Volvo XC40 Forums

As a prospective new owner, I'm crawling over the configurations... and have hit a snag on a heated windscreen.

I think every car I've owned for the last 30 years has had one, almost all as standard.
Not so Volvo. It seems to need the £775 Climate Pack, which contains 5 other options that I do not want (my current car has all of them and never used the heated [thing]).

Will I really have to pay £775 for a heated windscreen?
No, obviously I will go to the pound store and buy an ice-scraper. That seems a bit pathetic for a £35-40K car.

Or am I missing something?

Mark

My XC40 Insignia doesn't have a heated windscreen. My last car, a top end Audi Q3 didn't have one. Before that I had a pretty standard Ford Focus, which DID have one.

Marketing guys have worked out that the more you pay, the less you should get. Wheels will soon be paid for add ons.

Were you previous cars all Fords?

Ford held the patent on the heated front windscreen for many years and were the only cars fitted, even in the lower specs.

The patent has now expired, think early 2000s, so other brands now have it.

I'm not a fan of heated windscreens, the wires irritate me, but I had to have one on this car as the only way (at the time) to get the heated seats was to buy the winter pack.

I recall reading something years back that every heated windscreen installed meant royalty payments to Ford, as they own the patent and for some reason it's not included in the usual car manufacturers patent swap deals. So maybe that's why it's a non standard item on most cars. That might also be completely wrong, so don't take it as gospel.

A N Other wrote: ↑Mon Sep 14, 2020 5:29 pm Were you previous cars all Fords?

Ford held the patent on the heated front windscreen for many years and were the only cars fitted, even in the lower specs.

The patent has now expired, think early 2000s, so other brands now have it.

A timely and better informed post than mine

DanishPastry wrote: ↑Mon Sep 14, 2020 4:54 pm

Will I really have to pay £775 for a heated windscreen?

Yes as it is part of a pack of other items and assuming you don't want things like heated seats which are also included in the pack.

If you have a garage to keep your car in rather than the junk many people keep in theirs...then you likely won't need one.

You can have it included in your build...if you're spending £40k on a new car then why quibble of 700 quid to get the specification you want?? You'll lose thousands driving a new car out of the showroom so why worry about £700?

If you're that worried consider a second hand XC40 that has one fitted??

You might not need the heated windscreen: on a cold day you can remote start the engine with your smartphone via Volvo On Call app and by the time you'll get into the car (10-15 min later) not only your windshield will be defrosted, but also you’ll enjoy a warm and cozy cabin

Thanks eugen61, that seems a good work-around. I can forget the Climate package and still not have to ice-scrape

In well over 40 years of driving I've never had a heated windscreen. However did I manage ?

Is this what's known as a 1st world problem?

I had a couple of Fords back in the past that had heated windscreens. I found the heating element distracting at night with oncoming headlights refracting off them.