Does sound like bait and switch.

But there are no POS 240's - just less expensive fixer upper project cars. Hope it stays that way!
--
www.fidalgo.net/~brook4

Consider yourself lucky! I recently had warranty issues with my '00 XC & did not have the luxury of a loaner. I spent out of pocket $755.00 for a rental car for the 4 weeks that they had my car! I would have a much happier camper if they had had a 240DL for a loaner!

Yeah, I've seen a lot of 240s used as Loaners for the day in plenty of Volvo repair shops. And some of them are rougher than others. All of them have a minimum of 240k on them, yet all of them have great AC, are dependable, and keep on going. And have been on the road a lot longer than the POS FWD models that can't even go 100k without dropping a transmission.

But those shops love those 240s as loaners for several reasons.

1) they can be counted on, unlike the 60/70/80/90 series.
2) People who don't own the cars have a habit of abusing the cars. A 240 can take it.
3) they love to show the incredible longevity of Volvos to customers so they might by more. And the 240 keeps on ticking.

Laugh if you want, but you'll be lucky if you get half the service that 240 gave in its life. A little electrical grease will make those brake lights work fine.

PS, this doesn't mean I think they were deliberately misleading in their advertising.

I can't blame you for being upset, but I do resent your calling the 240 a "POS." I realize that I am in the "wrong" forum and I don't expect to receive any empathy here, but I think that your comment was completely unnecessary and inaccurate to boot.

What, to your way of thinking, constitutes a "POS"? I will concede that the Cross Country is an improvement over the 240 with respect to comfort, performance and even safety, but build quality is seriously lacking, as evidenced by Volvo's latest rankings in various "initial quality" surveys. The 240 may leave much to be desired when compared to a V70/XC using the aforementioned criteria, but its build quality is exemplary and has yet to be matched by any contemporary Volvo model.

The 240 was built to appeal primarily to a crowd that desired a well engineered, well made workhorse to provide many years of dependable transportation. The current generation of FWD cars, in my opinion, are built to appeal *primarily* to a crowd that desires a car to impress their neighbors and colleagues, a la BMW and Mercedes Benz. Such people are likely to "upgrade" frequently, so the car doesn't have to last 200,000 miles.

I guess one's definition of "POS" depends on one's view of the "ideal" car.

When I had my 2001 XC in for service, the salesman who sold me the car lent me his personal new S70. He then brought my XC back to my house at the end of the day (it was somewhat on his way home) and we swapped cars!

john,

sounds like the typical "bait and switch" technique.this is almost as bad as a friend of mine who had his car repaired at an auto body show and was wondering why it was taking so long for the repair when one day he was driving near the shop and they were using "his" repaired car as a loaner.

Betcha it made you really appreciate the XC, huh?

I think Folvo has discontinued or stopped subsidizing the loaner program. In the past I've had S80s, S60s and new XCs, lately it's just been S40s. Which is still OK, since the dealer is in just as bad a location as any of the area Volvo indy shops. I go there because if I don't need a ride it saves karma debits to wife.gov. Anyway, if they DIDN'T provide a loaner, you couldn't drag me there.

Your dealer must be desperate to try to keep it's shop busy, and at minimal marginal cost, this isn't uncommon in tough economic times when people put off routine maintainance.

-bill d cat