We at LLN are a full-service website, bringing you not only the cars, but scenics of the areas we get to drive the cars in. Mind you, we did not drive to Alcatraz, but figured most people wouldn’t mind seeing photos of the San Francisco area landmark.

The cell block is the area that was affectionately known as Broadway!

BUT What’s with those scenic pics at the end? Did the photographer just upload everything on the memory stick?

But why do these mini-SUV’s have to weigh SOOOOO damn much?! Most mid-sized 90’s SUV’s weighed less!! (Rodeo, Trooper, 4Runner, Explorer)

Weight savings? Virtually none.

And who wants to look at such a clean design… and then have that ugly metal thing right in your face at the front? A little bit of chrome with black paint is classy, but otherwise…

But other than that, I really do like this Volvo. Since the C30, they’ve been coming out with some very good products. I enjoy Scandinavian design… what I don’t desire is the high price and high costs associated with most of the new Volvo’s. They aren’t the safest cars for good reason…

Buy American, Buy GM. It is your duty.

Concerning the XC70, the base price on a T6 is $5000 more ($2000 base price increase and $2995 Premium package for XC60’s standard leather and sunroof). I think the pricing is good, especially when compared to the XC70. I just wonder if there will be an XC70 market left. I will be ordering my XC60 this week.

Good to see you still around. That said, I guess I must be a snob for liking this . . . though, yer right about the PRICE . . . geez! Volvos will always be expensive because they are a niche product AND imported (double-whammy). The only solution I can think of is to keep the safety and styling and dial-down some of the amenities. Maybe Volvo can go back to the “near luxury” most of us Volvo folks grew up with, which should also take care of a hefty portion of the snob appeal TomF speaks of. Of course, that would also make Volvos even MORE of a niche vehicle, which would inevitably raise prices.

I will love Volvo as long as they keep their safety tech up to snuff and utility in the wagons. However, the only economic case I can make for the brand is that Ford benefits hugely from the trickle-down of safety equipment from Volvo engineering teams that exist in a culture of safety as the ultimate goal. I would hate to see Ford sell Volvo since I honestly do not believe Ford can maintain its vastly improved safety performance sans Volvo.

If Ford ever did sell Volvo to a Shanghai Automotive Group, or some other Chinese company, I would write off Volvo and Ford in a heartbeat. Volvo has barely survived Ford’s meddling (and many of you argue persuasively that it has NOT survived) and I doubt Volvo would survive a Chinese company’s ownership. These opinions are, honestly, nothing against the Chinese; but, rather, a disgust that Ford has considered selling Chinese companies an asset that would allow them access to the one tech (safety) barring their entry into the American market and the follow-on finishing-off of Detroit. We all know the Chinese are “communist” in name only, but does Ford really need to be the capitalist company that sells the noose to its own destroyer? Talk about a prophecy fulfilled . . .

I don’t really see the mission for the vehicle AND the XC70 AND the XC90… Volvo is slicing the market for snob-appeal high-priced Euro CUVs / SUVs too thin. And a rational buyer unaffected by snob-appeal factors would go for a Murano at $5k to $7k less.

It’s not as much a driver’s car as the Germans, but at least it’s not a Lexus.