No more Volvo estates!

[MikeR]

2 hours ago, Spiny Norman said:

The idea of a Volvo estate being hard to park/manoeuvre is ridiculous. Try reverse parking a 240/940/850 wagon and then do the same in a 2 foot shorter last gen Fiesta without parking sensors and see which one makes you sweat.  And if it all goes tits-up? Well....Volvo bumpers.


I've  given up trying to be interested in cars, well new ones at least. We're going to be fed nothing  but a constant stream of near identical 3 ton EV SUVs in the future and I can't work up a single spark of enthusiasm for them.

I found the steering lock to lock was quite impressive and embarrassed a few  black taxi's in mine !   , and yes the bumpers ..

[Dobloseven]

5 hours ago, EyesWeldedShut said:

Does this make my 940 Estate an appreciating asset?

This Volvo move kind of matches the one that MB did recently (dropping a number of 'entry level' models) and their upcoming 'secret' new entry level EV - both companies chasing a maximised profitability in a possibly shrinking market. My guess is that whichever demographic Volvo see as buying their new cars over the next decade do not like estates - shame.
Vauxhall must reckon that the Corsa/Astra will continue to bring in the £££ else they'd bin them too - maybe they have an eye on the Focus market?

Vauxhall can probably justify making "normal" cars by being part of Stellantis and being able to share platforms with Peugeot etc. Often think if the car makers had got their heads together sooner, medium sized saloons and estates might have survived better. Just make one basic model and put different panels on it for the various makes. Keep the customers happy. You could have a Ford. "It's a bit shit and goes rusty, but the parts are cheap". A Vauxhall. Really shit, but some cracking finance deals. A Toyota. "Run forever, they do M8. Japanese innit". (Sorry, St. Jude!). A Volkswagen. German, so bound to be good. A Volvo. Safe in a crash and lasts forever. A Peugeot. "Bit rubbish, but goes round corners well". Could make a Skoda for VW buyers with more sense than money. Even a Fiat. No one would buy it, but the dealers would have something to put in the corner of the showroom by the toilets! 

[Asimo]

Mine was shit. I hate estate cars.

[Volksy]

1 hour ago, cort16 said:

........can I have it in red. Black/Grey/Silver

FTFY

[eddyramrod]

1 hour ago, wuvvum said:

That is true, but for some reason from the Gen2 V70 onwards the turning circle became absolutely appalling, and those are indeed a twat to parallel park.

There is one reason for that; only one, and it's blindingly obvious to those of us who end up driving the things.  The manufacturers, who force this stuff on us just because fashion innit, completely fail to see it, despite what we had for decades before being perfectly capable.

FWD.  (Hack, spit.)

[HMC]

I feel sorry for all the antique dealers

#1990s top gear mag social profiling.

[wuvvum]

26 minutes ago, eddyramrod said:

There is one reason for that; only one, and it's blindingly obvious to those of us who end up driving the things.  The manufacturers, who force this stuff on us just because fashion innit, completely fail to see it, despite what we had for decades before being perfectly capable.

FWD.  (Hack, spit.)

Aye, but the 850 / Gen1 V70, which was also FWD with a transverse 5-pot, would turn on a sixpence.  Not quite as good as a 940 admittedly, but in a whole nother league to the later cars.

[RoverFolkUs]

I'll tell you what it is, it's the latest Scotland green agenda to reduce vehicle usage!

[Wibble]

Thankfully Skoda are continuing the Superb estate. There’s far more room in the back of mine than there was in the V90 I had for 6 weeks.

[beko1987]

Read this earlier, I'd best book a day off work and join the SVM memorial wake 😢

 

[danthecapriman]

Tbh, I’ve long stopped giving a shit about cars and the company that make them, they’re all bland boring faceless crap now regardless of who makes them. 
 

I shall however be keeping my Volvo estate and not join all the sheep out there renting the shit pile cars available now.

[warch]

12 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

I hate SUVs (apart from a Duster as they're relatively unpretentious) and I hate how the public seem to have no imagination and are all buying them.  I also can't understand why they are so popular. What is the advantage over an estate? 

I’d describe the Duster as a crossover rather than an SUV. As far as I can tell the appeal of crossovers is as follows;

Has the desirable and fashionable 4x4 look but without the weight, complexity and running costs of a real 4x4. Bear in mind most actual 4x4s are completely superfluous as they aren’t used off road.

Raised seating position, for improved visibility, also easier for old people or people with restricted mobility to get in and out. 
 

I like mine because it is good for use off road where traction isn’t too bad, it’s no bigger, heavier, worse on fuel or worse to drive than a hatchback, it is excellent in floods (quite common in mid Wales) and it is a perfect an car.

I suspect Volvo are discontinuing estate models due to lack of sales.

ETA- In respect of the last point motorcycle sales, which have had to allow for an ageing demographic now tend towards to adventure bikes and upright tourers with many manufacturers completely discontinuing their sports bike ranges (the once ubiquitous 600cc super sport class is now almost extinct).

[Jim Bergerac]

7 hours ago, cort16 said:

They're popular as they give an elevated driving position and are easy to get in and out of. They also tend offer a bit more space in the cabin for a smaller sized cars.

I remember when they first started coming out they were sold as some great trendy revolution, in reality they're popular with old people and motability types because of this reason. The type of people who bought Picassos and Zafiras back in the day, but even those cars used their height to be practical and useful cars in a way these bloated turds fail to. 

I think I can ultimately trace the start of the end of my interest in cars to Nissan bringing out the Qashqai. 

 

[brownnova]

Ahhh shit. I own a Volvo SUV… and I swapped an estate for it.

I’m the problem aren’t I. 
 

 

I do love my XC90, I’d still prefer an estate in my heart. 

[ETCHY]

SUVs are trendy & as most folk are dull sheep they followed the trend & replace it with likewise after 3 years. Plus as that leads manufacturers to just sell those it'll be all they can buy anyway.

I hate the fucking things soooooo dull & just shit.

[EyesWeldedShut]

Funnily enough - the Mk1 Qashqai, to me, is actually starting to look a lot like AutoShite?
One of the sprogs is here with a 21 plated Duster on the old PCP deal (once bitten they got you for life) and, to be fair, it's not that bad. It has all the interior bells and whistles that (apparently) you need to be able to drive - like ApplePlay.  It has reversing cameras and sensors but sprog cannot parallel park it????
I'd have one with your money. My money would go on something else - anything else actually - seeing as this thing is £250 a month, servicing not included (so it never happens <rant> coolant not visible in the header tank, oil below the minimum on the dipstick. Fuck me. White goods as well stated elsewhere on AS. This is still worth circa £15K and gets treated like a fridge </rant>) and there's a final payment on it that would buy me two cars.

Cars like that though are bread and butter to the car manufacturing industry- we're financing the hell out of new and secondhand cars and the manufacturers all want a piece of the 17 billion quid that the new car market is worth https://www.thecarexpert.co.uk/car-finance-debt-continued-growing-in-2022/ 

So blobby crossovers will be the norm as '... the public wants what the public gets, But I don't get what this society wants..'

[Split_Pin]

Slight thread drift here.

We all know that the first crossover was the Matra Simca Rancho which was vastly before it's time. However what would people say were the first mainstream SUVs? Honda HRV? Nissan Terrano and Ford Maverick?

[timolloyd]

My V70 was probably one of the best cars I’ve ever owned for all the reasons @eddyramrodlisted (apart from dogging - don’t know about that).

However, with the demise of the estate variant, we may at least be spared twats referring to them as a longroof.

[GMcD]

29 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

Slight thread drift here.

We all know that the first crossover was the Matra Simca Rancho which was vastly before it's time. However what would people say were the first mainstream SUVs? Honda HRV? Nissan Terrano and Ford Maverick?

 Could probably argue about that till the cows come home.  

XJ the first (mono-cock so not really a 4x4) ? Debatable on it being mainstream.

Rav4/Crv are the biggest sellers globally. 

Although I think you're right. The rot set in with FWD only variants like the "joy machine"/ Rav4 with no intentions to do anything other than sit high. 

Sure I would see Rav4/ Crv in decent numbers here but the Qashqai is the one that turned it up a notch.  At one stage every other fucking car seemed to be a MK1 Qashqai. 

[Split_Pin]

17 minutes ago, timolloyd said:

longroof

I agree, very annoying. Used by people who have absolutely no pressing need for an estate but have a fake 'self-sufficient lifestyle'.

[EyesWeldedShut]

HRV I reckon unless you count 'soft' 4x4 like the FreeLoader? In my mind tho' a Crossover is 2WD.
There was a Rancho parked outside where I  Iived around 1982 and it was 'different' - rather liked it.  Shame that it, and my Dad's new Horizon at the time both shared the Simca penchant for rusting out at the front (they solved that in the Rancho by making the back half out of plastic/fibreglass/stuff that didn't rust).
Guy who had the Rancho sold it and bought an older  Baghera.
GMcD's nailed it on the Qashqai - that one was really the first to get seen in large numbers (and folks like my sister have bought nothing else since)

[EyesWeldedShut]

1 minute ago, Split_Pin said:

I agree, very annoying. Usually used be people who have absolutely no pressing need for an estate but have a fake 'self-sufficient lifestyle'.

Longroof - just another Americanism creeping in?

[warch]

The Mk 1 Qashqai is Autoshite heaven. Easy to work on, well made, easy to get parts for and utterly disposable. It’s really quite old hat and decidedly unpretentious too, not unlike a Dacia in fact (also has French underpinnings for that matter). 
 

 

[Blunderguts]

9 hours ago, danthecapriman said:

Tbh, I’ve long stopped giving a shit about cars and the company that make them, they’re all bland boring faceless crap now regardless of who makes them. 
 

I shall however be keeping my Volvo estate and not join all the sheep out there renting the shit pile cars available now.

Nice! Those headlamps are unusual for a RHD vehicle though. Wheels are unusual too, not seen any like them before.

 

A little story of tank-grade Volvo robustness...

Coming back from shopping one day we hit a mahoosive pothole at 40+mph with an almighty bang. The impact was so great that it dislodged a stainless wheel trim that went hurtling off into the woods at the side of the road. We stopped and retrieved the trim. Damage report? None! The wheel is still on the car with no hint of a bend and the tyre had no damage either.  These are alloy wheels....

A modern car would need a new wheel and probably other work too.

[FakeConcern]

And the public wants what the public gets
But I don't get what this society wants

 

Paul Weller said it some while ago

[danthecapriman]

40 minutes ago, Blunderguts said:

Nice! Those headlamps are unusual for a RHD vehicle though. Wheels are unusual too, not seen any like them before.

 

A little story of tank-grade Volvo robustness...

Coming back from shopping one day we hit a mahoosive pothole at 40+mph with an almighty bang. The impact was so great that it dislodged a stainless wheel trim that went hurtling off into the woods at the side of the road. We stopped and retrieved the trim. Damage report? None! The wheel is still on the car with no hint of a bend and the tyre had no damage either.  These are alloy wheels....

A modern car would need a new wheel and probably other work too.

The US lights aren’t original on this car. When I got it (for £FREE!) it was a standard euro spec GLE, I just bought a set of North American headlight units and fitted them with RHD headlight units in place of the old US sealed beams. 
The wheels are the GLE alloy it came with, but I’ve had them stripped and powder coated.   
That estate is actually still yet to go over the 100k mile mark.

My own story of Volvo toughness…

I had a gold 740 saloon a while before this estate and got rear ended in it by a Peugeot 607. When it happened there was an almighty thud, and I remember seeing loads of bits of plastic flying up in the air in the rear view mirror! 
I got out (I was well pissed off thinking my Volvo was now smashed!) walked around the back to see the carnage.

The Peugeot had hit at a funny angle and continued slightly past my car. It had a smashed front bumper and bonnet, completely destroyed front wing, both doors on one side mangled and my exhaust tailpipe had sliced the rear alloy wheel on the way past. The rear door was so badly bent it wouldn’t open!

The Volvo? I had a scuff mark on the plastic bumper, a very slight scratch on the paint under the rear light and a little section of the plastic tail light had broken out. That was it! Absolutely nothing else! I actually went and got some superglue afterwards and glued the broken light back together and you couldn’t tell afterwards.

Good cars! Strong and dependable!

This was the previous one. When I sold it, it had 187k miles on it and still felt like a much younger lower mileage car. The next owner added significantly more.

[GeordieInExile]

20 hours ago, Spiny Norman said:

The idea of a Volvo estate being hard to park/manoeuvre is ridiculous. Try reverse parking a 240/940/850 wagon and then do the same in a 2 foot shorter last gen Fiesta without parking sensors and see which one makes you sweat.  And if it all goes tits-up? Well....Volvo bumpers.


 

Strongly agree. My 850 was honestly the easiest car I've ever had to park. Loads of glass, could see every edge of the car from the driving seat. My current V70 is also a doddle now I'm used to it (less glass and a sloping front edge).

[inconsistant]

4 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

Slight thread drift here.

We all know that the first crossover was the Matra Simca Rancho which was vastly before it's time. However what would people say were the first mainstream SUVs? Honda HRV? Nissan Terrano and Ford Maverick?

Suzuki Vitara or  X90?

[myglaren]

We always had Volvo estates at work.  Boss's partners sister was married to Per Gyllenhammer (Volvo boss at the time) so there was a sweetheart deal going on.

We had a tiny girl working with us, nickname Lillan (little one) with a little girl voice and she amazed onlookers the way she chucked them around and could parallel park in a space a couple of feet longer than the car - in one swift go too.

I have had a few estates, a Volvo 265 GLE that was very easy to handle.  A Citroen BX equally so and a Citroen C5 estate, also pretty easy but the previous two were better.

Volvo was rear-ended in a traffic queue by an Astra.  Girl jumped out and was relieved to see no damage to the Volvo, hadn't even knocked the muck off the bumper.  Unfortunately there was a tow-ball that caved in the front of her Astra and completely destroyed the radiator.

[UltraWomble]

Time to buy a Dacia...