Buying my first Volvo - XC90 T8 - looking for advice

[Philip Fisher]

Originally Posted by eugeneville

I'm am absolutely in love with our new XC90, it doesn't feel any worse than the L405 range rover we've had before. Been driving it mostly on electric and using "Hold" function when on motorways, beautiful car to both look at and drive.

A few questions though

* When on "Pure" and with "Additional Heating" disabled in the menu (as I believe this uses a separate fuel fired heater) cabin doesn't seem to heat up at all. I just drove it this morning with temperatures being around 5 degrees Celsius and after about half an hour of driving it was still blowing cold air even though I had heating set to 24...
I've read that on Pure it takes "longer" to heat up, but in my case it seems it doesn't actually heat up at all, the air it pushes out just remains cold...

* Does everyone's boot lid slam back down at the very end? Mine goes down from opened slowly and gently but at the very end just slams shut. Normally on other cars it tends to close very gently and then sort of "pushes" in a tad more.
Please let me know how it is for you. I can take a video to help show what I mean.

* I have the option of lowering side view mirrors turned on when reversing, but it seems to not save the position I set them to. I.e. if I put the car in reverse and then adjust the mirrors so that they wouldn't point too low it wouldn't save this position. Others are experiencing the same?

Thank you

NB:
* Found this post on the US/Canada Volvo forum... Apparently it is an actual fault with the "the coolant heater used for the climate system":
https://www.swedespeed.com/threads/t...2#post-4617017

* Found this random video:
https://youtu.be/SbMtP_r71qw?t=124
where it shows a boot lid closing and it does it sort of two motions with that gentle pushing in at the very end... That's how I'd expect it to work. However mine just shuts close. Will take a video

If you have the cabin heater turned off to save fuel, and you run on Pure, then there will be no heating in the cabin. This is entirely logical, the heater is disabled in the settings, so there is nothing to heat the air in the cabin. Once the ICE starts then you have some waste heat for heating, which will eventually come through.

Yes the boot always closes with a bit of a thump at the end.

Dunno about mirrors, don't use that functionality.

[eugeneville]

Originally Posted by Philip Fisher

If you have the cabin heater turned off to save fuel, and you run on Pure, then there will be no heating in the cabin. This is entirely logical, the heater is disabled in the settings, so there is nothing to heat the air in the cabin. Once the ICE starts then you have some waste heat for heating, which will eventually come through.

Yes the boot always closes with a bit of a thump at the end.

Dunno about mirrors, don't use that functionality.

I believe you might have misunderstood me, since I do indeed have the cabin heater turned on. The temperature is set to 24, yet still after say half an hour of driving only cold air is blowing without even a hint of a warm air...

^ as per this picture you can see that it says "Additional heater" and it even says that it will just speed up the process of heating up the cabin. Not that unticking this option will completely stop you from getting any warm air.
From my understanding this engages the fuel fired heater but I'm not certain this is the case, hence wanted to double check here (plus I believe I can smell fumes outside the car when this option is ticked, near the passenger side front fender, where the manual says it is positioned).

I am going to the dealership in Reading next week since my right side view mirror doesn't defrost/defog and I was hoping to understand if I also have a faulty HVCH (high voltage coolant heater) that is meant to heat up the cabin when driving on battery only and without assisting it with the "fuel fired heater" albeit slower.

Could I please ask other T8 owners to report back if you are getting any warm air when on battery and with below "Additional Heater" option unticked.

Thank you very much!

[sk546]

Originally Posted by eugeneville

I believe you might have misunderstood me, since I do indeed have the cabin heater turned on. The temperature is set to 24, yet still after say half an hour of driving only cold air is blowing without even a hint of a warm air...

^ as per this picture you can see that it says "Additional heater" and it even says that it will just speed up the process of heating up the cabin. Not that unticking this option will completely stop you from getting any warm air.
From my understanding this engages the fuel fired heater but I'm not certain this is the case, hence wanted to double check here (plus I believe I can smell fumes outside the car when this option is ticked, near the passenger side front fender, where the manual says it is positioned).

I am going to the dealership in Reading next week since my right side view mirror doesn't defrost/defog and I was hoping to understand if I also have a faulty HVCH (high voltage coolant heater) that is meant to heat up the cabin when driving on battery only and without assisting it with the "fuel fired heater" albeit slower.

Could I please ask other T8 owners to report back if you are getting any warm air when on battery and with below "Additional Heater" option unticked.

Thank you very much!

You have to have the additional heater 'enabled' in the setting, not disabled (as you originally state in an earlier post) to get heating when driving in pure/electric mode.
UK spec T8's will have either a fuel powered Auxiliary heater OR an electric powered auxiliary heater but never both. Your car should have the fuel powered Auxiliary heater as the electric powered (high voltage) auxiliary heaters came on MY21 and later cars so I dont think you will have that problem.

'Enable' the additional heater in the settings menu and this should start the auxiliary heater upon startup (or when using the pre-conditioning via the app). This will warm up the coolant system and in turn provide heating to the cabin via the heater matrix, otherwise, start the ICE for a bit and this will provide warmth.
However, I will make sure you are clear with this, driving in electric mode (either in Pure or Hybrid) and having the auxiliary heater 'Disabled' in the menu settings will provide you with zero cabin heating, this is how the system is designed to operate. If you enable the additional heater and you still have no cabin heating in electric mode then you do have a problem and need it looked at.

Hope this helps.

[eugeneville]

Originally Posted by sk546

You have to have the additional heater 'enabled' in the setting, not disabled (as you originally state in an earlier post) to get heating when driving in pure/electric mode.
UK spec T8's will have either a fuel powered Auxiliary heater OR an electric powered auxiliary heater but never both. Your car should have the fuel powered Auxiliary heater as the electric powered (high voltage) auxiliary heaters came on MY21 and later cars so I dont think you will have that problem.

'Enable' the additional heater in the settings menu and this should start the auxiliary heater upon startup (or when using the pre-conditioning via the app). This will warm up the coolant system and in turn provide heating to the cabin via the heater matrix, otherwise, start the ICE for a bit and this will provide warmth.
However, I will make sure you are clear with this, driving in electric mode (either in Pure or Hybrid) and having the auxiliary heater 'Disabled' in the menu settings will provide you with zero cabin heating, this is how the system is designed to operate. If you enable the additional heater and you still have no cabin heating in electric mode then you do have a problem and need it looked at.

Hope this helps.

Thank you very much for your input, I really appreciate it.
I wonder if having this option ticked would in any way contribute to the ICE kicking in during driving on Pure?
Having learned from what you've written in my mind it shouldn't have an affect on when ICE turns on. (right?)

P.S. I'd argue that the wording is a bit misleading and should have an additional line stating that when driving the car exclusively on the battery, deselecting this option would result in the loss of heating to the cabin regardless of the temperature selected. Something along the lines of that. Would you agree?

[Philip Fisher]

Think about it this way. If you disable the additional heater and don't run the engine, how are you going to get any heat? Where would it come from?

[Philip Fisher]

Originally Posted by eugeneville

Thank you very much for your input, I really appreciate it.
I wonder if having this option ticked would in any way contribute to the ICE kicking in during driving on Pure?
Having learned from what you've written in my mind it shouldn't have an affect on when ICE turns on. (right?)

P.S. I'd argue that the wording is a bit misleading and should have an additional line stating that when driving the car exclusively on the battery, deselecting this option would result in the loss of heating to the cabin regardless of the temperature selected. Something along the lines of that. Would you agree?

Personally no. It is pretty clear to me. Turn off the heater, feel cold. Turn it on. Feel warm. 😀

[sk546]

Originally Posted by eugeneville

Thank you very much for your input, I really appreciate it.
I wonder if having this option ticked would in any way contribute to the ICE kicking in during driving on Pure?
Having learned from what you've written in my mind it shouldn't have an affect on when ICE turns on. (right?)

P.S. I'd argue that the wording is a bit misleading and should have an additional line stating that when driving the car exclusively on the battery, deselecting this option would result in the loss of heating to the cabin regardless of the temperature selected. Something along the lines of that. Would you agree?

Having the additional heater selected or not has no affect on whether the ICE kicks in, however, having the additional heater activated and providing heat to the car also warms the engine block as the coolant water the additional heater warms circulates through the ICE cooling system as well as the heater matrix for the cabin and aids in reducing cold start wear on the ICE as you aren't starting the engine from fully cold.

[Giles11]

Originally Posted by eugeneville

Thank you very much for your input, I really appreciate it.
I wonder if having this option ticked would in any way contribute to the ICE kicking in during driving on Pure?
Having learned from what you've written in my mind it shouldn't have an affect on when ICE turns on. (right?)

P.S. I'd argue that the wording is a bit misleading and should have an additional line stating that when driving the car exclusively on the battery, deselecting this option would result in the loss of heating to the cabin regardless of the temperature selected. Something along the lines of that. Would you agree?

The smaller hybrid batteries in any car are simply too small to power both the engine and the heater in v cold weather. To reduce the load / chances of ICE kicking in, the best solution in cold weather is to pre condition the car and then use seat / steering wheel heating only.

[Philip Fisher]

Originally Posted by Giles11

The smaller hybrid batteries in any car are simply too small to power both the engine and the heater in v cold weather. To reduce the load / chances of ICE kicking in, the best solution in cold weather is to pre condition the car and then use seat / steering wheel heating only.

I think the OP's car has the fuel powered heater however, so this won't be the case for them.

[JJ63]

Originally Posted by eugeneville

Hi everyone,


I've never owned a volvo before but am currently in the market for one.
Looking for advice on what to look out for when buying a used XC90 T8.
What I've decided to look for specifically is a 2019 11.6kWh T8 in an R-Design Pro specification.

I'd really appreciate any advice that you might have for me when going for a test drive and when examining the car. Is there anything specific that I should be on the lookout for?

We've just sold our big diesel SUV because of the realisation that a diesel car isn't suited well for the type of journeys that we do - short school runs, gym, groceries, all within around 5-10 miles from where we live in.

The reason why I'm narrowing it down to finding a 2019 11.6kWh model is because of what I've read that they come with a number of improvements to various areas, like the quicker Sensus system, third generation battery (potentially better ERAD?), slightly better range, etc.

Our last diesel car suffered from oil dilution due to short journeys and I've read that the T8 (effectively a T6 once the ICE turns on) does also suffer from the same problem if the regen cycle kicks in but isn't allowed to finish. My honest hope is that I'd be able to keep it in Pure mode without letting the ICE turn on at all on our short journeys hence eliminating the oil dilution problem. (I've read how one needs to give it a bit more time when going from reverse to drive so that not to let the ICE turn on, pre-condition it on either a hot or a cold morning, etc.

I've seen a video on youtube where a guy said that in 2020 there was an update that makes the T8 stay in Pure electric mode regardless of how hard you press the accelerator pedal... Even though that was in US, the car in question was an 11.6kWh XC90 T8. Has anyone heard of this update being available here in UK, or does it still turn the engine one if one would accelerate too hard?

I will only be buying directly from Volvo as I'm hopeful that the potential ERAD issue would then be covered under their Select warranty. That is the case right?

P.S. The car that I will go see this coming Friday the 20th of Jan has 58K miles on the clock, which is around 20K miles more that the average for a 2019 plate, but it is under warranty from Volvo and is in the Spec that I'm after. Would you say this kind of mileage should be a concern and a deal breaker when buying a used T8?


Pardon for so many question and so much text.
Many thanks in advance for all your input and advice.

I just googled "xc90 t8 uk forum" and this discussion was the first hit - I'm researching the possibility of a T8 (similar age to yours) so this is an interesting thread. But what surprised me most was to see you're in Fleet too! I shall be keeping my eyes open for your car when I'm out walking the dog