Returning to the Fold

[St Evelyn]

After 4 and a half years with my trusty S80 D3, I sold my Volvo in January '17 and bought a 520D M Sport instead.

Without boring everyone senseless with the details, it's sufficient to say that the car (and dealership) haven't lived up to expectations, so I'm chopping the 5er in against a pre-registered V90 - here's the link to the car I've done a deal on.

It's a bit of a trek to the dealer (about 3 and a half hours) so we shall take the caravan up on Friday and park up at a Caravan Club site about an hour away....hopefully the V90 will perform admirably on the tow home Sunday.

Looking forward to being back in a Volvo - hopefully this one will be just as good as my last one.

[anotherv60]

Looks like a great V90.

From personal experience at that dealership don't expect them to know anything about the car or the Volvo brand. The sales staff work full time at Nissan and cover the Volvo garage, depending upon how you approach the dealership this will become obvious.

Ask them to send you a Photo of the tow bar out on the car with the connectors - they have cocked up on photos of the cars before. Last time I visited they had 2 S90s with the same front registration plates and the same rear registration plates....the front and rear plates didn't match.

You'll love the car though.

[pagan8c]

the factory fit semi electric towbar is very good . I have 1 on my XC90 and it works brilliantly. If it is fitted right it will also check the lights on the Caravan via the car dashboard so you really don't have to look yourself. It should have the 13 pin electric hook up in the shaft of the hook and it is really easy to plug in your van as there is no need to go looking under the bumper. Nice car.

[MOzS90]

I hate the way car dealers conveniently ignore the £310 road tax supplement you will have to pay when you collect that car when they advertise them as “road tax - £140”

It took me ages when I went looking for my car to find a decent spec used one that had been registered before Apr 17.

[cassell]

Hi,

You won't be disappointed with your V90 D4 as a tow car, I too have the genuine semi-electric Volvo towbar fitted which is excellent.

It disengages the rear parking sensors, CTA, BLIS when connected and allows you to check all of your caravan lights single handed. It also alters the gearbox changes for towing and if you have the rear camera it gives you a 'towbar' setting so you can align your towball with the caravan hitch whilst reversing and stop with the hitch exactly over the ball.

I came from a generation one XC90 D5 and reckon that the V90 is a more comfortable and smooth tow car, all you need to get used to is the massive overall length of the outfit!

Paul

[St Evelyn]

Originally Posted by cassell

Hi,

You won't be disappointed with your V90 D4 as a tow car, I too have the genuine semi-electric Volvo towbar fitted which is excellent.

It disengages the rear parking sensors, CTA, BLIS when connected and allows you to check all of your caravan lights single handed. It also alters the gearbox changes for towing and if you have the rear camera it gives you a 'towbar' setting so you can align your towball with the caravan hitch whilst reversing and stop with the hitch exactly over the ball.

I came from a generation one XC90 D5 and reckon that the V90 is a more comfortable and smooth tow car, all you need to get used to is the massive overall length of the outfit!

Paul

Thanks Paul, that's all good to hear.

Am I right in thinking that the factory tow bars only come with 13-pin electrics and not 7-pin or twin electrics? I'm hoping so as I've got 13-pin on the caravan and really don't want the hassle of swapping it all out at the weekend.

Steve.

[nu11eaf]

Originally Posted by St Evelyn

Thanks Paul, that's all good to hear.

Am I right in thinking that the factory tow bars only come with 13-pin electrics and not 7-pin or twin electrics? I'm hoping so as I've got 13-pin on the caravan and really don't want the hassle of swapping it all out at the weekend.

Steve.

They have 13 pin sockets, make sure they fuse up the permanent live connection, when I picked up my car this was not fused up and the Alko trailer stability system did not engage when connected up, it took two trips and an email to service manager to get it fused up and working as it should.
Alko instruction say the system must be fed from a permanent live.

[St Evelyn]

Originally Posted by nu11eaf

They have 13 pin sockets, make sure they fuse up the permanent live connection, when I picked up my car this was not fused up and the Alko trailer stability system did not engage when connected up, it took two trips and an email to service manager to get it fused up and working as it should.
Alko instruction say the system must be fed from a permanent live.

That's really useful, thank you - so good news on the 13-pin, I just need to double-check it's been wired up properly....feels like I need to ask some questions of the dealer to ensure that everything's as it should.

[cassell]

Originally Posted by St Evelyn

Thanks Paul, that's all good to hear.

Am I right in thinking that the factory tow bars only come with 13-pin electrics and not 7-pin or twin electrics? I'm hoping so as I've got 13-pin on the caravan and really don't want the hassle of swapping it all out at the weekend.

Steve.

Yes, 13 pin socket is integral to the tow bar, mine all worked perfectly but I understand that some found that the fitting dealer hadn't connected the permanent live needed for the Alko stabiliser or caravan internal electrics when stationary.

[St Evelyn]

That's great, thanks for clarifying Paul. I'm going to fire off an email to the saleswoman with a few bits & pieces (such as asking them to ensure that the latest software, Sensus app version, maps etc are all installed) so will add this to the list of points that I ask them to check in the coming days.

Steve.