Pedestrian Safety

Since most of my blogs so far have been about my Volvo, other Volvos and wagons, I want to look at another blog that brings me back to a very important part of Volvo, which is safety. The reason I chose a particular blog from Volvo's own blogs was because it talks about an actual instance where their newest safety feature was used to actually save a life. It was not even the driver of the vehicle that may have been injured but a pedestrian. The incident happened while a journalist was driving one of Volvo's press cars. Because of how the system detects people and there movement it will fully stop the car for you if a pedestrian walks out in front of the vehicle. Right now City Safety with Pedestrian Detection (with Full Auto Break) is only available on the S60 and XC60 at the moment. Volvo plans to incorporate this life saving technology into each vehicle as they either bring out a new generation or facelift. The next vehicles to supposedly get this option will be the S80, V70 and XC70. Not to brag about how good the system is (I have actually tested it) the only other cars that have options anything close to these are the Mercedes Benz E and S class, which pretty much start at where a fully loaded S80 would stop price wise. As the journalist said the Technology Package may cost $2100 but it is worth every penny. I also agree with him and saying that this feature should not be and option but a standard feature to help save as many lives as possible. Last time Volvo did something like this it changed a safety feature in every car on the road, this was the creation of the 3-point safety harness and this was over 50 years ago. 

http://www.volvoblog.us/2011/04/13/at-least-one-person-has-an-angel-on-his-shoulder/

Why I love my Wagon

For this post I want to explain why I am such a big fan of wagons over SUVs. Even though there are a handful of SUVs out there that actually look good like the Volvo XC90 and XC60, Mercedes G Wagon and because it finally grew up the new Ford Explorer. Yes these cars have great looks and have a good ability to do a bit of off road capability with the exception of the Mercedes since it was originally a military vehicle. The main reason we started buying SUVs was for the same reason we bought wagons, its so we could get everything in the car and the kids too. Nowadays we have to tend to carpool, you can certainly do that with a wagon, Mercedes still offers a rear facing third row. If we are not going to use all the features of the SUV why don't we start going back to buying wagons which are just as versatile and actually get better gas milage since they have better aerodynamics. Since I bought my Volvo almost four years ago people have always asked me why I drive it, the answer is simple its better than a SUV. I think if people actually went out and gave them a try they would be able to see why we love them so much. Especially when you are able to light up the tires when the light turns green and you leave some kinda in there ricer in the dust.

Videos of the Princess

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This is the Princess when she is usually clean and running correctly.

Finding the Right Volvo for You

I want to discuss the importance of finding the perfect Volvo for you. They best way to find it espically if you are looking at pre-owned is to look on Autotrader, Cars.com and eBay. Why eBay because it is where I found my Princess. By using multiple websites to search for your Volvo you can find a wider selection and possibly a better price. If you are in the boat like me and looking for one of the extremely rare ones it can be a bit of a challenge. For the past year now I have been trying to find a Sonic Blue Volvo V70R AWD, it doesn't help that I am looking for one of the rarest colors that used for all of the “R”s but its even rarer for the wagons. Also by looking in different places you will be able to compare more models when you are about to purchase to make sure you are getting the one you really want.

Keyless Entry Help

I am going to tell you how to fix a small problem if it ever happens to your Volvo 850. Sometimes while working on my Princess I have to disconnect the battery if it is left unplugged for a long enough period of time it will un-program the keyless entry. The best thing about this is that there is no need to take your 850 into the Volvo dealer to have this fixed. The first step is to sit in the drivers seat. Make sure that all the doors are unlocked. Next put one of the master keys in the ignition, the valet keys will not work for this. You are then going to turn the key to the on position, make sure not to turn the car on. For the car to recognize that the sequence is being set you must turn the key to the on position and back to the off position five times within fifteen seconds. Immediatley after the sequence hold down one of the buttons on the keyless entry till you hear the doors click, personally I hold the lock button so I know that the keyless has been set again. If you have any problems with these simple steps you can always look in your owners manual, which is where I got my information to do this.