[eckelhesten]

Volvo sadly no longer stands for Swedish quality and safety.

What you’re buying is essentially an overpriced Chinese car with Volvo stickers.

And I’m saying this as a Swede. Buy German cars, specifically within the Volkswagen auto group (Audi, VW, Skoda etc) if you want reliable quality.

[blueflow]

> .... if you want reliable quality.

I'm saying this as a German, i strongly reject those accusations. Do not buy from VW group (and not from PSA/Stellantis (Citroen, Fiat, Opel etc brands), either).

[nicholasbraker]

I have been driving VW for decades. Never had any issue apart from some Apple CarPlay snags. Drove Golf, Touran and Tuiguan Allspace. Always a pleasure.

[nicce]

What reliable is left?

[breadwinner]

I rented an Audi Q7 for a week recently. The drive quality of the car is excellent. But the software is terrible. Just getting CarPlay to work every time is a challenge. I will not be buying an Audi any time soon.

As more and more of the vehicle's experience becomes software controlled, manufacturers who don't have good software development teams are going to lose out. German companies don't seem to understand the growing importance of software, and they are happy to collectively develop the software [1] as opposed to seeing software as a key differentiator.

[1] https://www.electrive.com/2025/06/25/automotive-industry-lau...

[AlexandrB]

Software is indeed a differentiator, as in I want as little as possible of that shit in my car. Any car where all the controls are on a giant iPad in the middle are a non-starter for me.

[germinalphrase]

The VW Group is putting billions into their partnership with Rivian specifically to improve the software experience (and enabling hardware). It may be the only thing that keeps Rivian alive until (if) the R2 successfully launches to the mass market.

[constantcrying]

>German companies don't seem to understand the growing importance of software

VWAG is now on attempt number two of fixing their Software problems.

They tried Cariad, the result was your experience. The next attempt is giving billions to Rivian.

If you believe that these companies do not understand how important software is you are totally delusional. Literally Billions worth of money have they spent trying to fix that.

[wenc]

> Volvo sadly no longer stands for Swedish quality and safety. > What you’re buying is essentially an overpriced Chinese car with Volvo stickers. > And I’m saying this as a Swede. Buy German cars, specifically within the Volkswagen auto group (Audi, VW, Skoda etc) if you want reliable quality.

I feel it's quite off-base to associate the quality of a car to a country. The quality of a car is a statistical quantity that's mostly related to a specific model of car.

There are at least 3 wrong insinuations in the above post.

1. Volvo engineering is still mostly based in Sweden. Geely has mostly not touched it. So it's still Swedish -- thus it is still Swedish quality and safety. If it has gone down, then it's Swedish quality and safety that has gone down.

2. Many Chinese cars are now high quality.

3. That countries are correlated with quality is a lazy mental shortcut. Many Mitsubishi are not high quality, despite being Japanese.

Also the Volvo EX90 (in the article) is made in Charleston SC.

[eckelhesten]

Quality is not just based on the design some office workers come up with. It’s also manufacturing process, material sourcing (iron ore etc) and processing of these materials.

The list goes on. But yeah, if I look at for instance Volvo EX30 or EX40 etc, they look very ”off” somehow and doesn’t scream ”built to last” any longer.

Compared to the older XC70, 740 and so on which are built like locomotives.

I strongly believe that some countries correlate with quality (in general, and depending on the subject). It has to do with the way of working I guess. People in countries with stronger hierarchy in the workplace tend to polish away the faults and shortcomings when reporting to their superiors.

I don’t believe there’s anything strange in thinking that way. It’s as if saying the Avocados in Peru is generally better and higher quality than the Avocados produced in Spain.

[daedrdev]

Not even, BYD and other Chinese car companies make great, reliable cars. This is simply Volvo intentionally and likely knowingly cheating out as much as possible to make a quick buck, burning their brand in the process

[thesz]

  > great, reliable cars

There was fuel tank burst open in cold weather overnight incident, sudden fires and explosions of (presumable hybrid) Chinese cars, etc. Chinese cars are not on market for time enough to even consider their reliability. Let's wait for ten years, at the very least.

The quality of ride of Chinese cars is not even close to their European counterparts, children get sick even on the front row in ten minutes in a car that costs next to $60K. Their suspension is such that they do not compensate for sudden roll when one side of car hits a bump or hole.

Rolls Royce made their Phantoms to have adjustable clearance so that Chinese buyers would not suffer from bad roads of China, yet all of the buyers of Chinese cars have to suffer from roads that are not ideally paved.

[Xenoamorphous]

Aren’t Japanese cars the gold standard of reliability? Or has something changed?

[caconym_]

Not only that, they also have a fairly conservative approach to design that seems to keep a lot of the stupid bullshit out of their cars. I own multiple late model Japanese cars from different manufacturers and have had zero issues with them. The ADAS systems they do have, while arguably basic by 2025 standards, function flawlessly. All essential controls (including climate control) are physical.

[jorvi]

To be honest, it has never been about pure brand. Every brand has had clunkers and has had great models.

Having said that, Toyota is known for their reliability, and Volvo (+ Polestar) was / are known for their safety.

Just to emphasize the point: Nissan is doomed because generally no one wants their cars, but they have perhaps one of the greatest bang-for-buck EVs outside of Chinese brands: the Leaf 2.

[AlexandrB]

I don't know about the others, but Toyota has had some issues recently: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klyb2VrACZc&t=47s

[everybodyknows]

Was told by a mechanic a few months back that continuously-variable transmissions are standard in gas cars now, but have reliability problems. Old-tech automatics can (could?) still be had from Toyota and Mazda.

[worik]

Not since cars went electric....

[denysvitali]

> Buy German cars

Take this with a grain of salt (since it's not first hand experience), but I have heard from friends that the quality of German cars has degraded significantly

[cpursley]

From their already dismal reliability and insane maintenance costs?

[seanhunter]

I don’t own one, but Volvo certainly still stands for safety. The XC90 (the non-fully electric version of this car) had the most amazing safety record in the UK I’ve ever heard of. For the first 10 years or so it was in service no driver or passenger was killed in an XC90 in any accident in the UK.

[seanhunter]

It’s actually better than I thought. No fatalities recorded in the UK sincevlaunch in 2004 to at least 2018. https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/volvo/xc90/103233/no-fatalitie...

That stat is all the more impressive because it’s also a very common car, (at least as far as expensive cars go), so in my area for example I see at least 10 of them parked on the streets on my daily 30min walk in London.

[cpursley]

Or just buy a Zeekr (if you want a non-Elon EV) - a much more technically impressive and better looking car than the Volvo or Tesla and it was designed in Europe:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvnZ0mTCBng

[butlike]

That touch screen-only with the different modes of activation is my nightmare and literally giving me anxiety watching that showcase if that's to be the future of auto driving.

[meepmorp]

Interestingly, Zeeker is owned by the same Chinese parent company as Volvo, Geely auto.

[ReDeiPirati]

> And I’m saying this as a Swede. Buy German cars, specifically within the Volkswagen auto group (Audi, VW, Skoda etc) if you want reliable quality.

I own a 2020 BMW with an electronic gearbox, which broke at around 80k km just a couple of months after the warranty expired (yeah I know!). It was a bit of a headache going back and forth with BMW to request a free repair. Fortunately, the headquarters agreed to cover the cost, and they installed a refurbished electronic gearbox. I was quite relieved that I didn’t have to pay about €10K out of pocket!

All that to say that I wouldn’t call BMW particularly reliable in terms of quality these days, but their customer support was decent, at least in my case.

[culopatin]

Well that’s why they didn’t mention BMW lol

[NegativeLatency]

If I was buying new, I'd look for a Japanese car (Toyota, Honda, Subaru). The old volvo 240s are still around though.

[404mm]

I was going to create a website just like this but for my Audi Q5. Least reliable car I ever owned. It’s been in the shop about 15 times in 2 years. I finally gave up. It still has a few unsolved issues but I just don’t care. I’ll be trading it in later this year and … Never another Audi again.

[jay_kyburz]

Did we forget about the emissions cheating already? Volkswagen is on my blacklist.

[ricardobeat]

I drive a chinese EV and its quality is far beyond anything I could get from european builders. That’s definitely not the source of the problem for Volvo.

[ricardobeat]

This being downvoted only reflects how hard it is for us in the west to accept the current state of things. I suggest visiting the nearest Nio or Zeekr store for a little reality shock.

Meanwhile they praise Polestar, new Mini EVs, Smart, Volvo and others that are also being produced in joint ventures with Chinese manufacturers but don’t carry a chinese brand.

[outworlder]

> Buy German cars, specifically within the Volkswagen auto group (Audi, VW, Skoda etc) if you want reliable quality.

German cars, as a rule, are made with complete disregard for the people who will have to work on them. They are reliable while meticulously maintained and before anything even remotely important break. Then they become a nightmare.

[hnarn]

> And I’m saying this as a Swede. Buy German cars

And I'm saying _this_ as a Swede, because apparently it matters: what cars are most reliable is publicly available information, and they're all from Asia. My personal favorite is Toyota.

[eckelhesten]

I assume you're referring to Länsförsäkringars list of most reliable cars (in terms of engine/mechanical fault).

While it's true that it's mainly asian/Japanese cars that are least reported, that doesn't make them the most reliable in general.

Mazdas and Toyotas tend to rust off in our nordic weather way faster than german brands or older Volvos. Sure, the engine might still run but what difference does it make if it's all become a piece of rust that is ready to fall apart within ten years.

[raisedbyninjas]

US News and world report ranks VW last in reliability.

[fuzzy2]

Reliable (consistent) quality, yes. Quality? Debatable. But it definitely keeps driving, no dangerous situations so far.

[jonplackett]

I’m already boycotting VW for emissions-fraud, Tesla for Nazi-salutes… gonna run out of car brands at this rate

[gosub100]

Signal that virtue boy!

[tcshit]

i agree on that emission-fraud. but, haha, you know there are loads of videos of your favorite blue colored ones doing the same salute? if that is what keeps you spinning you ran out of car brands long time ago...

[kazinator]

No longer, as of when?

I had a 1987 Volvo 760 in the nineties.

It was an unmitigated piece of shit.

[jwr]

> Buy German cars

VW ID.4 owner here. The car is pretty good mechanically, but the software is garbage, or more specifically hot dumpster fire.

[lycopodiopsida]

ID.7 owner here. Car is good, software is good. Window buttons are questionable.

[DyslexicAtheist]

> Volvo sadly no longer stands for Swedish quality and safety.

which Swedish or EU companies do?

not a trick question - I'm genuinely baffled by systematic QA neglect in most EU based companies (which are still better than much US companies) .

[poly2it]

The digital situation is different. See Mullvad, Inleed or Hetzner.

[dzhiurgis]

Yikes. Know any recent successful EVs from them?

[vinni2]

Isn’t it Chinese owned now?

[bestouff]

I want to buy European but Bosh is so disappointing. They lock everything so you can't change anything on your EV by yourself. I hate that.

[gessha]

In the US, I’ve seen enough problems on VW cars that I won’t make the same conclusion.

US driving culture-wise, I’ve seen Audi and Mercedes drivers adopt the same brain-dead behaviors BMW drivers have that I wouldn’t want to be associated with them either.

If I were to buy a new car today, it would be a Toyota or a Honda, maybe a Hyundai.

[ablation]

I owned a brand new 2024 Audi A6 and the infotainment system, general software, and driver assist functionality was absolutely atrocious to the point of rendering the car inoperable from time to time. Audi refused to acknowledge there was an issue so I sold it privately.

Avoid like the absolute plague.

[andrewmcwatters]

Former Audi owner. Please don’t buy them. Not reliable at all.