Adjö from John Bear

It's such a lovely day, I think I'll go to Sweden. Pick up a new Volvo at the factory** and vagabond for a month. Take care of yourselves.

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** I'm finding many people don't know about their amazing deal. Buy a new car at 8% less than the best US price. They give you two round-trip tickets to Sweden, limo pickup, 3 nights in a good hotel, a month of insurance, then they ship it home free (including duty]. And a bowl of meatballs in the factory cafeteria. We did this 13 years ago. That car is great, but with all the safety advances* it seemed time for a repeat. [No, I don't get a commission.]

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* My favorite is the video camera built into the dash, aimed at the driver. If the algorithm detects inattention or dozing off, it sounds an alarm. And the headlights that turn with the wheels . . . just like the 1948 Tucker!

 

Can I come? Sounds cool as heck, I'm gonna spend the rest of the day explaining to my wife we need a Volvo.

 

What a great deal. My wife and I were looking to buy a wagon and were thinking about the Volvo. I think this makes up our mind.

 

Tell them I'm your son and take me with you!

 

Same here. I was thinking of a Toyota wagon or mini-van but this might be hard to pass on.

 

It doesn't work for Stuttgart. Sigh....

 

Two years ago, I purchased a Mercedes Benz through the European Delivery Program (EDP) and did I have a blast.....

Mercedes-Benz USA - European Delivery Program Overview

Mercedes-Benz now offers:

• • 7% discount on total vehicle MSRP on eligible models
  • One night hotel accommodation in one of 14 luxurious hotels
  • MBUSA personal travel concierge service for hotel and airline reservations
  • Two taxi vouchers for use within Stuttgart
  • Breakfast or lunch at the Sindelfingen Delivery Center restaurant
  • Sindelfingen Factory Tour
  • Two tickets to Mercedes-Benz Museum
  • Full tank of fuel
  • Fifteen (15) days of European road insurance
  • Vehicle destination and delivery charge waived
  • Conveyance from 12 European drop-off points to port of shipment
  • Marine Insurance
  • Return shipment to U.S. port
  • Customs duty and clearance
  • European and U.S. Wharf and handling fees
  • Mercedes-Benz Vehicle Preparation Center processing
  • Transportation to the selected U.S. Dealer

BMW:
BMW European Delivery Program | BMW Euro Delivery | European Delivery Blog

 

Wonder what the US auto makers package would look like:
Round trip bus ticket to Detriot
$1 off coupon to McDonalds or Burger King
Two nights at the Motel 6
Free admission to see the movie made at the Mexican Plant where most of the parts are really assembled
Free use of a Flak Jacket
Speedy admissions to the local hospital in the event of injury during a robbery


Sorry, I know it is in poor taste but I could not resist.

 

I'll take the two nights at the local Motel 6. It's been several years, since they've left the light on for me.

 

LOL. There was a time when you could pick up a Ford, GM, or Chrysler directly from the factory in Detroit and just pay the delivery charge.

 

What, no visit to the new Volvo HQ in China?

 

I was actually thinking about the same commentary as Randell came up with. Sad but true.

They would probably also include a free AAA membership so when your car breaks down on the drive home you can get it towed to the dealer to get fixed.

 

These programs are just wonderful for the environment. Fly around the globe to see your gas guzzler. Will they also let you dump a little barrel of oil into one of their fjords? I biked to the dealership to pick up my 35 MPG Mazda 3, Ladies and Gentlemen. Biked!*

Of course, I live in Portland, OR, where we are really smug about the environment.





* Okay, I didn't actually bike. But only because there are a bunch of highways between me and the dealership. And because I don't have a bike.

 

lmao.......

 

BMW, MB and Volvo run some of the best military discount sales here in Europe. I just bought my BMW 335i and it cost me about $5500 less than the US equivalent with local delivery and everything. The service is second to none. With the sun out and the top down, I can finally enjoy driving the dream machine. Of course, the bugs screw up the front bumper too fast too soon after a nice wash.

 

Several posters: "...My wife and I were looking to buy a wagon and were thinking about the Volvo. I think this makes up our mind..."

John, in Gothenberg:
We love it. We love it. Met at the airport by a Volvo rep (holding the sign with our name on it] Same in the hotel lobby next morning after a fantastic breakfast buffet. [These people invented smorgasbord!]. An hour of instruction on our car with a safety engineer (the engineers do this one day a week]. Tryout on their test track. Tour of their safety center. Their mission is that no one belted in will die or be severely injured in a Volvo by 2O2O. Also major focus on pedestrian deaths, which they say account for thirty percent of automotive deaths in Europe: radar pointed in all directions with human-detection software, and automatic braking. Excellent lunch in their cafeteria. Back to the luxury hotel for two more nights. Riding on the Wheel of Goteburg, second-highest ferris wheel in Europe. So far, the thing on the car I like best are the video camera in the two outside mirrors, pointed at the blind spot, which produce a clear orange circle just above the dash if there is a vehicle in either blind spot.

And I may have given them a million-dollar (or million kroner] idea. Car has an interior motion detector, with a remote control unit so you can tell, from a distance, if there is someone in the car. They market this solely as a safety device to see if criminals are in your car. It had apparently not occurred to them that this would have real value in those all-too-many cases where a baby was inadvertently left in a car all day, and died.

 

...make-out detector for parents?

Phillip