Opinions on fuel

[Clive69]

Hi everyone,

Looking at getting an XC90 in the early part of next year and wanted some opinions on whether to go for petrol or diesel bearing in mind the prices at the moment.

Any advantages or disadvantages?


TIA
Clive69

[Tannaton]

Depends on where you live and what you are going to use the car for....

i.e. are you going to take it into London regularly?

With petrol models your choice is much more limited, 9 out of 10 people on here I expect would say avoid the T6 because of it's gearbox issues (though some people have and do run them reliably) so you are looking at the 2.5T which was later to become the 3.2 and the V8.

As said the petrol models are hard to find (excl. T6), if you look on e-bay and autotrader I would guess there is less than 10 for sale in the country at any time...

[Clive69]

Thanks, mostly for a 20 mile commute through the villages to work each day. So I think I'm leaning more towards a D5 diesel then.

[Tannaton]

If you've got longer runs and you're not likely to be snared by congestion zones in a major city then a diesel will make the most sense.

[trumpetdropper]

One thing most people don't take into account is the whole of life costs of car ownership.
I bought my T6 exec. low mileage good history & everything works for less than half the cost of a basic diesel version with twice the mileage. I would say I saved about £2500 if not more. Luckliy, I am of an age that my insurance is less than £150 pa fully comp for the petrol, the equivalent diesel would have cost me nearly £200?? (apparently due to their accident history and engine failures??) the road tax is fixed at band K as it's pre 2006. The T6 is a non-interference engine so a cam belt failure doesn't destroy the engine. Servicing is also significantly cheaper So I get no more than 20mpg mixed driving, and a diesel might get me 10-15 miles more for the same price, saving a few quid a week - but the point is I have £2500 in my pocket which will keep me in petrol for many years and I feel should the gearbox fail I have some in reserve.
The biggest plus is that it smooth and quiet with no dirty black smoke out of the tail!

[Moose Test]

It depends very significantly on your expected annual mileage. For me, with a V8 giving around 20 MPG on average across my typical driving cycle, £2500 represents just one year's fuel. Consider that the V8 commands a strong purchase premium over a D5 of the same year and there's no saving at all to be made from going petrol (the VED is also now North of £500).

Where I would agree wholeheartedly with trumpetdropper is in the driving experience. If you don't do that many miles and can afford it, the driving pleasure of the big petrol is miles apart from that of any of the D5 engines. Sure, someone will point out that torque figures look similar on paper but having owned most (and driven all) of the D5 variants I can say that none have anything on the V8 petrol. Silent, smooth, consistent power delivery at all speeds and revs.

And, it doesn't sound, smell and smoke like an idling ice cream van.

I've driven many Volvo diesels over the years and loved them all in their own right but I am done with oil burning. I hoping that my next car will feature a T8 drive chain!