[Mash]

3 weeks in & I have lists! Stuff you won't hear from pro auto reviewers!



Likes:

• Really nice, well made vehicle. Seems real solid. Everything you touch, turn, flip, click, push just feels great.
• Incredible interior quality, including the plastic bits. Blows BMW, Audi way out of the water - and they are far more expensive vehicles.
• Perfect steering wheel! Feels great in your hands.
• Voice activation for the common functions is pretty cool - when it works, which is really rare.
• The full-blown HK sound system really sounds damned good! I was shocked because my expectations were quite low - the HK system in my M235i sounded like crap. I don't even feel the need to qualify how great it sounds with "for an OEM sound system". Seriously - it sounds great (with couple of exceptions. See the dislikes.)
• Flat out killer looking SUV! Other SUV manufacturers take note!
• Smooth, comfortable ride.
• LOVE the voice-to-text feature!
• BRIGHT headlights - really illuminate a WIDE & HIGH area ahead of you, too. It's a big confidence booster at night, especially on country roads.
• Excellent, surprising value - you get a TON for your money, done very well!

Dislikes:

• Has anyone else noticed how tough it is to get your phone to charge on the charge pad? Well, I found that the wireless charge pad's cover does not touch the plate beneath it - there is an ever-so-slight gap. That gap is big enough that the phone won't charge when I lay it down. I have to 1) take off my phone's protective case, and 2) press on my phone - HARD - to close that gap to get the phone to charge. The pad is also very slippery - phone is always sliding around as I turn. Which then stops the phone from charging & I have to put it back in the center, press down real hard again to get the phone to charge.
• Auto start/stop restart is ROUGH! Take your foot off the brake when the engine restarts & your will lurch forward, even. My BMW, you were BARELY aware the engine stopped/restarted & it has a WAY more powerful turbo inline 6 motor.
• The TPMS does not tell you the actual tire pressure in each tire. Words escape me, much like how common sense escaped Volvo on this one.
• Should be able to independently adjust how far down the driver & passenger side view mirrors dip in reverse. Volvo, in case you didn't know, people are not the same height & folks might set the seat position differently - both of which affect how far down the mirrors should dip. Amazing how few car mfrs get this right (way to go Land Rover!!)
• There aren't knobs/buttons for commonly used functions. Some things can't be buried in some multi-level touch screen menu system that you have to look at (and away from the road) to find a function & the exact spot where one needs to press.
• No paddle shifters in Momentum trim. That is standard on so many automatic vehicles today it's a major miss that a car this nice & so fully featured doesn't have it.
• No dedicated answer call/hang up buttons on the steering wheel, like how I see in every other modern car I've been in in the last 3 years - and some even older. Multi-button-push-while-taking-your-eyes-off-the-road process that Volvo seems to be fascinated with because someone there seems to think "advanced" means no tactile buttons.
• No dedicated heated steering wheel switch. EASY placement on, oh I dunno... the steering wheel perhaps, so I don't have to look away to the center screen to find the precise spot to press - multiple times - to turn it on/off or change the setting. Crazy stupid.
• No dedicated seat heater buttons. Need em for same reasons as the heated steering wheel needs one. More crazier stupider.
• Voice activation is a royal PIA. Say "Fan off" & the system says "Fan on". Say "Fan on" and system says (you guessed it) "Fan off". And it thinks "Connecticut" is "California" - they don't even sound close if you're drunk AND have a mouthful of marbles! I had a car full of people absolutely pissing themselves as I demonstrated all of this to them (so I do like that the voice control system serves as entertainment while tooling around town.) Each of them tried it - no go!! System did the exact same thing. Hilarity ensued.
• The left foot rest is situated too far into the wheel well, putting your left foot in a odd position "at rest". When I don't "think" about where to put my foot & move it to where it wants to go naturally/comfortably, it can't because the side trim panel sticks out into the well by 2-3" too far, pushing the foot-rest too far to the right of where it really should be.
• Touch screen is really tough to clean without some kind of spray cleaner. You really gotta rub HARD using the dry cloth to get rid of finger prints, and you risk scratching the screen.
• Exterior paint finish!!!!!! Clear coat is not very tough - it gets the fine spider-web scratches in it way too easily. ORANGE PEEL GALORE. I think Volvo's paint robots are blind.
• You have to activate auto-high beam function every time you get into the car. Other cars, you set the headlights to auto, high beam assist to auto - and it stays there for the next time you get into the car. Should not have to reset this every. single. time.
• Auto-high beam "off" is WAY WAY WAY too sensitive! It's constantly switching to low beam due to reflected light bouncing back from reflectors on the side of the road/guard rails, light poles, mailbox posts - even trees/shrubs close to the edge of the road - EXACTLY when you NEED high beams to spot animals or people! Fix it, Volvo!
• You have to set drive mode every time you start the car. Should just stay with last setting after shutting off the vehicle.
• The view in the center display resets every time you turn off the vehicle. For example, I like to see "Now Playing" displayed in the center screen - just default to last view, or allow the user to set a "default start-up view".
• As good as the sound system is, the bass is muddy/boomy and there is something "missing" from the sound... midbass. You can correct some of this with the EQ, but you can't really dial it in perfectly.
• Pilot-assist is pretty annoying. You can't possibly hold the vehicle in the dead center of the lane, so you're constantly feeling the system adjust the steering wheel to get you back to dead-center. It gets annoying very fast. Glad it can be permanently turned off.
• There is a slot-like shelf in the glove box meant to hold your manuals & paperwork. And the manuals/paperwork are made to fit in this pretty little leatherette folder. Which doesn't fit in the slot. And the glove-box isn't quite deep enough to hold it either. (Manuals are in the slot, folder is in the trash.)
• That pathetic under-seat drawer that can hold like, a Kit-Kat & maybe a mini York Peppermint Patty or 2. The manuals can't even fit under there.
• That Volvo (or my dealer) installed the mudflaps in FRONT of the wheels! LOL LOL LOL