I am about to take my 2000 2.9 in again to try to remedy the horrible AM reception of my model HU-611. I am coming up on 50k and, of course, I want to get this taken care of before it rolls over. I know that some of you have gone through this and I have some questions. Would you please share your experiences?

If dealer decides to replace it, will they put in a refurbished unit? Always?
Is the HU-801 a better unit AM-wise? Better in general? I know the first ones ate CDs, do they still do that? (I was considering an offer to make up the difference if they choose to replace). Is a changeover even an option?
Any questions I neglected listing here?

Thank you for your help and insight.
Lee

Our 2000 S80 is on its second radio, had the antenna amp and cable replaced, and although some better than the original, it still is a poor radio. Compared to all the other car radios I've had since 1959, it is the worst. FM, tape and CD quality is great.

There was a question regarding whether or not the antenna cable was replaced so this was checked last week. It was replaced last year when the antenna amp was replaced. On the customer response card provided to give the dealer feedback, I filled it out mentioning our displeasure with the AM radio reception and questioned the "Volvo quality" issue on this subject. No response, yet.

Drive smart,

OK Guys, I had a bad day at work.. I am sorry to here about your son-in-law.. I really think there is a misconception.. AM radio is OK but there is to much out-side interference..And in-side interference.. So many computers.. So much wiring.. AM just is not what it used to be.. It was simple when cars WERE!! But now technology is more out there and poor little AM is struggling to come thru.. So all I can say is [sorry to say it] But Volvo could be working on a fix[dont quote me] so just hang in there... sorry if I offended you :-(

All I want to know is why all you piss ant MFer's want to listen to AM radio when you spent hundreds of $$$$ on a premium radio... AM radio is on the low end of the pole just like you guys/gals that listen to it... FM has much better clarity and is not affected by outside interference so get a life..If you want to listen to AM go bac to the 50's.............

Well Mr. Volvo Tech you can kiss MY ass. You are exactly the reason why Volvo will never gain a foothold in the "sports luxury market". Your attitude sucks! If I had wanted an FM-CD player that's what I would have purchased and I wouldn't have paid $ 1,000.00 for it either. You need to focus more on how you might deliver exactly what your customer purchased; not 2/3 of the package. Maybe that's good enough for a Ford pickup but it ain't good enough for me.

Thank you so much for pointing out the error in my ways regarding AM radio and that a $38K car doesn’t need one. I notice, though, that you did not mandate that they should not be so equipped. Until you do, shouldn’t one suppose that the AM should work as long as long as it did cost $$$?

I forwarded your message to our son-in-law who immediately resigned his position as producer of a nationally syndicated AM radio show to search for something more to your liking in the FM field. I have also sworn off live baseball games! I will now catch the score at the top of the hour when my favorite CW music show plays the news and sports. The nice thing is they also fit a traffic report in at the same time, too. Isn’t it great how simple my life will be?

Now I have some questions of my own. ARE YOU ON SOMETHING? Why are you so angry? Take another look at the essay you wrote. Where is the sanity in any word you chose?

Well, dealer said they found a loose wire at the amp. and fixed it today. They said that it would cause problems when I hit a bump or in one case slam the trunk lid. Those are the symptoms I was experiencing. The thing has not worked this well for a long time (if ever). I'm happy!

Hello Lee,
There is usually nothing wrong with your radio unit when it comes to poor AM reception! Do not even consider replacing the radio due to this problem.

Poor AM reception is now possible to fix at your Volvo workshop, they should have a service solution available to improve the antenna cable shielding to the antenna amplifier. (someting with a brass metal strip).
Its the poor shielding quality that cause poor AM reception.

If you replace the radio, you will mostly have a refurnished unit in return.

HU-801 does not give better AM-reception, but it is a more hi-tech unit with built in CD-changer, Dolby Prologic, RDS, etc. But you will need to buy a external amplifier 4x50W if upgrading to HU-801.

I have yet to hear of any S80 radios eating cds as you say but if you wish to change model #s, that won't be warrantiable and you'ld have to pay for the swap plus software.
If the unit is replaced to cure the AM reception problem with another, same model #, then you won't pay anything under warranty assuming the radio itself, not the antenna amplifier, is the problem.