to local dealership leveraging the KBB Instant Offer. It was better than Vroom and walked out with check in hand. Had a wonderful chat with the Acquisition Specialist and we both agreed, with the amount of info and transparency today the only way to earn business is to be human and built a relationship. The old 'car salesman' tactics are dead. Sadly Volvo is still stuck behind.

 

[Rat]

FWIW, I was an early adopter of the Nissan Leaf in 2001. They had very similar rollout problems - delays, misinformation or no information. The dealers were clueless not only because they were getting no information or bad information, but also because their personnel, both sales and service, knew almost nothing about EVs. I don't think Volvo is doing any worse than any other company with a first-time EV. It's also the sales model, not just the technology. In the end I really liked the Leaf and I'm glad I bought it, but I'm ready for my new Volvo.

 

[dtaylor89]

I agree that it’s multiple learning curves but you can’t tell me Volvo didn’t watch or learn from Tesla. I’m still excited but annoyed at the unknown.

(Coming from a guy who works for a software company)

 

[3569]

It's clear they are doing stuff, why is it so hard to tell people? I don’t know if I should do a long-term rental or just deal with it for a week, or what. All I know is this has significantly lowered my opinion of Volvo right when I'm about to cut them a big check. That's never good business.

 

[dtaylor89]

Agreed. Luckily we are able of survive as a single car household till this gets resolved. Hopefully this is resolved before rumored mid April date.

 

[ColoradoNative]

I share your frustrations, but I'm more relaxed about it - it could be worse.

I've been monitoring the Mustang Mach-e rollout over on the MacheForum. I have to say, I'd rather that Volvo take the time to get their ducks in a row so they can deliver a fully functional vehicle, than to take delivery of a car that isn't finished yet. IMHO, the frustration they are experiencing - with multiple trips back to the dealership and things failing while driving - is magnitudes worse.

 

[dtaylor89]

And what really bugs me is that dealers have sold what we’re to be demo models. I blame the dealer and corporate for allowing this. I get a pre order that was cancelled but the original demo units should have been restricted. At least wait till the first batch of pre orders were handled but clearly no one at corporate is watching. I even raised it the concierge supervisor and he was clueless. This is all optics.

(And no I don’t fault the owners who got them - dealer allowed it)

 

[dtaylor89]

Well good news from corporate - just got a note from concierge that they will be releasing cars late March. Thankfully mine only going 60 miles max.

 

[evaNsUls]

Like many of you I am waiting on an XC40 Recharge that seems to be stuck in port, or a black hole, or recall car jail of some sort. This recall software issue seems straightforward enough, but what I don’t understand is the total lack of communication from Volvo corporate. I am totally new to Volvo. Is this their normal? Are they the US airlines of the car industry and actually hate their customers? Am I an idiot for being willing to cut a $60k check for this thing?

I could live with delayed delivery -- but the insulting lack of any apology, estimated timing, or direct explanation of any kind has me thinking about getting my deposit back and walking away from this whole mess. Anybody else feeling this way?

Does not surprise me one bit. The exact same thing happened when the XC40 first rolled out 3 years ago. I'm not sure if this forum was alive then, but if you do some creative google searching you'll see hundreds of posts on Facebook and the like from people making nearly the exact same complaint about bad communication and broken promises.