It’s considered a premium car, it’s cheap, those 2 in combination are the key deciding factors, because who the hell would drive something like a Dacia?! What will the neighbors and their dog think of me?
Also, the roads often are shit, so anything SUV-ish with longer lasting suspension is preferred.
Volvo’s are big, safe, premium cars while also being more affordable than their German counterparts.
They last forever, except for the hand break that you have to repair every year.. And headlights that get stolen. And the interior that’s falling apart from age.
Turning circle of a dead cow.. leaking sunroofs.
Its just pefect.
Laba mašīna
We support our neighbors, they can somewhat handle Latvian roads without disassembling in the process 😁
Latvians for the most part are practical, and this car is just that overall
Volvos in general are quite popular here
D5 is really good engine. I had volvo 2009 long time ago and it had zero rust esentially. Was very reliable car, with famous D5 engine. In like 5 years i had it, i spent may be 2000 euros for maintenance. Of which chip replacement was for sole purpose of selling car in perfect condition.
Safe, reliable, practical, and there’s probably a load of parts out there for them so I’d imagine relatively cheap to repair.
Love for Volvos dates back from the time when Swedish products were considered high quality, but cheaper than German products.
Saab was also very highly regarded.
Thats a good question because somehow it seems like a Latvian dream car.
In reality when you drive it – it drives and sounds like a tractor, its so rough and agricultural/tank feeling (that actually might be part of the appeal)
Same reason we have a shit ton of nissan x-trails: reliability
Xc90 got thrown out of Germany and are really cheap to buy there.
good car, simple!
There is certain sentiment about the high and lasting value of this car. It is considered mascuIine and superbly practical choice. I think this attitude is something similar to many people loving Chrysler Voyager some years back. Thry could talk about hot this is the most practical car for hours.
I think most of these Voyagers have rusted by now and, possibly, same people have moved to Volvos.
Cheap maintanance / parts seems to be a bit of a myth.
Its cheap and its makes you look cool so ther ya go its the sercret souce
Man I miss this car. Very spacious, once fitted a large sized fridge in it, very comfy and fun AWD for off-road or winter. 🙂
Had one 2008-production, it’s durable as hell, expect handbrake and headlight (got stolen, insurance covered 3000€) – it’s asking so little service only regular maintenance. Sold 7 years ago only because new flat didn’t had extra parking lot.
Never owned an XC90, had a slightly later XC60 and it had all the same pedigree. Absolutely amazing cars. Latvians who own one have great taste and judgment.
My opinion might be different from others. It’s ugly, handling is shit, turning radius is bigger than Boeing 747’s, most of these cars emit clouds of black smoke (very nice health hazard in closed parking lots). Interior is made of cheap plastic, backlight is falling, leather is heavily cracked, overall reliability is mostly a myth – engines are ok but 20 y.o. car is still a 20 y.o. car.
IMO this is more of a small town/village utility vehicle than a city car, something like a tractor with AC or quad bike with a roof.
Cheap secondhand car, that is not too expensive to maintain.
My dad’s usin and abusin his v70 2001 d5 every winter/summer to get to the apiary in forest like conditions, tug around couple hundred of kilos of honey every time he goes to Riga to clients. Car has 600k driven, driving on roads which would often times be generous to call a road. Still reliable, ofc maintenance has to be done, its a tank.
Now where there was some crackhead who called Volvo leather garbage, yea m8 one of the best leather is in Volvo , if you dont take care of it, will get ef’d after 20 years.
I drive a 2.4D now 2010, half of value of car went into anti rust and expecting to drive it for 10+ years. Engine just broken in at 360k
Can’t comment on XC90, but turning radius on my own s80 of that era was atrociously bad, how is the XC90’s?
I have XC60 1st gen. Very reliable car, suitable for Latvian weather, whether it’s snow or rain. I often use forest roads, which, in winter have 50cm of snow, and in summer after rain or in spring is just a mud, and the car never failed me. I rarely have to repair anything. Last time it was in the shop was a year ago because some drunk fuck ran into me. Also, comparing to other SUVs it’s very space-efficient.
* Spacious
* Easy to fix
* Good stability on road
* Awd (although haldex system) have took me through mud snow and forest roads without problems
* safe for passengers , which is the reason many fathers buy this thing (including me). All of those airbags, whiplash protection system, side impact protection and other systems are a thing for family man. There are rumours that there weren’t any casualties from 2002 till 2020 in an first gen xc90 in the world (but im not sure about that)
* good dynamics (for an SUV) in my case with D5
* quite long production time so no one can tell if it’s made in 2002 or in 2014 if you keep it clean 😅
* those D5 (popular in Latvia) are pretty much indestructible if you change oil each 10k km
*
* high consumption if you use it for city driving
* quite expensive parts. And you should avoid using cheap aftermarket parts because they fail quickly
* you need to find highest trim possible for good sound insulation. Mine is quite good with double glass windows and extra insulation but most of them are basic poverty spec models
* you’ll need to adapt to it’s steering. Forget about tight spaces with 3point turn
* interior plastic feels and sounds cheap, although modern mercs are far worse 🤣
* prone to rust especially after MY2006
* pretty much “gray” car. Nobody thinks about it as something special, luxurious etc.
Good car, i love it. I have MY2008. Wife wants newer xc60. Sadly new gen xc90 are equipped with 2.0 4cyl so this is my first and last xc90
Why is the Nissan Juke?!
Volvo is a good car for this climate and it’s very affordable, very safe and actually quite spacious.
28 comments
It’s considered a premium car, it’s cheap, those 2 in combination are the key deciding factors, because who the hell would drive something like a Dacia?! What will the neighbors and their dog think of me?
Also, the roads often are shit, so anything SUV-ish with longer lasting suspension is preferred.
Volvo’s are big, safe, premium cars while also being more affordable than their German counterparts.
They last forever, except for the hand break that you have to repair every year.. And headlights that get stolen. And the interior that’s falling apart from age.
Turning circle of a dead cow.. leaking sunroofs.
Its just pefect.
Laba mašīna
We support our neighbors, they can somewhat handle Latvian roads without disassembling in the process 😁
Latvians for the most part are practical, and this car is just that overall
Volvos in general are quite popular here
D5 is really good engine. I had volvo 2009 long time ago and it had zero rust esentially. Was very reliable car, with famous D5 engine. In like 5 years i had it, i spent may be 2000 euros for maintenance. Of which chip replacement was for sole purpose of selling car in perfect condition.
Safe, reliable, practical, and there’s probably a load of parts out there for them so I’d imagine relatively cheap to repair.
Love for Volvos dates back from the time when Swedish products were considered high quality, but cheaper than German products.
Saab was also very highly regarded.
Thats a good question because somehow it seems like a Latvian dream car.
In reality when you drive it – it drives and sounds like a tractor, its so rough and agricultural/tank feeling (that actually might be part of the appeal)
Same reason we have a shit ton of nissan x-trails: reliability
Xc90 got thrown out of Germany and are really cheap to buy there.
good car, simple!
There is certain sentiment about the high and lasting value of this car. It is considered mascuIine and superbly practical choice. I think this attitude is something similar to many people loving Chrysler Voyager some years back. Thry could talk about hot this is the most practical car for hours.
I think most of these Voyagers have rusted by now and, possibly, same people have moved to Volvos.
Cheap maintanance / parts seems to be a bit of a myth.
Its cheap and its makes you look cool so ther ya go its the sercret souce
Man I miss this car. Very spacious, once fitted a large sized fridge in it, very comfy and fun AWD for off-road or winter. 🙂
Had one 2008-production, it’s durable as hell, expect handbrake and headlight (got stolen, insurance covered 3000€) – it’s asking so little service only regular maintenance. Sold 7 years ago only because new flat didn’t had extra parking lot.
Never owned an XC90, had a slightly later XC60 and it had all the same pedigree. Absolutely amazing cars. Latvians who own one have great taste and judgment.
My opinion might be different from others. It’s ugly, handling is shit, turning radius is bigger than Boeing 747’s, most of these cars emit clouds of black smoke (very nice health hazard in closed parking lots). Interior is made of cheap plastic, backlight is falling, leather is heavily cracked, overall reliability is mostly a myth – engines are ok but 20 y.o. car is still a 20 y.o. car.
IMO this is more of a small town/village utility vehicle than a city car, something like a tractor with AC or quad bike with a roof.
Cheap secondhand car, that is not too expensive to maintain.
My dad’s usin and abusin his v70 2001 d5 every winter/summer to get to the apiary in forest like conditions, tug around couple hundred of kilos of honey every time he goes to Riga to clients. Car has 600k driven, driving on roads which would often times be generous to call a road. Still reliable, ofc maintenance has to be done, its a tank.
Now where there was some crackhead who called Volvo leather garbage, yea m8 one of the best leather is in Volvo , if you dont take care of it, will get ef’d after 20 years.
I drive a 2.4D now 2010, half of value of car went into anti rust and expecting to drive it for 10+ years. Engine just broken in at 360k
Can’t comment on XC90, but turning radius on my own s80 of that era was atrociously bad, how is the XC90’s?
I have XC60 1st gen. Very reliable car, suitable for Latvian weather, whether it’s snow or rain. I often use forest roads, which, in winter have 50cm of snow, and in summer after rain or in spring is just a mud, and the car never failed me. I rarely have to repair anything. Last time it was in the shop was a year ago because some drunk fuck ran into me. Also, comparing to other SUVs it’s very space-efficient.
We can afford the first Gen one!
https://preview.redd.it/d3tpptkpdyag1.jpeg?width=2160&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3c6fb08e84284e0c1c8bccd1a4133fa8da91f6fa
*
* Spacious
* Easy to fix
* Good stability on road
* Awd (although haldex system) have took me through mud snow and forest roads without problems
* safe for passengers , which is the reason many fathers buy this thing (including me). All of those airbags, whiplash protection system, side impact protection and other systems are a thing for family man. There are rumours that there weren’t any casualties from 2002 till 2020 in an first gen xc90 in the world (but im not sure about that)
* good dynamics (for an SUV) in my case with D5
* quite long production time so no one can tell if it’s made in 2002 or in 2014 if you keep it clean 😅
* those D5 (popular in Latvia) are pretty much indestructible if you change oil each 10k km
*
* high consumption if you use it for city driving
* quite expensive parts. And you should avoid using cheap aftermarket parts because they fail quickly
* you need to find highest trim possible for good sound insulation. Mine is quite good with double glass windows and extra insulation but most of them are basic poverty spec models
* you’ll need to adapt to it’s steering. Forget about tight spaces with 3point turn
* interior plastic feels and sounds cheap, although modern mercs are far worse 🤣
* prone to rust especially after MY2006
* pretty much “gray” car. Nobody thinks about it as something special, luxurious etc.
Good car, i love it. I have MY2008. Wife wants newer xc60. Sadly new gen xc90 are equipped with 2.0 4cyl so this is my first and last xc90
Why is the Nissan Juke?!
Volvo is a good car for this climate and it’s very affordable, very safe and actually quite spacious.