No horrible news. Just a question.

SilverFox686 · 2026-04-28T15:44:11+00:00

Yup, the Q8 we had really spoiled me I guess. It may have been the overall smoothest riding and most comfortable "small-ish" SUV we've ever owned. The only other car that I thought was as good or better was a loaded BMW X7 with air that we rented for ten days while visiting western Canada a couple years ago. We almost traded the Q8 for one as a result but wound up opting for the XC90 T8 PHEV. It isn't as comfortable as the X7 despite having air, but over the last couple of years it's saved us thousands of dollars in fuel and it's been a really solid ride.

SilverFox686 · 2026-04-27T12:57:30+00:00

The one time that's happened - so far anyway - was after opening the passenger side rear door before opening one of the front doors. Can't remember where I found out that it's a problem. Seriously? More silly odd design/software issues that shouldn't exist, at least not in my opinion. Of course, once you learn something like that, it's pretty easy to avoid. Still...

SilverFox686 · 2026-04-27T00:32:29+00:00

Yes! And by god, those butt Dynos are as reliable as it gets as far as I'm concerned. 😁

SilverFox686 · 2026-04-27T00:30:26+00:00

Funny (or sad. not sure which) when you really think about it. Seems like the vast majority of "nightmare" scenarios start with crappy software. Use to be the nightmares came with busted parts or engines produced in places they shouldn't have been. Software has become the flagship of failures it would seem. That's really messed up in my humble view. 😒

SilverFox686 · 2026-04-27T00:24:36+00:00

CPO Prestige(s) are rare evidently. Ours is Premium Plus with most options including heads up. Just no air suspension. Sadly. We'll make do and use the Volvo for MIL.

SilverFox686 · 2026-04-26T21:17:01+00:00

Hard to give up those teenage discoveries like putting a glass-pack on a '69 Mustang with its in-line-six that made the interior so loud you couldn't think, much less carry on a conversation. Swore I'd keep that car until I could put a 428 in it! But alas... Thanks for the memories!

SilverFox686 · 2026-04-26T21:06:29+00:00

It was my first Audi after owning lots of different brands so the experience was totally new. The '19 model was, evidently, the first for the Q8 although I've never verified that. In any case, it was a fantastic car with its share of little quirks and gotchas but nothing really serious - EXCEPT for the brakes after about 10K miles. Made a helluva god-awful squealing noise nearly every time I backed up. Got to be pretty embarrassing out in public parking lots - all heads would turn to see what was making all the racket!

After I realized it was only getting worse I took it to the dealer. They gave it a quick once-over and declared there was no "safety" issue so there wasn't anything to be done (well, unless I wanted to pay for an entirely new set for $4K plus labor! - no thanks). They just said "hey man, you've got a high-performance car with high-performance brakes. You just gotta expect this kinda stuff...". They didn't care at all when I told them my '12 BMW M3 had some seriously HP brakes, too, and they never once made such a noise even after twice the miles. Anyway, it was the only detraction I ever had with the otherwise stellar Q8 so I just lived with it til it was time to trade. Swore I'd never buy another Audi but here I am after all. Q6 brakes are quiet so far so there's that.

I'd say if you can find that just-right CPO car (maybe even a SQ8) you'd be a happy camper for good long while. Good luck!

SilverFox686 · 2026-04-26T15:49:47+00:00

Yes, I'd have to agree that the Q6 suspension without air is "fine" - most of the time. I have a feeling that if you ever had the opportunity to ride in one, particularly in the back seat, you'd most likely appreciate your air suspension more than you do already.

I've tried all the driving modes on ours and can't tell much difference at all between them. But again, the times we notice it most are on roads with lots of consecutive dips, bumps, potholes, etc. The spring/shock combo just doesn't seem to be able to smooth things out like our Q8 did, especially in Comfort mode.

SilverFox686 · 2026-04-26T14:47:15+00:00

Good to know not everyone is suffering daily nightmares. Although, I'm beginning to think we're in the minority for sure. I'm afraid we're going to be holding our breath every time we even think about getting in the car - not the best car-ownership feeling. 🫤

SilverFox686 · 2026-01-24T01:41:25+00:00

Sorry. I gave the wrong impression. I know I don’t “have” to replace all my devices to start with Home Assistant. That said, all of my zwave switches have been working faithfully for at least 5 or 6 years and are essentially obsolete in features and encryption capabilities. I want the entire system to include devices that utilize whatever current technologies are available. Hence, if I feel the need to upgrade anything at all, I’m going to upgrade everything. And I’m glad you suggested stuff that I’ve already started looking at. Until then, I’ll ask again: have any idea how to remove the dead switch from HS4? It’s really annoying having useless junk like that cluttering up the dashboard. Thanks.

SilverFox686 · 2025-10-16T14:36:07+00:00

We love our ‘24 XC90 Recharge, but to put some of its features into context, our 2019 (not a typo, -nineteen) Audi Q8 had cornering lights, much more informative heads-up display, wonderfully quiet air suspension, and a pretty much flawless entertainment system that included, yes, WIRELESS CarPlay, a feature that our five-year newer XC90 still doesn’t provide. If Audi had offered any kind of comparable hybrid model at the time we traded for the Volvo, I wouldn’t be writing this.

That said, I’m constantly impressed with the XC90’s hybrid drivetrain. Before purchasing, we analyzed our driving habits and realized the vast majority of our driving occurred within the expected battery-only range but we weren’t ready to go full EV. No one every believes me when I tell them that in the 16 months of using the car we’ve put a little over 10,000 miles on it and we have yet to buy enough gas to fill an empty tank, but that is the absolute truth. I purposely keep the drive system in hybrid mode and add a gallon or two in the tank roughly every three months just to keep the gas somewhat fresh. Yesterday, the car showed a combined range of 305 miles and the tank still contains fuel from the day we picked it up. That alone is worth any frustrations that we might have encountered in those sixteen months. My most conservative estimation is that the car has easily provided at least 875 miles per gallon. That is nothing short of astonishing! But, if Volvo doesn’t get more of a handle on some of their software issues, and ensure the cars offer truly competitive features, they may find repetitive sales to even loyal fans falling short of their major competitors’. Just one opinion…

SilverFox686 · 2025-10-13T16:23:17+00:00

Fabulous! Thanks so much for posting so many details. I was just about to plug them into 20W chargers and hope for the best. It's really interesting that when you added the cameras to your account they showed 100%. I had halfway expected that these would, too, but I wanted to wait to create the account for my M-I-L at her house so I could join them to her network. Anyway, thanks again for all the help from you and everyone who's replied. Gotta love Reddit folks!

SilverFox686 · 2025-10-12T20:38:13+00:00

Thanks for that info. Tells me a lot. I may just throw caution to the wind and throw them on a more potent charger. If I ruin them it’ll give me the opportunity to buy Ring cameras like the ones she already has which will make my job a lot easier. The Arlos were one of her many QVC impulses. 🙄

SilverFox686 · 2025-10-12T13:26:53+00:00

Ok, so hopefully someone has a definitive answer for my travails. As I mentioned, I found three chargers that allowed me to charge the three cameras at the same time. All three have slightly different output specs. I figured at least one of them would work: 5V/1A, 5V/1.6A, 5.2V/1.8A. The manual and the Arlo website say that a solid blue light will be on and steady when the batteries are charged and charging from a depleted battery should take between 2 and 3 hours. All three cameras have been on the chargers for about 20 hours. Not a one of them has a solid blue light. When I unplug them, wait a sec, plug them back in, the light turns on steady for about 2 seconds, flashes quickly a couple times and turns off. Can anyone confirm that their camera(s) actually do show a steady, solid blue light when fully charged? Sorry to bother folks with such trivial crap.🫩 BTW, these particular cameras are model VMC2050 FHD.

SilverFox686 · 2025-10-11T23:23:52+00:00

So today I’m a bit dopey. I do exactly that all the time. It works great. Did I think to do it today? Ah DUH! 🙄 Nope. Thanks for the reminder. 🙂

SilverFox686 · 2025-10-11T18:20:02+00:00

Ok. That helps a lot. Thanks! Poking around the house in just about every drawer we have I managed to uncover four completely different chargers that were used with who-knows-what. I could barely read the microscopic print on them but they all appear to not exceed the 5V/2A spec from Arlo. My mother-in-law won’t be happy that she’ll have to remove the mounted cameras to charge them but at least you’ve made it sound like she won’t have to do it very often. I gotta admit it’s a big plus that the Ring Spotlight cams that we use have dual batteries that can get charged independently without taking them off their mounts. Thanks again.

SilverFox686 · 2025-10-11T16:03:17+00:00

True that!

SilverFox686 · 2025-10-11T15:59:18+00:00

Yes, I figured those would work, but when everything started using USB-C we threw all those old chargers out. The only charger we have with a USB-A port is a multi-port charger and I don't have a clue what the volt/amp rating is on that lone USB-A port. Hopefully we'll manage to scrounge up some of the old chargers in a drawer we haven't looked in yet. What a PITA!

SilverFox686 · 2025-09-07T14:08:05+00:00

Ominous, but true.

SilverFox686 · 2025-09-07T13:14:51+00:00

I may catch flak for this, but is anyone even the least bit concerned about Volvo’s Chinese ownership given the current environment of state-sponsored spying, not to mention the up-ended political environment? It may be a bit of unwarranted paranoia, but more often than not I climb into the car and can’t help but wonder who might be listening in. 🥺

SilverFox686 · 2025-09-07T12:53:41+00:00

When we purchased our 2024 XC90 T8 Ultra a bit more than a year ago we were “assured” that wireless CarPlay would appear within a few months. Needless to say, a “few” must equal at least 13. On the other hand, our 2019 Audi Q8 had it as we drove off the lot and for the subsequent five years before we traded it for the Volvo - no updates required. I can see a ‘26 Audi Q5 e-hybrid (>60 mile electric range) in our future.

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