kirida reviews

In which I roll with the Volvo XC60

June 9, 2009

This is a compensated post by BlogHer and Volvo.

This spring Volvo took a multi-city tour across America called from Sweden with LOV to showcase its newest vehicle, the XC60. I was paid $50.00 by Volvo and and Blogher to test out this new luxury vehicle and I was eager to see what all the excitement–or whatever the Swedish word for excitement is–was all about.

The XC60 is the newest model and it was the first time I had even been in a Volvo. We were given a history of Volvo and some stories of its loyal customers, like one man who had over a million original miles and still continued to drive his car. Also, I learned that the word Volvo means “I roll” in Latin, and not “shiny car” in Swedish. Did you know that? The more you know!

After a presentation of the XC60’s interior features such hidden cargo space, leather upholstery, and new panoramic moonroof , the guests were offered test-drives to try out a major highlight of the new XC60: the City Safety feature.

Standard with all XC60 models, City Safety is a laser-system that monitors up to 18 feet of traffic in front of the vehicle. If it senses that the driver is not going to stop before colliding, it will engage the brakes to avoid crashing. We were told that it works when the driver is traveling at a speed lower than nine miles an hour. If the driver is traveling between 9 and 19 miles an hour, it won’t prevent a collision but the XC60 will lessen the impact.

At first, I did not want to try it out because I was skeptical. I knew it would be just my luck to be the only person to actually hit something, or somehow I would break the driver’s seat. But after a few rounds of watching other people drive, I was convinced that I needed to see this for myself.

When it was my turn, the lovely woman conducting the test drive explained to me what we were going to do. We were going to slowly drive forward to where the barrier was and the laser-radar would sense that I was going to hit and City Safety was going to save me. So I rolled forward and she told me to press the gas.

“Accelerate!” She said. “Accelerate! Don’t press the brakes!”

I did as she instructed but it was incredibly difficult to follow because I am not used to running into things, especially when I know what is going to happen.

There was a huge disconnect because for the past 10 years that I have been given the privilege of being behind the wheel, I have learned that when my car is going to hit an object that pressing the brakes is the solution! Pressing the brakes is normal reaction and also keeps my insurance rates from skyrocketing.

The car zoomed forward as we approached the barrier and I felt my body tighten. I gripped the wheel and prepared to ruin this beautiful vehicle. The car’s interior filled with the sound of my yelling. And suddenly, the brakes engaged and our bodies lurched forward and we had stopped.

We had stopped within inches, just like she had said. We had not touched the barrier at all.

I was stunned that it had worked and that I wouldn’t have to go home and tell my husband about the whole, “You break it or drive into a metal barrier, you buy it” policy and that my idiocy just bought us a new car.

JennyOnTheSpot has a similar reaction

I can see this having a huge impact in my life because there have been a few times when I have had to whip my head back to warn my son that if he does not stop kicking the back of my seat, I will have to turn the car around and while I am invoking THE MOM VOICE, I tap on the brakes, thinking that all the other cars are still traveling slowly and when I turn back a second or two later, I gasp and slam the brakes to avoid bumping into the car in front of me. It’s happened.

This is how a few moments of inattentiveness–whether it is yelling at my son to please act like a normal human being or casually checking my iPhone to see who just called me while I carelessly think traffic is still moving along—can cause serious damage to my car, the other driver and my sanity.

The MSRP is now $32,995 for the new 3.2 engine, and the T6 engine starts at $38,650, which is not exactly cheap, but I did a random non-scientific survey around my office and several of my co-workers paid a lot more than that for new cars that do not have many of the features like City Safety that come standard with the XC60. Their cars do not have a built-in system that will keep alert them when they’re going to hit the car in front or a monitor that televises what’s behind the vehicle while he/she is parking in reverse.

Volvo did not skimp on protecting its drivers. Many of the standard features are heavy on protective safety, such as an anti-skid system, fog lights, a roll-over protection system, dual stage airbags for the driver and front passenger, side impact protection system and energy-absorbing frontal structure.

For the price and array of standard features, Volvo definitely provides its drivers a luxury automobile that truly comes from Sweden with LOV.
The afternoon gave me a great view of a company that cares about its product and more importantly its drivers.

So I’m interested, when shopping for a car, what features do you look for?