General: Ownership Thread - 2012 XC90 Executive

[Odysseus]

MOT and service day today!

Good news is that it passed once again with no advisories. Fantastic for a car that's 9 years old and has done the thick end of 200,000 miles.



The service was completed successfully too. Just a simple oil and filter job, no extra work or drama.



All in, £320.70, which I don't think is too bad all things considered.

All done by IVS at Letchworth, as usual.

Typically the hours my XC90 is being looked at at IVS I spend in cafes/pubs enjoying the local hospitality. With everything shut thanks to coronavirus I had a somewhat daunting three hours to kill with everywhere bar supermarkets shut. Even so, clad in thermals and a woolly hat it wasn't too bad, and I definitely got my step count in. The break from home-schooling was actually quite welcomed too.

In other XC90 news it's been a real trooper during the recent storms and flooding. My youngest child is still able to go to nursery and there have been weeks where that two mile journey between villages included a good stretch of driving through flood waters far too deep for regular saloons or hatchbacks. The XC90 simply drove through it, saving me a 20 mile and 45 minute detour twice a day.

I've also been very impressed with the Cross Climate tyres. They've given far more grip on cold wet surfaces than the performance oriented Michelin Pilot Sport 4s on my other car. I'm conscious this is what you'd expect really, but it's still nice to feel the tyres doing what they're designed to do.

I can also confirm the AWD is definitely working, having experienced my first entirely unnecessary but definitely enjoyable lurid XC90 power slide on a deserted snowy junction.

Tellingly, despite a busy summer last year and still being the main family transport, the XC90 has only covered 5,000 in 12 months. Under half what we'd normally expect. Maybe the sign of things to come for motoring?

Anyway, here's to happy XC90ing, thanks for reading.

[Odysseus]

Puncture!

How annoying. The first puncture I've suffered in years. More annoying was that the hole was too close to the sidewall to be repaired.



This meant I had to use the space saver, which judging by the fact it still had a sticker on the tread had never, ever been used. Not bad in eight years and 198,000 miles! The downsides are however the car looks completely ridiculous.





Also, I'm fairly sure the space saver has a physically smaller rolling radius compared to the regular wheels and tyres, which mean my traction control light was occasionally flashing as the diff thought one of the wheels was rotating at a different speed to the other. Disappointed with that if I'm honest.

No-one around here carries Michelin Cross Climates in the size I needed in stock so I ordered another via Blackcircles. I had to wait a few days but yesterday the replacement tyre was fitted. £182.87. Ouch.



Aside from a slightly bruised wallet I thought my troubles were over, but this morning when I went to replace the space saver under the car, the cable to hold the space saver in place refuses to drop more than a couple of inches. I've seen a thread here (https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=99815) that seems to suggest the cable can get stuck, this might be what's happened to me. I've squirted WD40 up into the mechanism as much as I can but I'm a bit stuck if I'm honest.

Any other suggestions gratefully received!

[owenfackrell]

They changed the size of the space saver at some point in the life of the XC90 to a smaller one. The size difference is mentioned in the manual. Not only is it a smaller diameter than the normal wheels it is also thinner than the old space saver. Fortunately for me I have a spare old one which I have swapped on to our 2012.
The winch is held on by 3 bolts I believe and once undone it can be lifted out though I have never tried this.

[XC90Mk1]

How are things still going with this?

Mine is now at 120,000. Lots and lots of servicing as I do it all myself for negligible costs.

Only failures in my time are caliper rebuild £20.00 and toe o seals £70.00.

I look forward to getting up to your miles!

[Odysseus]

Thanks for asking mate, I’ve been a bit slack and not done a good job of keeping this up to date. In my defence three kids, a new (and more demanding) job, and life in general has kept me pretty busy.

I still have the XC90 and last month it passed its MOT (no advisories again) and had a service and cambelt change. This was done at IVS in Letchworth and came to around £600. Mileage is now around 206,000.

Aside from that there have have been no bills or issues, which is good.

I’m not sure I’ll use IVS again. I don’t question the quality of their work but their customer service is really awful. Calls don’t get returned, emails go ignored, and the “no-frills” experience starts to grate after a while.

I’ve got it booked in with Volvo Peterborough to finally replace the failed spare wheel winch. Their quote was actually cheaper than any Volvo specialist I asked, plus I’ll benefit from all the convenience of a main dealer, coffee, Wi-Fi, etc. this should cost around £225, but I’ll update this once I’ve had the bill.

I’ve had the Volvo three years now and it’s still going strong and is equal to every task I ask if it. Part of me would like to replace it as it’s feeling a bit well used in places but without spending the best part of £30K I don’t really fancy anything else in the seven seater SUV space. Either way, it needs to soldier on for another year or two before life (meaning finances) will tolerate a change. 🙂

It’s long overdue a clean, but still scrubs up well. In the absence of an exterior picture here’s child number three - the whole reason we bought the XC90 - monkeying around in the boot after I gave it a bad needed vacuum.

https://1drv.ms/u/s!AiV00P1HHGk8iPpfpzVC4nuxOtJl5Q

[Odysseus]

Nearly 18 months since my last update - shame on me!

We still have the XC90 and it's still delivering on its mission of being a comfortable family car, though I have to say this last year has tested how far I'm prepared to go (as in spend) to keep an old, high mileage car running.

The saving grace is that what's wearing out and being repaired on the XC90 is not anything I've had repaired before, so hopefully the following 18 months will be relatively inexpensive, but maybe that's just optimistic naivety?

I've become (even more?) OCD about record keeping since my last update and have bought folders and clear wallets for both cars where I keep invoices and MOTs etc. The Volvo's dossier is gigantic, almost filling the file. That's what 223,000 miles and a comprehensive history gets you!



Starting oldest to most recent, here's what's happened since the last update.

December 2022
We started finding the Volvo being a bit reluctant to start, and had a couple of occasions where the battery went flat after a door being left open or the windows being used without the engine running. This was clearly sub-optimal so I just bought a new battery from Tanya, a Bosch S5 013, for £124.99 delivered.

Fitting it was a case of getting under the boot floor and taking out the old one. About 10 minutes and easy peasy.


January 2023
Coming home from work I suffered a stone chip and a crack to the windscreen. Just bad luck really. Knowing the MOT was coming up in the next month or so I got it booked in with AutoGlass who came and replaced the screen. Unbeknownst to me, the new screen had a problem with the rain sensor. What followed was a few months of back and forth with AutoGlass and three separate home visits until they replaced the screen with a genuine Volvo one, which cured the rain sensor issue, in May 2023. What a saga.

February 2023
MOT and service time. I'd started to suspect the Volvo needed discs and pads all round and this was confirmed during the MOT. All new brakes were needed to pass. I can't really moan about this as I'd never done anything with the brakes since buying the car four years and 30,000 miles + before, but even so it was a spicy bill. £1,177.44, ouch.



There was also a worrying clonk coming from the front suspension, which was revealed to be top strut mounts.

March 2023
Booked in again for the strut mounts, and also a faulty ABS sensor which was throwing a ABS/ESP error. £1,061.64



June 2023
We became increasingly aware of the Volvo feeling hesitant when driving at low speeds, and then it starting throwing check engine lights. There was also starting to be a build up of mucky sooty deposits where the exhaust exits the rear bumper, making me think the combustion process wasn't quite where it should be. My cheapy code reader talked of a MAF problem, but it always came back when I cleared the codes so it was time to go back to the experts.

The guys at IVS diagnosed the problem as a blown intercooler, a part which is surprisingly inexpensive. On the way down the A1 to Letchworth I suffered another ABS/ESP fault meaning (yet) another ABS ring needed replacement. Fortunately this could be done at the same time.

Bill for all this £538.20



July 2023
I almost forgot this, but we suffered from the annoying driver's seat trim cracking. I tried gluing it which was predictably useless, so stumped up another £78.59 from a new one off eBay. I'm sure I could have sourced one from Volvo direct and saved a bit of money, but who has time for that?



Having spent about £3K on the Volvo in just over 6 months I'm keen it rewards this largesse with solid reliability, which touch wood it's doing. It's still comfortable, reasonably quick, and swallows luggage and crap for the charity shop with ease.

It's going to need tyres later this year. I might suffer an attack of the tightwads and not go for £200+ Michelin Cross Climates again in each corner, even though they're excellent, but we'll see how generous I'm feeling at the time.

You'll note that I did actually go back to IVS again. The Volvo main dealer in Peterborough offered no discount for older cars, and their quote for just brakes all round was about 1200 quid, so that instantly put them out of the running. My view of IVS has softened a bit since the bad experience a while ago and they remain my go-to place for Volvo knowledge.

The long haired general - who uses the Volvo most - is of the opinion that our next family car should be 'eco', so a hybrid or full electric. This is a bit annoying but since she'll be the one largely funding this particular purchase I'm happy to work within those limits. Maybe next year we'll replace the XC90, or maybe not. I'm kind of tempted to keep it anyway, given that it's such a good car and so useful for what it's worth.

Either way, the XC90 keeps on trucking. Thanks for reading.

[AlainBrighton]

So good to see your tank is still running well, I am on my 3rd XC90 since, never a problem but every time I could sell it for a good price. I see the Lexus has een replaced with a VW ? Shocking times ;-)

And if you ever decide to sell it, may I be your first call ? :-)

Cheers,
Alain

[GeoW151]

Great thread, I've enjoyed reading back through and glad to hear yours is still running well. Wondered if the people here could give me some advice?

I'm in the market for an XC90 and have come across a 2014 SE Lux Satnav on 96,000 miles for £11,995. I've been and viewed it and the general condition is pretty good with no major damage and just a few small age/usage marks. Engine and gearbox sounded and drove smoothly and all the gadgets seemed to work, plus tyres were all decent and Falken branded so not budget.

The only thing bothering me slightly was a lack of paperwork and service history. There are gaps for a few years from 10-40,000 miles and 40-66,000 miles and then it's been yearly again to now. There's no history of cam belts or other service bits etc. but in the dealer's defence, they have agreed to put it through a full service again, including a cambelt/tensioner/waterpump kit and put a new 12 month MOT on it.

Should the lack of history be enough to make me walk away from this or is it worth a punt considering the car looks decent? I didn't think the price was too bad but if there's anything else I should be specifically looking out for on these then let me know! I can always go back and have another look.

Cheers

[AlainBrighton]

You might want to consider contacting Volvo UK and ask them if they can see where the car was maintained based on the VIN. Then, with the name of the dealer who performed the service at the time, you have an idea of what happened to the car. I bought a car of which the service book had been lost and through Volvo UK I found out it had always been serviced at the same dealership. Agreed with them to have the car serviced again and they then issued and fully stamped the servicebook.

The fact that it is missing does not need to be ominous yet if is lost (despite a full service and cambelt kit + waterpump) can mean you could still be looking at expensive repairs in the future apart from which the resale value in the future would be a lot lower. I think you could do much better at that price or find out through Volvo UK where the car had gone in the mean time.

[FracturedButWhole]

Originally Posted by GeoW151

Great thread, I've enjoyed reading back through and glad to hear yours is still running well. Wondered if the people here could give me some advice?

I'm in the market for an XC90 and have come across a 2014 SE Lux Satnav on 96,000 miles for £11,995. I've been and viewed it and the general condition is pretty good with no major damage and just a few small age/usage marks. Engine and gearbox sounded and drove smoothly and all the gadgets seemed to work, plus tyres were all decent and Falken branded so not budget.

The only thing bothering me slightly was a lack of paperwork and service history. There are gaps for a few years from 10-40,000 miles and 40-66,000 miles and then it's been yearly again to now. There's no history of cam belts or other service bits etc. but in the dealer's defence, they have agreed to put it through a full service again, including a cambelt/tensioner/waterpump kit and put a new 12 month MOT on it.

Should the lack of history be enough to make me walk away from this or is it worth a punt considering the car looks decent? I didn't think the price was too bad but if there's anything else I should be specifically looking out for on these then let me know! I can always go back and have another look.

Cheers

Hi there,
Well, I can't disagree, that full service history is important, but.. what if the service was done by, apparently, authorized yet somewhat lobotomized wrench monkey?
My car is XC90 Exec, D5, 2012
So.. here goes, when I bought it, bear in mind, full history and valid MOT:
- handbrake slipping or not working
- brake pedal position sensor broken, so brakes were working in a very binary fashion
- engine mounts shot
So, I addressed all above, but I have no fancy stamp and equally fancy signature in the book. I replaced fluids, fixed gazillion other little things, ran diagnostics, deep cleaned it, etc. Tell me then, did I devalue my car or did the exact opposite?
Myself, I think that the biggest damage to this car was done by a mayor of London cretin. Not to mention micro parking bays at supermarkets...
Cheers!