Japan import – Volvo V70 T6 AWD (2015) – Import Story

[Phil S]

So the car has arrived!

As I said I used Shiply to get quotes, and I went with a company called PW Transport https://www.facebook.com/pwtransportltd - I chose them because they had excellent reviews rather than just positive feedback and I cannot recommend them highly enough.

So - first impressions are very positive. Underneath the car looks almost unused and of course there are no leaks as cars cannot be shipped that do.

Exterior - It's dusty, but the paintwork is in exceptional condition - it's looks to have some sort of ceramic coating on it called White House Crystal Coating - it's had three coats - first when new, second March 2017 and he last in August 2021. I’m slightly deranged so own a paint thickness gauge and have checked the car all over – I’m delighted to say that the paint thickness is uniform across the car, leading me to believe that the car has never been repaired or re-sprayed anywhere and I have not found a single ding or dent so far.

Interior – again, it needs a clean but it’s in excellent condition too – nothing obviously broken and the leather seats are in fine condition showing little signs of wear. There is wear by the electric window button on the driver’s side – looks like whoever owned it used to rest their hand there. The headlining does not have a mark on it and the interior has no strange smells so I think it’ll clean up very well.

Options – it looks to have some sort of luxury interior option, complete with vented/heated soft leather seats (inscription), a Harmon Kardon stereo, a multitude of integral rain/light sensors in the windscreen and a rear-view mirror that looks like it may also dim itself. SatNav, full TFT dash. It’s got front and rear parking sensors and a rear cam, lane sensors and ensures you don’t fall asleep and it’s got cargo nets in the boot – but strangely it doesn’t have front fogs.

Wheels and tyres – The car lost half a point on its auction condition rating due to scuffed wheels – yes, one does have a scuff – it’s about an inch and half long on the edge of the rim, but honestly, it’s nothing really. Yes it needs sorting out but nothing more than a touch-up – certainly doesn’t require any sending it away for a refurb. The tyres are all just over a year old and have little wear – they are all Michelin Cross Climate – which is great, because that’s what I would have put on it. Brakes – well, I think all the discs need replacing – the fronts have a small lip on them and the rears are more worn with bigger lips and area that the pads make contact with are just showing signs of ribbing. So it definitely needs new discs and pads.

Engine – not much I can say other then the engine bay is very, very clean and there are no leaks – the engine sounds lovely and there is no smoke.

Service History – I can see some history, but it’s written in different logs so I need to spend a little more time running through it to see exactly how comprehensive it is and it looks to have visited Volvo recently according to a sticker on the side of the dash which is a good sign, but obviously I have no idea what that was for. I’m going to contact the dealer to see whether I can get any further information.

Next Steps - On Sunday I’ll be completing the region change which is a software configuration and I guess I’ll find out what error codes are lurking beneath! On Wednesday it’s in for a pre- IVA check – so full MOT at a local Volvo specialist that I’ve used in the past – so again, if anything else comes up I’ll let you all know. Obviously, I’m hoping for no surprises because I’d like to have it fully serviced, all fluids changed and the turbo at least checked if not serviced.

In the meantime – I’ve uploaded some more photos the album:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/V4v3juqeDA7yCuPcA

[Phil S]

Cleaning - I've spent the day cleaning the car and have uploaded the results. I'm absolutely delighted with it so far - the bodywork and interior are in truly exceptional condition. I just just hope it's the same mechanically.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/V4v3juqeDA7yCuPcA

[Wagon Sailor]

That looks really good. Well done!

I bought an import in January, an Accord Euro R that had been in the country for two years. It had clearly been painted to mask a handful of stone chips, probably by the importer. So it's nice to hear of your experiences re bodywork.

[Phil S]

Region Change - some mixed results...

Dash language change and KMs to Miles conversion...
On the really positive side the car now reads in MPH/MPG, the total mileage has been converted from KMs to Miles also and all messages and displays are in English - so as far as the work needed to get through the IVA and actually being able to use the car on a daily basis without having to translate everything, I'm good.

And to be honest, if I step back a few months when I first contacted Volvo before I bought the car and before I found the d5t5 team, the position I'm in today was where I had settled as being acceptable - and therefore worth buying the car. And of course - I didn't have to pay the main dealer the no-doubt hideous premium to get me here.

Radio...
In addition to the above I've also got a working FM stereo and I've been able to connect my mobile and sync. The radio functionality is basic and there seems to be some menu options missing (no TP, RDS etc). The missing menu was also a problem when Matt (rep from d5t5) and I were running through the process of for the region change - the menu on my car did not tally with the expectation, so the process did not complete fully

Satnav...
The main process that we could not complete during the region change was the satnav region change - for reason we cannot remove the Japanese maps, either through the menu system this because the expected menus are missing, I tried sticking a USB stick in the car with the full UK maps downloaded, but it's not triggering a maps update either.

Clearly the important work is done - but getting the taste makes you want more - thankfully Matt who's helping me is keen to raise the necessary support requests in to d5t5 and is willing to update my car to a later version of Sensus if we need to.

In the mean-time I'm taking the car to my local Volvo specialist on Wednesday for the mechanical once over and pre-IVA checks - so fingers crossed I'll get a good report. I'll let you know

[Nick04]

Just to note, if you can get the language change, correct radio frequency and Sat Nav working for £400 odd quid, then it's probably worth it. The dealer charges around £150 for the software change to English so for the extra £250 you're getting the full media and Nav package as it was designed to be.

But for those who want a cheap fix or have a vehicle that has the top of dash head unit - there's a very easy fix. Most vehicles from the last 15 years have an aux stereo slot. Simply connect your phone, digital radio or media device to this and you have access to pretty much anything you want in terms of radio or music. Also, if you take out the head unit you can use the space to fix your phone when you need to use Google maps or your sat Nav or dash cam of choice, etc.

[Phil S]

You're absolutely correct Nick - and to be honest this is where I was when I decided to buy the car. That said I am keen to see what can be done through reconfiguration of sensus.

If I can't do it then I have found this solution from Swede Solutions: https://www.swedesolutions.com/produ...nnect-p3-cars/

It integrates with the sensus navigation and can be voice controlled - apple and android. Like you say - this will hook up to my mobile and give me everything that I need and still look stock with no extra wires or screens stuck on the dash.

I'll keep the post updated as I go

[Phil S]

The car is back from my local Volvo specialist - I wanted the car to have an MOT/pre-IVA check, once over and service before driving it. I'm happy to say that other than the brakes (discs and pads all round) the car is tip-top.

So I had the discs and pads replaced, along with a full service, engine flush and all fluids changed including auto box and haldex. There are no live fault codes and the car passed the MOT with no advisories.

It's the first time I've driven the car and I could only do so directly to and from the garage without it being registered, but that did involve a short motorway section - it's a lovely drive and certainly goes well.

IVA is on the 26th, so in the mean-time I'm going to concentrate on configuring Sensus to make the Satnav work and enhance the radio functionality.

[Phil S]

Tried a Sensus operating system upgrade last night to the latest version for the car - still no joy with getting RDS working on the radio or Sat Nav to accept Europe maps.

I've got three options left

1. Live with it and use an external SatNav - not preferred option, I don't want charge cables and brackets stuck on the dash - but okay in the short term - doesn't resolve the radio problem

2. Fit the Swede Solutions Apple Car play - gives me an integrated, voice activated 3rd party solution for satnav, and can use streaming for radio/music which is handy when travelling abroad, which we are doing this summer.

3. Fit a used infotainment module - the worry here is the compatibility, through the d5t5 software I have the capability to make sensus accept the new component, the worry is that I might start chasing a problem around the car - if the satnav hardware is Japan specific, what else is that a UK one might disagree with?

It is a bit annoying, because the car is such a good example it would be nice to have everything work as stock, but then there is a limit of how far I'm willing to go throwing money at the problem. Something to think about over the next week or two

What do people think?

[Nick04]

I guess it all depends what you really want and need as an individual and what you're going to be happy with. Perhaps set a reasonable budget and stick to it, which should prevent expenditure getting out of control.

From my own perspective, I pretty much went from thinking one thing to the complete opposite. I definitely have some sort of OCD, so my starting position was that I wanted everything just so, radio, media, music, sat nav, bluetooth and km changing to miles. I first began to change my mind when my mechanic recommended not changing from km to miles. Obviously some imports need to be, but my vehicle didn't. So I just left it and got used to it pretty much straight away. It soon became obvious that all the other stuff was going to be a hassle to have everything perfect, so I began to look at some cheap fixes. It then dawned on me that my previous vehicle had everything, but I didn't use any of it! It had a voice controlled media/sat nav unit with Android Auto but I'd generally just have the same radio station on and I'd always use Google maps on my phone for navigation. It performed much better than the vehicle's sat nav and even though I could connect it to the media unit via Android Auto, it tended to be a bit temperamental. Still, I suppose Google maps via Android Auto is the one thing I'd have if it performed 100%.

Anyway to summarise, in essence - I'm not really into tech and more importantly don't need all the modern gear. But I guess it all depends on particular needs. Of the three options, I'd probably go for the Apple Car play if the cost is reasonable.

[Phil S]

Success!

The purchase of a EU region infotainment/satnav unit has resolved the issue. I bought the unit for £90 from https://www.volvosaabbreakers.com/ in Nottingham.

I could fit this part because I configured the car to accept the foreign unit through the d5t5 dashboard.

So - all that I'm waiting for is the registration documentation.

I've spent an extra £320 on top of the breakdown that I put on the thread at the beginning - this includes the SatNav unit, some extra software I didn't realise that I needed and the time of a guy call Matt (https://vvde.info/wp/) who's been helping me with the d5t5 software and region change.

It's been a great experience, and I hope that I've shed some light on the process and provided some good contacts for anyone wanting to go down the same route.