Wife wants a VOLVO, I'm going to suggest a Tesla.

[timk225]

My wife has seen me in my Model 3 for nearly 2 years now, and she loves her butt warmer (seat heater) when she's in the car. But she's had it in her head for a few years now that she wants a Volvo XC90, XC60, or XC40, despite never having even test driven one.

She's not a technical type, and although she could learn the nuances of a Tesla, she's weird about stuff like that. If she doesn't want to do it all on her own, it'll be tough to change her mind.

I already have the charging setup in the driveway. She wouldn't be in a VOLVO. And no more paying for gasoline and the taxes on it, at least until PA adds a registration fee.

Any ideas to steer her in the right direction? My guess is that she would want a base 3 SR+ in blue paint color.

 

[jimmym1981]

We are going from an XC40 to a Y. The Volvo is literally the best car I have ever owned and me and the wife are kinda sad to get rid of it this summer. One thing I can say is that our main focus was going electric and technology focused. We have the charging infrastructure available and the almost zero maintenance seals the deal. The Y will be a car we keep for a good while as well.

Even though Volvos are great cars, once you get up there in miles and out of warranty, they aren’t the cheapest to repair, especially the newer ones with more technical aspects to them. In the end, we decided to spend the extra 10k now, save on gas (which is bound to go back up one day) and keep the worry of after warranty maintenance in the back of our minds. Plus, I mean a Tesla is about 100x more fun to drive as well!

 

[woof]

My wife decided a new X after the lease expired was too expensive. Went with the XC90 T8 (aka plug-in hybrid, w. 20 miles of AER). "Pilot Assist" is pretty close to AutoPilot. HUD is nice. And she has electric only driving days, so that's nice. More AER would be really nice.

I find the XC90 more complicated than the X...lots of buttons, AND a complex touch screen menu. But I don't drive it much, so haven't gotten accustomed to the quirks.

 

[SDRick]

Have her test drive the Volvo, that sealed the deal for me.

 

[holmgang]

Volvo runs a 2-year fully-inclusive subscription program, including the ability to swap cars at end of year 1.

That might be a good placeholder until you decide another car

Car Subscription - Care by Volvo

 

[timk225]

Do all these turbocharged Volvos require 91 octane / premium fuel? That'll help her see that Tesla is the better deal.

I was just on the Volvo site and it looks like the XC 90/60/40 all use a 2.0 4 cylinder engine, squeezed hard with boost to make any power.

 

[OCR1]

It sounds like your wife wants an SUV. If that is the case I don’t think she will be happy with the Model 3. See if you can wait until she has a chance to compare the Volvo to the Model Y. That would be a more direct comparison.

 

[outdoordawg]

May be what she really really wants is that CD player.. Tesla is probably the wrong choice.

 

[garrett5688]

I haven’t had a good experience convincing my wife to drive something she doesn’t want to.

 

[m3-ricardo]

my $0.02 regarding marital stuff ..

let your wife do/have whatever she wants -- you do you, let her be her ..

i've never succeeded in getting my wife to like/want something she didn't want (and when i did, i lived to regret it) ..

-- the only caveat was that i did succeed in getting my wife to want a tesla .. -- i did that by buying one (model 3 AWD - LR - FSD) for myself and letting her drive it on her 2 hr commute to work.

after about 2 months, she began borrowing my car to go everywhere, and finally i asked her if she would like to have that car .. she said yes, and now i am waiting to take delivery of a P3D ..

the important thing though is that it was her choice, if she had asked for a subaru instead (her car is getting old and we agreed it needed replacement), i would have bought her a subaru.

 

[SDRick]

I couldn't agree more with Garrett and M3 above. It should be her decision.

Since the OP's wife has never driven a Volvo I suggest the first step is have her go for a test drive. Until then, nothing else matters. After a test drive, there is a high probability that she will prefer a Tesla.

 

[Merrill]

I had Volvo’s and before the Tesla’s Mercedes suv’s both very nice but once my Wife drove the Model X, bye bye Mercedes.

 

[Uncle Paul]

Ladies tend to want Volvo because it touts great safety and security features. Women love safety and security. Men tend to go along because Volvo is the least expensive option for all the premium and prestige brands.

They like to have something safe for hauling the kids around, and it has additional prestige to take the girlfriends out to lunch/events.

They do not get great gas mileage, are expensive to maintain, and service is hard to find.

 

[SMAlset]

@timk225 If your wife values Consumer Reports rankings at all Model 3 came out today as their only domestic Top Pick in this price category. New formatting by price range and solid on safety features. BTW Volvo not mentioned in any top pick category and ranked lower overall by manufacturer, Teslas overall 11; Volvo, 22.

Tesla Model 3 only domestic model in Consumer Reports' top picks

 

[DMLou]

There is an electric XC40 coming out some time this year. However, the range seems lacking as last I checked it looked to be at around 200 miles.

Yes, the electric XC40 was one of the cars I was considering before I settled on my (still waiting for the VIN) Model 3.

 

[Bill Foster]

From the stories I hear from my buddy who is the service manager of a Volvo dealer, hard pass on the volvo

 

[Bill Foster]

There is an electric XC40 coming out some time this year. However, the range seems lacking as last I checked it looked to be at around 200 miles.

Yes, the electric XC40 was one of the cars I was considering before I settled on my (still waiting for the VIN) Model 3.

The absolute last thing I would do is buy a first model year electric car from an ICE manufacturer

 

[VTShaggy]

Schedule a Volvo test drive and go with her. But do it early Saturday morning. The night before do Margarita night, followed by tequila shots. Pass gas in the car during the test drive.

That should do it.

 

[Zaxxon]

We had an XC90 T8 (2017). Then that was bought back just prior to being branded a lemon. We got a 2018 XC90 T8. Now my wife drives an X.

I liked the XC90--there are a lot of positives. But at the end of the day the tech is just not at all up to par with a Tesla. The Sensus interface is extremely annoyingly slow. The software experience is--in comparison to a Tesla--terrible. You've got the electric drivetrain plus the complexity of a turbo & supercharged gasoline engine. And yes, it requires premium fuel.

Not saying don't get the Volvo--just go in with eyes open, and make sure that she's buying it because she really is in love with it.

On the plus side--I loved the Bursting Blue paint color. Volvo definitely has Tesla beat on paint options. And the seats in the XC90 are great (though I find the X seats to also be pretty darned good).

 

[Uncle Paul]

Perhaps ask your Wife some questions.

Does she like going to gas stations.
Does she like paying for premium fuel.
Does she like taking the car in twice a year for oil changes.
Does she enjoy the lag when pressing the accelerator pedal.
Does she like the noise a car makes when standing near the motor.
Does she like polluting the atmosphere.
Does she like supporting big oil companies,
Does she like taking the car in for tune ups.
Does she want a car with poor Consumer Reports evaluation.
Does she want a foreign made car or USA built.
Does she mind carrying around 20 gallons of inflamable gasoline.
Does she realize that just leaving a ICE car idling in at garage can kill people.
Does she like pumping gas at dangerous gas stations. Being accosted by pan handlers and squeegie guys.

Might make her at least think about going electric.