Should I buy an XC90?

[oragex]

It is good to have a garage that works regularly on these cars. These cars are not cheap to repair. Buying one that has been maintained with genuine parts is a better bet, 66k miles is good and you may not need suspension repairs for the first few years. The DPF doesn't like at all short distances. It may be time for the timing belt but with lower miles you may stretch it 1-2 more years. For repairs, buying quality parts on line is the best, there are only a few brands worth buying - usually it's the brands that make the parts for Volvo. If you don't drive it a lot, it will have a good resale value.

[ts72]

Owned my 2005 manual D5 model for 2 years now, and mechanical wise done all the work to it.

Bought it at 115,000 miles with FSH, done 135,000 now.

In that time, I've changed:

Angle box splined sleeve that had failed so no 4wd
Core plug failure and failed crankshaft seal, resulting in removing the gearbox to replace a £2 plug and £20 seal
Replaced lower arm bushes, front strut top mounts and bearings
Both main lower vacuum engine mounts
Engine top rear sway bar mount, lower front gearbox mount
Rear parking sensors faulty
Intermittent issues with the ICM ( Infotainment control module) i.e. the brains of the stereo/media system and ABS system
Replaced alternator belt pulleys and alternator clutch pulley
Subframe bushes are shot and need replacing
Interior creaks galore, along with a clicking drivers seat due to the WHIPS system
Air Quality Sensor failure
Disks and pads all around
Fuel economy is surprisingly good on the manual on motorways/a roads, grim like most cars with big engines in stop start commute traffic.

A lot in that list is fair wear and tear, but these cars are hard on suspension components and other ancillaries.

The point being made is, they can quickly become expensive beasties to maintain, especially if you're not mechanically minded and hands on with the spanners. Certain main electronic units in these cars are coded to the central control module of the car, so swapping a failed unit for a replacement from a breakers isn't possible, unless you employ the services of VolvoDiagnostic (on here or google the company) who can refurb certain ones at reasonable prices. I hold the opinion that you're never too far away from a £1000+ repair bill for an electronic component that's thrown its hand in and can't be refurbished or replaced with 2nd hand.

Despite all the above, have I enjoyed owning it? Yes, it's big, roomy, comfortable and has done everything asked of it. Working on Volvo's is user friendly overall with a few exceptions.

Would I buy another one? No I wouldn't. Like an earlier poster has said, in my opinion and from my experience, they're frangible and prone to having a sizeable list of problems. That's not to say you would see or suffer them (mines one of the earlier ones so a number of early issues were ironed out), and every car has its quirks, but the list on the XC90 is more than any other car I've owned over the years. Law of averages and all that.

I'm not even sure if the manual gearbox is available on 2009 models so probably a moot point anyway, but it's still smooth as silk on mine after 135,000 miles, so don't agree with this viewpoint that the auto's are smoother. That's just a personal opinion.

If you're going to stump up 9-10k on one, full service history advisable and demand, not ask, for a proper diagnostic readout (ideally via Volvo Vida/Dice) on the car before you say yes to anything. Usual stuff applies with looking at 2nd hand cars, and check everything.

If you do buy one, then invest in a cheap laptop and a clone/knockoff version of the Volvo VIDA/DICE diagnostic system (£50-60) . Will save you a lot of money in the long run if/when it develops problems.

[aland]

Agree with you ts72.

One of my primary reasons for buying the XC90 in the first place was to tow my 24', 1500kg caravan.
These trips are usually with 5 people, sometimes 6 and a dog, and 4 bikes on the roof and awning in the boot.
While on paper my V70 could also tow the caravan, in reality it's an unpleasant experience with the V70, especially when windy or HGVs pass.
The XC90 is MUCH better at this. Having 7 seats is useful also.

I dislike it's poor MPG* but otherwise pretty happy with it.
I really don't know what i'd replace it with to do the job so well, and gain anything. I've looked at big VWs and Audi Q7's - none of these are perfect either !

* - I had several years of the swirl flaps not working at all, and I've recently discovered a fault code for the actuator returning impossible values so being disabled. Hopefully once that's changed this weekend the MPG will improve again.

[okedave]

We are on our second XC90 after the first one was involved in a full speed head on collision. Our car looked like it had been in a minor scrape and we walked out of it with mild whiplash and a burn from the airbag. The other car (a 1 year old skoda) was completely destroyed forward of the passenger compartment, the engine just disentegrated against our volvo. Our volvo didnt move from the point of impact, however the other car bounced off, spun round and continued past.

After that we got out and instantly decided we were getting another. The maintenance and running costs can seem a bit high compared to a car, however from what Ive seen on other forums I dont think they compare unreasonably to other similar sized and style of vehicles, particularly land/range rovers and the audi q7. Certainly we get much better MPG than the in-laws BMW X5 (and they were surprised at how cheap our main dealer was to get the intercooler replaced compared to BMW costs). They have had to downsize to an X3 because of their running costs.

The one we have now is my wifes car, but I'm seriously considering getting one for myself too when my current car decides to give up the ghost, so I would recommend getting one. The biggest plus for us is that driving it puts a smile on our faces :-)

[Cha76]

Thanks everybody for their input. I’m now beginning to have second thoughts. But I still think they are great looking cars. My head says no but my heart says yes and my wallet says wtf are you doing. I just can’t see another car big enough that looks as good. All other cars just seem to look the same these days. Please keep the comments and thoughts coming as I fight with my conscience and my wallet. You never know you just might help me make an informed choice. Thanks again.

[owenfackrell]

If you look on forums you are going to find lots of negatives for any car as people only tend to go to them with issues. Any of the pre face lift cars are going to be at least 12 years old now so not young cars even the newest Mark one cars are 4 years old now. The parts are expensive but then they were expensive cars new.
I don’t think that you will find a better 7 seat car for the money. Cheaper ones will be less reliable as they get older and the trim etc will be easy to break as well as just fall off.
My xc90 is a 54 plate with 240k miles on the clock and whilst things break and wear out it is still a very comfortable well built car. Yes there are some rattles but I’ve been in and owned cars with a lot less miles that rattle more and I’m still getting nearly 40mpg
We will be replacing this with a newer one at some point.

[mkc]

We’ve had one for 3 months. I researched common issues and their cost to resolve. You have to remember that someone would’ve paid the best part of £40k to £45k for the car and it will still have those running costs. But given the years that this car has been on the market and the number they’ve made there are lots of garages that may not be Volvo specialists but will happily work on one. We went for the first 2.4 auto geatronic I think they’re called d5 and managed to get a SE Lux which has got folding mirrors and supposedly a better sound system.
It’s done 150k miles and that doesn’t scare me. I got 220k out of my old Audi and the lads at work have volvos all fast approaching 250 to 300k Miles.
We looked at loads on eBay annd other online listings and and only actually one in person. We bought it. It came with a huge folder of repairs and receipts and appears to have had lots of big jobs completed recently. Timing belts and water pumps 3k miles before selling it for example. The only problem inside is that we have stains in the rear carpets but I’m gradually getting rid of those and outside it’s got a few scratches but it’s 10 years old and has been used exactly how it should be. We rarely use it, it’s a 4 th car, and used for towing occasionally at the weekend for our hobbies. I’m not convinced they are un economical to be honest. We get mid 30s when towing and high to almost 40s on a good motorway drive. and I was getting this on a 2.0 Audi petrol. Yes you’d expect more from a diesel but given the size of the car it’s not that bad. We do have one fault at the moment but I fully expected this when buying a 10 year old car. So I expect to spend several £100 a year on odd little jobs and I think you need to expect that. Get a fault reader a tool box and a you tube account. ill try to fix anything that doesn’t require the fluids in the car..... ther is nothing like it out there for the price maybe apart from a Disco but they have their own issues. You could either spend your full budget on a xc90 and then be annoyed when it breaks or spend 60% of your budget and have a fund for odd jobs. I’m chuffed to bits with ours, the Mrs loves driving it and I gave it a really good detail and wash when I bought it and it looked great in its willow green colour. Next issue for me to look at is the smokey lights which I think I can polish out. One thing to note though is the road “tax” my one is £550 I think or thereabouts. Others can be in the £300 range. There really are some good ones out there and the road tax puts people off buying them which is often why you see a good one parked outside a garage that they can’t shift!

[Bonefishblues]

A couple of posters have quoted very impressive mpg figures. Can I ask whether they are indicated or calculated figures?

[owenfackrell]

Mine is calculated the normal is 38 but on longer trips I get 40 plus. I do have a manual 163bhp car plus I don’t live in a city and don’t use the car for commuting. If you do get stuck in traffic then that figure does plunge.

[ts72]

163bhp manual , as per owenfackrell 40+ on longer motorway/fast A road easily doable with this version. I once drove a full tank of fuel on motorways 60-70mph . 650 miles before I bottled it burning near on 15 gallons and well into the reserve. As they say, your mileage may vary and depends a lot on your driving style.

Stop start commuter traffic is another thing (like most cars). My 17 mile commute, plus some ad hoc weekend mileage, probably 400-450 miles max, so high 20's.