This is not what you want to see while driving to a barbeque on a holiday weekend.
The Volvo XC60 has three levels of warning: Tire Pressure Low, Check Tires, and Tire Pressure Very Low. But it doesn't tell you which tire is the culprit. So, I had to stop and check all four. Luckily I hadn't been driving for very long, so the tires were still fairly cold.
The problem tire was the rear passenger side. I inflated it to the proper pressure and the warning light went out. I continued on my merry way, keeping an eye on the gauges in case I had an actual problem with the tire. The XC60 will check inflation pressure levels when the vehicle reaches a speed of 20 mph.
Fortunately, it was fine the rest of the weekend.
Donna DeRosa, Managing Editor @ 21,032 miles
carguy622 says:
12:27 PM, 09/ 7/10
Why doesn't it tell you which tire it is? It has a fancy LCD display. That would irritate me.
jasond52 says:
01:15 PM, 09/ 7/10
My guess is that Volvo uses the ABS system to determine if a tire is low instead of a tire pressure monitor...hence no actual pressure is shown and no specific tire is given.
carguy622 says:
01:30 PM, 09/ 7/10
@jasond52: Thanks for the info. You would think if they spent all this money on the City Safety system they would use an actual tire pressure monitor which would be more useful.
ptcdawg says:
01:47 PM, 09/ 7/10
I can tell if tires are low by looking....it's not that hard.
ac12311 says:
03:25 PM, 09/ 7/10
What is up with that nasty piece of plastic protruding from the steering column area?
cello_one says:
04:37 PM, 09/ 7/10
I would figure that is there for the tilt / telescoping wheel. What state was the wheel in for this shot? And I assume it isn't that noticable sitting in the seat. That piece of plastic looks like an old CD drive door in the open position...
prince34 says:
06:26 PM, 09/ 7/10
The plastic piece has already been addressed in a previous post.
I would also be annoyed by the lack of information. The cobalt has told the individual tire pressures for at least a couple years and I'm sure that everyone can agreed that it isn't setting the bar.
rex21 says:
08:44 PM, 09/ 7/10
Safety within safety is what I see here... the Volvo engineers wants the owners to check all tires for safety and not solely rely on the sensor. Their engineers figure if you only check the indicated low pressure tires when the light comes on, you probably don't take care of your tires at all.
drinkduff77 says:
06:47 AM, 09/ 8/10
What's the difference between "Tire Pressure Low" and "Check Tires"? The inclusion of the "Check Tires" warning implies that when you get a "Tire Pressure Low" warning, you don't need to check the pressure in them yet. Then why even give the warning if I don't need to check them? Doesn't make sense.
6sptl says:
09:23 AM, 09/ 8/10
A sign of cheapo engineering and cost cutting. A Honda fit has essentially the same system.
ralphhightower says:
10:32 AM, 09/ 8/10
Low tire and it doesn't tell you which one is low? That sucks!