IAS v getting the car I'd really like
 

Following a number of recommendations on this site I have made contact with IAS.
We're planning for a 3 year relocation August/ September on an L1 visa.
So I have spoken to one of their very helpful consultants on Friday.

However, I had my heart set on a Volvo XC60 (its the only car hubby and I can agree on) and they seemed more inclined to offer me a Ford Escape. I've driven Volvo's, no experience of Ford cars. Besides, I'll be driving it most.

Now I'm all for sorting all of this out before we leave the country, just so we don't have to deal with it once we get there and it will be one less thing to do.

Can anyone offer me any advice please?
Can anyone persuade me that I should just suck it up and accept the Ford?

Thank you in advance :D

Re: IAS v getting the car I'd really like
 

My 2 cents.

If you are really set on the Volvo then also do some research on the Volvo dealers in the area you move to. My experience with the Volvo dealers in my area put me off buying another for life as they treated me like shit. One dealers treatment of customers was based on if you actually bought the car from them. If you didn't then you got treated very badly.

On the Volvos themselves. Well for a manufacturer who prides themselves on safety I can say that didn't end up true for us. While my wife was driving it went into "Limp home mode" on a major highway with minimal hard shoulders. "Limp home mode" means the car has minimal power and can only do about 30mph max. Very dangerous. It turned out the Volvo knew about the issue that caused the loss of power and refused to do anything about until the NHTSA go involved and forced them to do a recall. We actually were contacted by the NHTSA investigators for details of our experience with the issue.

So for me never a Volvo again.

Your mileage may vary

Re: IAS v getting the car I'd really like
 

Fords have an identical system. My F150 did it on the interstate. Luckily, i was only about 150m from a slip road. It's designed to protect your engine when it detects a fault.

Re: IAS v getting the car I'd really like
 

All manufacturers have it nowadays. The problem was not that it actually went into this mode it was because Volvo refused to acknowledge that they had a faulty component that caused the limp home mode. Not really very safety conscious IMO.

Re: IAS v getting the car I'd really like
 

IAS can get a Ford relatively easily and ready for when you need it on arrival. Push back on the Volvo if that is what you want. First of all, ask if they will pay for a rental car whilst you wait for your car ( don't mention volvo yet) then once you've got this answer ask them to get you quotes and delivery dates for the volvo. Be prepared for the delivery date to be at least a month after you get here and it may increase.

A friend really wanted an Audi, IAS came through but the wait was 6-8 weeks.

Also try expatride.

Re: IAS v getting the car I'd really like
 

Volvo sales in the US have fallen markedly in recent years, so much so that there was speculation that they might withdraw from the US market. It remains to be seen if the manufacturing plant that they're building in SC will mark a reversal in fortunes. .... But it isn't only the US where Volvo is struggling - their sales in Sweden, their home market, have fallen too, such that in 2016 the best selling car in Sweden wasn't a Volvo. This is the first time that has happened since 1962.

IMO Volvo isn't the manufacturer we remember, and is in trouble. I wouldn't buy one.

Re: IAS v getting the car I'd really like
 

loads of people around here have a volvo!

either a VC60 or VC90. We have a large volvo dealership in town.

We also have a Tesla dealership just up the road from me and I would love to get the new smaller one coming out....

Re: IAS v getting the car I'd really like
 

I'm not a car buff so can't add much to this thread other than Tesla seem to be popping up all over the place in my area, I've seen at least 2 dealerships get built recently (ontop of the existing onces), and a fair few restaurants have started putting in their supercharger stations. Always full.

I'd also love one :thumbsup:

Re: IAS v getting the car I'd really like
 

I have no doubt that is true.

In the early 2000's the market share of Volvo in the US reached and exceed 0.8%. In 2013-15 it was 0.4% or less. In 2016 market share recover a little to 0.47%

Re: IAS v getting the car I'd really like
 

Tesla look awesome and have so many gadgets, but just don't have a long enough track record for me.

They've just had a large recall for a faulty parking brake.

Re: IAS v getting the car I'd really like
 

I'm aware they're not as popular in Sweden anymore but then I understood the company had been sold to a Chinese an loyalty was not the same. Isn't it Ford owned now??
I accept this argument though.

A few years ago, when the kids were small, we decided moving buggies and dogs would be easiest in an estate. When we went to the second hand dealership I didn't like the soft, 'floaty' drive of the standard V70. However, as we'd given up and were leaving the saleman persuaded me to try out a V70 T5, it had been sitting around for months and they were keen to get shot of it. But as soon as took it out I loved that car. It was seriously thirsty and in the end too many things were going wrong with it, but I loved that car.
Last year, we rented a V40 for a two week holiday in Tuscany, again I was having serious fun driving a Volvo.

That said, I don't have loads of experience of different cars. Can you sell me a Ford? Hubby doesn't really care. He's strange :huh:

Re: IAS v getting the car I'd really like
 

...and when I say hubby doesn't care. I mean, as long as it's not a BMW or an Audi. Then, when I suggested the Land Rover Discovery Sport, he didn't like that either.
When I asked him what he did want he said... he didn't care :confused::banghead:

Re: IAS v getting the car I'd really like
 

estate? hatchback?saloon?
what's your preference?

I've got a Fusion hybrid saloon at the mo as a rental car. It's comfy, reasonably fast, not too terrible for petrol consumption but for me I like the big open boot of an estate.

Have you looked at the Ford Explorer? Or the Edge?

Re: IAS v getting the car I'd really like
 

SUV, I think.

At the moment I drive a hatchback and hubby drives an estate. However, we're aiming to get ourselves on the mainline so that hubby can take the train to work and we'll only need one car. But it will have a lot to do.
It needs to have space for all 4 of us, two dogs, and 'stuff' for long drives. At the same time I'll be doing short runs in it during the day. Haven't driven an SUV yet but I fancy the higher view. I like driving and it needs to be comfortable. Hubby drives very carefully, whereas he and the kids say I drive as if I've nicked the car.
But then I don't know what driving is like in the States. I'm a bit afraid of something too big, I hate that swing that comes driving something enormous. Eg I thnk the Audi Q5, Volvo XC90 would be too big. Haven't seen the Ford's in real life.

Re: IAS v getting the car I'd really like
 

Sense of scale is very different here.... The volvo and Audi really aren't bigger than most cars.

I didn't buy it because I wanted to get 5 adult-sized people in the car but the Ford Explorer will definitely fit 4 comfortably and has a big suv boot. IAS won't have a problem getting one of these for you either. The Explorer is not regarded as overly big at all.

Tahoe? Bigger than the explorer but still not massive by US standards.

Or a Honda Pilot? Probably not quite so easy for IAS.

We bought a Toyota 4runner which I have now changed for a Prius V (estate). I liked the 4 runner but the kids in the back did not like it at all.