Vermont Volvo Car Dealers

I've posted here in the past about the problems we have had with our 2001 XC. Some were fairly critical. I didn't think that the newly restyled XC was any improvement. Was I wrong. A week or so ago, we bought a new 2009 XC with premium and techonology for MSRP, less 10K. It was a painless transaction with Lee Volvo in Wellesley, MA. While I recognize that our brand new 2009 is now one model year old, we keep cars for a long time and the 2009's still have the five year free scheduled maintenance and five year warranty. The new 2010's have only 4 years. We like the car a lot. It has clearly much less torque steer, is a lot quicker, and has better ride than than the 2001. Plus lots of little features that make it a great car for New England: heated headlight washers, a conservative non-wheel bending tire profile, SERIUS radio (yep, anyone driving in rural VT or NH better have SERIUS), etc. Although the technology package contained zenons and a better sterio and not much else we wanted it for increased safety on dark nights. Curiosly enough, our XC with premium and technology (only) came through with nicely tinted rear windows although it wasn't mentioned as being part of either package. Why a Volvo XC instead of an Audi or BMW wagon? Afterall, at this stage in the game we could afford to have gone German. Easy. With the 6K factory incentive, the 2.5K loyaty incentive and the dealer contribution we paid about 34K. No way an Audi or a 5 Series wagon would have been within 20K of that. Leaving money aside, the ride is great, the seats are the best in the industry (as our 2001 seats are), the wheels are not super low profile, and it has all the bells and whistles we need. (I am still not sure if I had had the choice if I would have gone for the turbo version for 2K more.) In the meantime, we kept the 2001 XC. Don't know why except maybe we are a glutton for punishment. At 105,000 miles it runs like a train (and always has: the suspension and brakes have always been issues) but we are told the drive shaft center carrier bearing is worn and the drive shaft will begin moving around shortly. This would be no big deal in most cars as you would just drop the drive shaft and replace the center carrier bearing. Volvo? Nope. You can't buy the center support separately and have to buy the whole driveshaft for $1100. Maybe VolvoMax knows of a junkyard with good used drive shafts?

This is the offer I received today from our local Volvo dealer. What do you think? Residual seems low, but I don't think there is much wiggle room there. I wonder however, if it is realistic to get a bit more knocked off the initial cap cost. Thoughts? MSRP $44,725.00 Cap Cost Reduction $0.00 Initial Cap Cost $36,255.00 Refundable Security Dep $0.00 Accessories $325.00 Acquisition Fee $895.00 Cost added to Lease $0.00 First Month Payment $599.51 Cap Cost Reductions $0.00 VT Tax $1,071.03 Adjusted Cap Cost $36,580.00 VT Reg $60.00 Mileage per year 15000 Title Fee $28.00 Residual Value $18,784.50 42 % Lien Fee $0.00 Money Factor 0.0019 Interest rate(%) 4.56 Doc Fee $55.00 Term(months) 36 Monthly payment $599.51 Total due at signing $2,708.54

I apologize in advance for posting somewhat off topic, but I can't find how to reply directly to Fargodog. In order to keep on topic, I went to the Volvo dealer today and found the following: The current Lease special is now $10,000. This is what I was offered without even much haggling: $41,260 MSRP (Premium and Climate Package) Lease Discount: $10,000 Cap: $29,500 Residual: $17,329 Due at Signing: $1,790.59 36 months 12,000 miles per year Monthly Payment with tax: $475 I thought the dealer fees, etc are high. They want me to pay a $895 "Bank Fee" as well as $289 dealer fee, which seems out-of-line. Also the monthly is still a bit higher than I would like to see it. What's everyone else think? Now, to answer Fargodog's question -- I've had my BMW for over 5 years and couldn't be happier with it. It has over 100,000 miles, still looks great, and I've never done anything outside of regular maintenance (haven't even done the clutch yet). I plan on keeping it till I have almost 200,000 on it, probably another 4 years. It's responsive, fun to drive, quiet on the highway and reliable. The 325's don't have the most horsepower, the fastest time from 0-60, or the best slalom time, but it's just does everything well enough to make it a great driving car. I'm not getting one for my wife (although my original plan was to give her mine and get a Certified Pre-owned 5 series or newer 3 series wagon for myself) for a few reasons. 1. My wife is a true Cambridgian (from Cambridge, MA,for none locals) and feels that a BMW is too pretentious -- if she had her way we'd be getting a Volvo 240 with a Jerry sticker on the back 2. We go to VT most weekends, and with the dog and baby and gear the 3-series is a little too small to fit everything With that being said, if you don't need the interior space of the XC-70, the 3-series is a great car. I'm not as big of a fan of the X-3, it's about the same interior space and I'm just not a fan of the higher ride. The wagon drives just like a sports sedan, but I can fit my bike and skis in the back, and my dog no problem. The X-3 just doesn't have the same ride. Also Consumer Reports doesn't rate it as high -- not sure if it has anything to do with it being made in a different plant than the 3-series. The 3 is made in the German factory, the X-3 is made in the US factory. Hope this helps. If you know how to reply to me directly, feel free -- sorry to the rest of the post for this slightly off-topic post.

Hello, Just got a lease quote on a 2006 XC70 with Premium Package & Climage Package MSRP $40,500 Initial Cap Cost $28,102 (A-Plan price) Adjusted Cap Cost $28,102 12K miles per year Residual $14,985 Interest 0.0025% 42-month Term $420.03 Monthly payment Total due at signing $2,125 Is this a good deal for A-Plan pricing? I am in the Burlington, VT area. Brand new to this forum and Volvo in general. Any help is much appreciated!!

Hello, Just got a lease quote on a 2006 XC70 with Premium Package & Climage Package MSRP $40,500 Initial Cap Cost $28,102 (A-Plan price) Adjusted Cap Cost $28,102 12K miles per year Residual $14,985 Interest 0.0025% 42-month Term $420.03 Monthly payment Total due at signing $2,125 Is this a good deal for A-Plan pricing? I am in the Northeast (VT/NH area). Brand new to this forum and Volvo in general. Any help is much appreciated!!