When might one say goodbye to one’s aging XC90?
 

Apologies if inappropriate thread, am new here & struggling with a tiny phone screen but keen to get some answers.

I have a wonderful and well loved 54 plate auto XC90. She’s my first and I am not incredibly well off.
She’s due MOT this week.
I already know:-
ECU requires replacing (permanent intermittent wipers, alarm sensor corroded) £1000 plus.
Key stuck in ignition - new cable?
Open diode on/in alternator new Alt. £350+
Handbrake cable at taughtest - new cable?

Transmission service light on - alternator? Slips, as when a clutch slips on a manual.

Lots of little bits wrong, handle ends popped off, rear seat sticks and won’t fold. Not overly worried about these bits as they don’t affect A-B travel & for £1800 for a beastt I wasn’t expecting perfection!

Just had a new battery (no blowers & CD player locked).

These are just the bits I know of! When purchased, prevoius owner’s dad had serviced the car and alternator issues had been discovered. I’ve had it repaired (Nov but now same troubles) and I believe they also did.

So in my head I’m looking at £2,500 bill. To buy another at this cost, I’m just buying someone else’s troubles?

Help and/or advice greatly appreciated! I really want to keep the beast but at what point does one stop forking out?

Are these main dealer prices?

Get a quote to do what it needs to stay on the road, then make your decision, if it's a much loved car that you really want to keep AND if there's nothing major waiting in the wings to jump out and surprise you you may have to accept that you MAY not do much better swapping it for another. Good luck.

To be frank I would not buy an xc90 if a £2500 bill was of concern.

I am far from rich but the thought of a £2500 bill whilst annoying does not phase me as I see it as a given when you start running cars like this.

It’s a bit like the range river forums full of people asking about 4 k bills. But one, service it and pay the money if it goes wrong.

You are looking at a 40k car so if it don’t need 2.5k spent this year it probably will soon.

Hi
@TheThong ~ Yes, local Volvo garage, right opposite my workplace. ECU is biggest query, aware the rest can be done elsewhere to fit budget, just all come on top of MOT.
@Whippy ~ it’s an old car, not innocent to the costs and would prefer to keep than swap out. Just, how far does one go?
@XC90Mk1 ~ I live and work in rural areas and additionally look after children hence seats. The vehicle was a choice and has cost me less than £500 plus tyres in 18mths so feeling balanced about cost. Just curious really how far does one go before a car becomes scrap or parts? A year or so on I can upgrade, still the plan.

A lot can go wrong. But 2.5k pounds will never buy any car problem free.
You could buy another Volvo for that money, virtually problem free or problem cheap to fix.

I bought my 2012 xc90 last year from a franchises dealer with full history and low miles. 3 months later the Haldex pump failed. The dealership replaced without any quibble or arguments and I was happy but it shows the advice you give is very sound.

There is a lot to be said for better the devil you know.

If you go a specialist garage you could get a ECU repaired or replaced a lot cheaper. My bro in law got his A8 ecu replaced for a second hand one for about £400 with fitting and programming. Think his electronic handbrake was reprogrammed with that as well.
Bit if Google and a few phone calls can save a lot of money.

Look up ECU testing and give them a call. They are very reasonable and will test then report then repair as necessary.

What's the service history like?

If the car has been regularly serviced and if the mileage isn't already starship mileage then it'll probably keep going mechanically as long as you want it to, but it'll cost you money to maintain it. (It's an old car.)

It is an old Volvo, however, so the body probably won't fall off the sub-frame in bits due to rust, unlike some German brands.

If the interior is in good order then that's also worth something.

If it's starting to spend more time off the road than on the road, however, then there's also a cost in terms of disruption.

If, however, you love the car, then that's also worth something.

If your budget is limited then your options are limited and sometimes it's better the devil that you know.

Let me tell you a story.....

Three years ago I sold on my 53 reg V70 D5 manual with 190K on the clock because of anticipated bills including clutch and cam belt service. Big mistake! Otherwise, the car was in excellent order and I should have kept it and had the work done. It's resale value would still have been very low, but it's value to me would have been immense.

Instead, I bought a 2009 Skoda Superb for £8.5K but hated it and sold it at a loss 3 months later, having had to replace the infotainment head unit before doing so.

Then I bought a 2009 Mondeo for £4K that I loved but which soon needed a new clutch, a cam belt service and a new air con condenser. Eventually, last April, I part-exchanged that, with 160K on the clock and for very little money, for a 64-reg V70 D4 SE Lux Auto, which I love.

The moral of the story is that in order to avoid spending money on my old V70 I poured huge amounts of money into two costly ventures that emptied my wallet and that yielded no real benefit apart from persuading me that I needed to own a Volvo again.

A wiser man would have kept the old V70 and traded that in last year for the new one, and would also have had the spare cash for a nice holiday or three.

I'll probably keep the new V70 until it hits 300K miles and then think about it, depending upon how tired the seats etc. are.

The real question to answer, and this is irrespective of age and mileage, is "Is it a good car?". It's a hard question to answer correctly, so if you can't answer this yourself, then perhaps a non-franchised Volvo specialist would be kind enough to offer you an honest opinion.

The one that I trust is Horton Cars in Oakley, Bucks.