Somehow, Volvos keep figuring in our discussions. I have watched Volvos
from afar, and developed some observations about this marque:
1) Many of the people who buy Volvos because they are safer than other
cars are the kind of drivers who *should* buy Volvos, because they are
safer than other cars. Otherwise, they haven't a snowball's chance in
hell of surviving to old age.
2) There is a subset of Volvo owners why *say* they bought a Volvo
for its safety, but in reality they are just feeling guilty for having
spent $28,000 for a car in a world where children are starving.
3) Because so many Volvo drivers boast of accidents they survived only
because they were in a Volvo, the prospective buyer of a used Volvo
should assume it has been salvaged at least once.
4) Contrary to popular opinion, Volvos *do* wear out. However,
they often keep running long after they are worn out. Those who are
extremely insensitive to matters mechanical may erroneously conclude that,
because their Volvo runs and gets them places, it is not worn out. It is
best not to get in the way of such people.
(Comment on 4--to be fair to drivers of 240 series cars, I must concede
that an overweight 4 cylinder car of antique design may give about the
same driving sensations when it is new and when it is worn out.)
5) Those who buy Volvos because they expect them to last forever have
clearly never asked themselves if this is a reasonable expectation,
given that Volvo engineers cannot make the hubcaps stay on.
6) The model number on the rear of a Volvo has never made much sense, and
as time goes on, it makes less and less. Only God and Swedish product
planners know if a 740 costs more or less than a 850.
7) Since the demise of the 544, only 17 people have ever bought Volvos
because they found them to be fun to drive.
Alert for brickbats, I am:
Ray "I loved the 544, liked the 122, but after that..." Gibbons
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