New XC60 Owner questions about accesories and some DIY options

[NashSmartGuy]

Check out these sill plates... look nice for $65. Not mine.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Door-sill-sc...570a2c&vxp=mtr

So, I ordered these from eBay. From the time of order to delivery to Nashville, it took 12 days. I thought that was very reasonable, especially since shipping was free and they were sent directly from China. The quality seems great. They are a nice stainless steel with a rubberized edge. They look exactly like the picture on eBay. They have a good weight to them, and appear to be quality stainless steel. I don't know how they fit yet, as they beat my XC60, which is currently on a ship in the middle of the Atlantic.

[coachrick]

I'll admit those sill plates are attractive; but I just took a good look at our three-year and two day old XC and neither sill has a scratch on it! Can't say the same for the vinyl trim on the inboard side of the sill...plenty of scuff marks showing on the sandstone/beige/tan. Doesn't mean it wouldn't look good with those sill plates!

[comp1]

my XC60, which is currently on a ship in the middle of the Atlantic.

Since your car is mid Atlantic it should probably be here sooner than later. What is your port date in Brunswick? The delivery times for our cars once they left port was 3 days or less. I'll have to keep an eye out for a silver T6. There are very few XC60 in town.

[NashSmartGuy]

Since your car is mid Atlantic it should probably be here sooner than later. What is your port date in Brunswick? The delivery times for our cars once they left port was 3 days or less. I'll have to keep an eye out for a silver T6. There are very few XC60 in town.

Port date in Brunswick is supposed to be April 15. The last time I spoke with the dealer, they told me it should be here April 27th. I hope they we just being conservative in their estimate. I'll keep an eye out for you. Since I started looking at cars back in February, I think I've only seen three XC60's in the area. I may have seen the same one twice. No blue ones yet, though, so I guess it wasn't you! I like the idea of having a unique car!

[dapakattack]

NashSmartGuy, ordered the same exact sill plates. Hoping they will be in by this Friday. I will post some pics once I get them installed.

CoachRick, we have the tan interior as well and got a couple scuff marks within the first few weeks of owning the XC60. After cleaning them as best as I could, I put down some of the clear plastic sill protection tape. As others have noted, getting scuff marks off of the vinyl trim is no easy task.

[Putertech]

So, I ordered these from eBay. From the time of order to delivery to Nashville, it took 12 days. I thought that was very reasonable, especially since shipping was free and they were sent directly from China. The quality seems great. They are a nice stainless steel with a rubberized edge. They look exactly like the picture on eBay. They have a good weight to them, and appear to be quality stainless steel. I don't know how they fit yet, as they beat my XC60, which is currently on a ship in the middle of the Atlantic.

I installed mine today;

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Door Sills

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2012-04-04

[NashSmartGuy]

I installed mine today;

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Door Sills

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2012-04-04

Those look good. Are you happy with the fit?

[NashSmartGuy]

P.S. Any tips on installing the sill plates? Thanks!

[Putertech]

P.S. Any tips on installing the sill plates? Thanks!

Fit is 100% on point with the angles of the car, as far as install tips.....clean the area well....then use an alcohol pad to clean once more just prior to install. I lined up the sill plates with the pad that's just above it before removing the 3m tape (test fit). Once I was happy where I was going to place it I just pulled off the red tape and laid it down, firmly pressed down evenly across the top and bottom ( easy stuff ).

[cardude10]

So how hard it is to install the aftermarket fog lights and does dealer has to
Reprogram anything .
I have fog lights on my current car and I think they really help.

[NashSmartGuy]

My new XC60 arrived at my dealer yesterday, and I picked it up last night. It sure is a beauty. I spent last night playing with the bells and whistles. I also put Scotchguard on all the carpet, Aerospace Protectant on everything plastic, Armor All Wheel Protectant on the rims, and new stainless steel sill plates on (the eBay ones you guys told me about--fit is perfect and they look very nice). I'm going at lunch today to have the front windows tinted a little darker to more closely match the rear windows. I had the sunglass holder, mudflaps, and left and right rear side nets installed by the dealer. All very good accessories. It is a thing of beauty! I just wanted to thank all of you for your support and information!

[GrecianVolvo]

Congrats! Beautiful car!

As per my message to you, think about these brake dust protectors. They could do more harm than good, down the road.

[NashSmartGuy]

Congrats! Beautiful car!

As per my message to you, think about these brake dust protectors. They could do more harm than good, down the road.

Thanks! I guess my message about the brake dust protector wasn't clear. I applied Armor All Wheel Protectant to the rims, not anything mechanical.

[coachrick]

Thanks! I guess my message about the brake dust protector wasn't clear. I applied Armor All Wheel Protectant to the rims, not anything mechanical.

I've found brake dust to be negligible on the XC...even when we weren't fully washing the vehicle frequently(major dust here in central Texas). Just a rinse-off will take care of the dust most of the time.

Excellent color choice, BTW. Our three year-old Electric Silver still looks great(allowing for the new rear wheel-well scratch that was picked up a couple of weeks ago...looks like a nail or something sharp like the corner of a shopping cart cut a 3-inch shallow gash ). The silver can look deceptively clean even when it has a bit of road grime on it.

BTW.2 , I just installed GoodYear Assurance ComfortTreds on ours, replacing the All Terrain Scorpions. WHAT a difference in sound! You almost think you're driving our C70, it's so smooth and quiet. No chance for a wet-traction eval yet(It IS Texas, after all) but dry traction is fine. This thing is SO much quieter on the 80mph toll-way now!

[yobyot]

My new XC60 arrived at my dealer yesterday, and I picked it up last night. It sure is a beauty. I spent last night playing with the bells and whistles. I also put Scotchguard on all the carpet, Aerospace Protectant on everything plastic, Armor All Wheel Protectant on the rims, and new stainless steel sill plates on (the eBay ones you guys told me about--fit is perfect and they look very nice). I'm going at lunch today to have the front windows tinted a little darker to more closely match the rear windows. I had the sunglass holder, mudflaps, and left and right rear side nets installed by the dealer. All very good accessories. It is a thing of beauty! I just wanted to thank all of you for your support and information!

I also got the sill protectors discussed in this thread from eBay. They do look great and fit perfectly.

I must say, though, that I feel like the beneficiary of intellectual property theft. They fit too well.

IOW, the manufacturer of these sills must have had access to the 3D CAD drawings of the door sill geometry to make these fit so well. There's a little fillet in the door sill and there's a curve at each end near the doors and B-pillar on both the front and rear sills. Getting the right length and the appropriate fit for the fillet wasn't done by hand, I can assure you. Not for $US65.

They must have had a CAD model for the sills -- and I doubt very much that Geely is in the business of shipping its IP to Chinese aftermarket parts makers.

But, it's too much trouble to send them back. :-)

[arowens54]

I've found brake dust to be negligible on the XC...even when we weren't fully washing the vehicle frequently(major dust here in central Texas). Just a rinse-off will take care of the dust most of the time.

Excellent color choice, BTW. Our three year-old Electric Silver still looks great(allowing for the new rear wheel-well scratch that was picked up a couple of weeks ago...looks like a nail or something sharp like the corner of a shopping cart cut a 3-inch shallow gash ). The silver can look deceptively clean even when it has a bit of road grime on it.

BTW.2 , I just installed GoodYear Assurance ComfortTreds on ours, replacing the All Terrain Scorpions. WHAT a difference in sound! You almost think you're driving our C70, it's so smooth and quiet. No chance for a wet-traction eval yet(It IS Texas, after all) but dry traction is fine. This thing is SO much quieter on the 80mph toll-way now!

I have the Assurance ComfortTreds on my CR-V EX-L 2007. I have found that wet traction can be problematic. I spin my wheels a bit on take off. No fishtailing or anything major - just initial grip. The difference in the ride, however, from the original Bridgestones make it worth it. If I were still in Lubbock instead of more rainy Baton Rouge, I'd be set. I think our XC60 comes with Pirelli. It's on its way!!

[cab]

I've found brake dust to be negligible on the XC...even when we weren't fully washing the vehicle frequently(major dust here in central Texas). Just a rinse-off will take care of the dust most of the time.

Excellent color choice, BTW. Our three year-old Electric Silver still looks great(allowing for the new rear wheel-well scratch that was picked up a couple of weeks ago...looks like a nail or something sharp like the corner of a shopping cart cut a 3-inch shallow gash ). The silver can look deceptively clean even when it has a bit of road grime on it.

BTW.2 , I just installed GoodYear Assurance ComfortTreds on ours, replacing the All Terrain Scorpions. WHAT a difference in sound! You almost think you're driving our C70, it's so smooth and quiet. No chance for a wet-traction eval yet(It IS Texas, after all) but dry traction is fine. This thing is SO much quieter on the 80mph toll-way now!

Good to know this Coach. I don't find our Pirellis to be horrible, but they aren't great either (sort of an in between tire all around really). Beyond the sound did you notice any difference in ride comfort (going over expansion cracks on our grooved concrete freeways) and what about bumpier roads at slow speeds. Sorry for the threadjack, but I think I threadjacked a threadjack! LOL!

[coachrick]

Good to know this Coach. I don't find our Pirellis to be horrible, but they aren't great either (sort of an in between tire all around really). Beyond the sound did you notice any difference in ride comfort (going over expansion cracks on our grooved concrete freeways) and what about bumpier roads at slow speeds. Sorry for the threadjack, but I think I threadjacked a threadjack! LOL!

We actually swapped our OEM Scorpion Zero highway tire for the Scorpion All Terrain when I picked up a construction fastener that resulted in a torn sidewall. The Zero highway tire was not available at that time(not much of anything available back in '09). We enjoyed the Zero highway tire for the first few months, until the damage necessitated the swap.

The ComfortTred has a 'quiet layer' built into the belt and I believe it cuts down on all road noise. I don't notice a difference in 'impact' or shock when crossing expansion joints, etc. I haven't found a downside to the ComfortTred tires so far(except for the slightly higher cost...but with the GoodYear rebate, the actual tire price was about $170 per. I can live with that!). Silly me, I don't find the tread design 'sexy'(like the tough-looking A/T Pirellis); but I'm happy so far! I'm still pleasantly amazed at the difference in road noise...no more sounding like a Jeep or pick-up going down the highway!

[coachrick]

I have the Assurance ComfortTreds on my CR-V EX-L 2007. I have found that wet traction can be problematic. I spin my wheels a bit on take off. No fishtailing or anything major - just initial grip. The difference in the ride, however, from the original Bridgestones make it worth it. If I were still in Lubbock instead of more rainy Baton Rouge, I'd be set. I think our XC60 comes with Pirelli. It's on its way!!

Still haven't had any rain since installing the GoodYears. The first of the year was so promising, rain-wise; but we're dryin' up right zippy! East Texas and headed your way is pretty soggy, but we can't get a drop! Hope your weather is nice for a while after you get your new ride! Congrats!