[V8XCV]

Well, having had my fair share of 'budget' volvo purchases my experience is that you end up shelling out about 50% more to get it up to scratch once purchased. I tend to find that the tyres & brakes are shot, and conveniently the timing belt and aux belt need doing.

The XC90 AWD system has a good chance of having failed meaning you loose rear drive, you'll need to do some wheel spinning to check that in a gravel car park.

When I bought my XC90 I found the coolant tank was cracked, parking brake was totally useless, air con didn't heat up, fuel flap lock was failed, once fixed up it was all great.

I did like the active Bi-xenon headlights, so if those are fitted that's a bonus. Check the speakers work, my rear door speakers failed.

I loved the V8 engine, but 15-20mpg and £550 road tax was the downside. And it was only slightly quicker than the D5 in reality as you couldn't drive everywhere at 6,000RPM needed to get power out of that engine.

I had the Sport (pre R-design) with 19" wheels and found the ride a bit crashy compared to the standard XC90, although the handling with surprisingly good for such a big car.

I miss the XC90 load capacity and ride height, it was also very good in the snow when fitted with Dunlop Wintersport 5 winter tyres, had it in the Beast from the East and living down a farm track meant never had any issues. Also did the A9 up through Scottish Highlands in January in blizzards without any issue.