Does this imply that my car is still covered by a warranty?

[JacobStevens]

Good morning, everyone. I noticed in a dealer brochure that the 480 qualifies for lifetime care. Does this imply that my car is still covered by a warranty? In today's context, does this warranty hold any significance? It would be quite advantageous if it does!

[jifflemon]

We've all dreamed that!

Lifetime Care just meant that after the 3 yrs warranty expired, if you continued to maintain a Volvo dealer service history, any parts which fail in later years will qualify for a contribution from Volvo. The scheme runs on a pro-rata basis according to the age of the vehicle so, even if you were covered, it is likely that they would only contribute a very small percentage of the cost of replacement (not servicing and labour) parts.

I think in many ways, this forum is the new "Lifetime Care"

[WillC9303]

Considering my local Volvo dealer didn't want to know about fixing the stone chip in my windscreen (Even though they offer that service for free for ANY Volvo of ANY age along with tyre repairs) I wouldn't bother even if my car was eligible for warranty cover.

As Jeff said, the best warranty cover for these cars is the Community forum. Volvo couldn't drop support for the 400 series fast enough.

[Jay-Kay-Em]

I think in many ways, this forum is the new "Lifetime Care"

i'll drink to that

Many have the cassette...



I have said it before but Volvo should be absolutely ashamed - under Ford ownership at the time - of what they did to 400 support.

I get that they're 30+ years old now and no manufacturer has any obligation to support, but let me put it like this...

No modern electric car has a USP. When I was a kid, the chasm between different brands was fascinating. Skoda Estelle, to Citroen BX, to Audi Quattro, to a 4WS Prelude - every car had such utter unique properties.

Now, every electric car is, by and large, well built, quick, full of tech and with the same suspension / powertrain architecture. What have manufacturers got left as a USP?

Heritage. That's what. It's the only thing left separating the brands.

Porsche knew that many many years ago and their heritage support is amazing. BMW isn't so bad.

When Volvo lean on their heritage to sell cars they deserve the middle finger and that's from a die-hard Volvo fan.

I think 200/700/900 fair better, but still.

[dcwalker]

This has come up recently on Facebook as well, so to stop people wondering, the short answer is:

NO.

Lifetime Care was an interesting idea in its day and has long since been discontinued.

The premise was that IF you had you car regularly serviced (within the 1 month/1000 mile tolerances) by a main Volvo dealer, and had any and all other work/repairs done by your main Volvo dealer (using only original Volvo parts, of course), then no part should fail any sooner than when its individual expected lifetime had expired.

The longest lifetime envisaged for any part was 10 years/100,000 miles - after that it was considered perfectly reasonable that it should die.

Furthermore, Volvo's contribution to replacement/repair costs was on a tapering scale, to allow for natural wear and tear. So if, for example, your gearbox failed after 60,000 miles, that was a failure with 40% of its expected lifetime remaining. Accordingly Volvo would contribute 40% of the repair costs.

BUT only provided you met all the requirements as to service history and repairs, right back to when the car was new. So if one service had been missed, or was more than 1000miles/one month out of schedule, or not done by a Volvo dealer, then that was it - LIfetime Care cover for your car automatically ceased (for ever) at that point.

So even allowing that, at the time Lifetime care was introduced, Volvo were proudly stating that their cars had an average lifespan of 21 years (based on total numbers still in use, worldwide across all models) all of our cars (even in the rare instance that every repair and service had been done by Volvo) would be well outside the Lifetime Care commitment!

David