2009 Volvo S80 from North America - Comments

My friend brags so much about his 09 Volvo and he knows I'm ready to buy a new car, so told me I should buy an S80. Today we went to Delaware to play slots, and he wanted me to experience the s80.

The car looks great, it is quiet, the interior is wonderful, love how the navigation pops up, this is a balanced vehicle.

However, this car does not ride soft like a Towncar.

The suspension is a big turn off to me, it is a controlled hard ride, a rough rider.

I do not understand how Volvo can present this beautiful flagship to the American public with that hard suspension.

If only Volvo made this car with the option of soft suspension, I would buy one, but as it now stands, I just cannot purchase a beautiful rough rider. Ted.

Though I accept this point of view, I bet the Volvo is much more fun to drive than the Town Car. Show them the bends (admittedly more here in the UK, than US!) and the Volvo will lead the way! The S80 is otherwise a fantastic vehicle...

"The suspension is a big turn off to me, it is a controlled hard ride, a rough rider."

I have to agree with this. I test drove the S80 T6 AWD five times before choosing a different vehicle. If a car is going to have a somewhat stiff ride, it should have great handling. But the S80 just has average handling. I must have read four or five reviews that made the same comment (Motortrend, etc.) Sometimes the car reviewers get things wrong, but on the S80 all the reviews I read were pretty accurate.

I really like the S80. Very comfortable seats, great looks on the outside. Beautiful interior design. Good acceleration. Handles nicely. I still kind of regret not buying it. My wife definitely regretted me not buying it.

But the big hangup for me was the steering feel - very light. The only clue you have to what direction you are turning is your view out of the windshield. If I was going to spend that much money for a car, it had to be better in every way than my 2005 Sable. Eventually I realized that the steering feel of my Sable was better than the S80.

The other big factor was the fact that to answer a cell phone call through the car stereo, that was a dealer installed option that added a button onto the dashboard with a cable sneaking through the dash and running a few inches. I am an electrical engineer and there have been quite a few projects I have worked on where the final product in some way had some flaw like that where it just wasn't planned to be that way. I knew looking at that button would be a constant reminder of frustrations I have in my own job like that -- as I am driving to work no less -- and it would really detract from my being able to enjoy the car.

A big part of the reason I was buying a new car was to get an integrated cell phone. I had gotten really sick of fumbling for my cell phone, being in a panic to get the stereo turned off, while driving 60 miles per hour in rush hour freeway traffic, trying to coordinate who is picking up the kids and who is making or picking up dinner.)

How many minutes you drove the S80? If it had softer suspension you would buy one, and still based on your test you give it a 0/10!!!

I'm pretty sure you're supposed to review the car if you've actually owned or leased it, or at least spent a significant amount of time with it. I can go down to my Volvo dealer and find out about the suspension myself, I don't need someone to give the car a horrible rating because they rode in it once and thought it was too hard.