A few questions on possible :- XC40 Plus B4 AWD mild hybrid

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Deleted User 3359

Post by Deleted User 3359 »

KeithR56 wrote: Thu Jun 30, 2022 11:15 am After reading all these accounts of excellent fuel consumption, I think I’m going to take my car in to be looked at. There must be a fault somewhere.

I’m on holiday in south west Scotland this week and have been covering around 150 miles per day, almost entirely on empty A roads, cruising at a steady 50mph with virtually no braking, or acceleration, no traffic, and no steep hills. The best I’ve returned this week is around 41mpg. I’ve also calculated the fuel used between fills (full to full) which works out at 39.8mpg. This is so much better than I get at home which is mostly short journeys, but apparently not what others achieve. And my XC40 is 2WD which surely should be more economical than AWD.

The dealer will probably put it down to driving style, but I’m very gentle with the right foot.
Your car and mine must be twins... As I've said earlier in this thread, I've always been an economical driver, and beaten fuel figures (including in 1980's 760 V6's!), I can't get the XC40 close to the WLTP numbers...

KeithR56
Posts: 222
Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2022 4:16 pm

Post by KeithR56 »

It isn't just you and I Larry and that have issues with fuel economy. On this, and other forums there seems to be a split opinion. Some are happy that they achieve between 35mpg around town and 48mpg on a longer run, but just as many others seem to struggle to get anywhere near those figures. In the five months I've owned the car, I have only once achieved mpg in the mid 40s and that was very much a one off. I normally get low 20s around town and mid to high 30s on a long run.

I didn't buy an XC40 for its fuel economy. I didn't expect it to match the economy of a diesel. I did, however, expect it to perform as well as the Volvo salesman claimed it would. I'm not just having a moan here; I'm trying to understand why I can’t achieve those figures. Perhaps there's a fault on my car that the dealer can identify and rectify. Maybe it’s due to Volvo’s decision to remove the active radiator shutters for MY22 cars as a cost saving. The only reason they were fitted was to improve fuel economy.

It's going to have to go in to the dealer anyway because I have a few other issues for them to take a look at. It currently has more rattles than Mothercare. And, after arguing on this forum for the benefits of having a sunroof, my roof has just started making the "flapping" noise that others have complained about. Apparently it's a fault with the sunroof drainage hoses that Volvo have known about since May 2019. They have an easy fix for it, so why are they still turning them out with a know fault??? It would seem that after 25 years of being a Volvo owner, I've finally got one that isn't perfect.
MY22 XC40 Inscription B4P, Auto, FWD, Denim blue, Blond Leather, Climate, Versatility, Sunroof, Tints.
KeithR56
Posts: 222
Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2022 4:16 pm

Post by KeithR56 »

I rang my local dealer this morning and got my XC40 booked in. As soon as I said "noisy sunroof", the technician knew immediately what the problem was. It's apparently a fault on XC40 sunroof drain tubes that's been known about since April 2019 (my car is MY22). They're also going to fix some of the door rattles which is also a common problem (loose rivets apparently) and look into the poor fuel consumption.

I've owned a lot of Volvo cars over the years and have never experienced any build quality problems on any of them before now. Quality standards have definitely gone down recently. More cost cutting, no doubt. However, they're aware of the issues and it will be sorted by the dealership.

This has been a fairly long thread and the OP has probably made his choice by now, but anyone who's thinking of getting an XC40 should be aware of the bad as well as the good. There's an awful lot of good that easily outweighs the bad.
MY22 XC40 Inscription B4P, Auto, FWD, Denim blue, Blond Leather, Climate, Versatility, Sunroof, Tints.
Deleted User 3629

Post by Deleted User 3629 »

Its unforgivable to know of a problem and keep churning a product out without fixing it, but that aside, I guess the dreaded word "covid" has had a lot to do with quality issues - you hear of so many factories saying so many are off sick and the remaining staff are just trying to cope and filling-in for missing staff - imagine that scenario on a production line, and you can bet Volvo is no exception - their is even a phrase going around - "covid built" - so watch out going forward as any product built during this time may well have that badge attached to it throughout its service life?
KeithR56
Posts: 222
Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2022 4:16 pm

Post by KeithR56 »

I guess the dreaded word "covid" has had a lot to do with quality issues
I’ve managed to avoid COVID so far, but it looks like my car might not have been so lucky 🤔

It probably wouldn’t matter so much if I was leasing the car, but it was a cash purchase and a major investment for me now that I’m retired.

I’m sure the dealership will sort out all of the niggles for me. If they can’t, I’ll have to learn to live with them for a very long time.
MY22 XC40 Inscription B4P, Auto, FWD, Denim blue, Blond Leather, Climate, Versatility, Sunroof, Tints.
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