What about XC90?

[capt jack]

Good afternoon XC90-ers - refugee from the 900-series pages here!

The Mrs and I were idling away a lockdown evening talking cars, or more specifically just how much we both like the look of the Lexus RX SUV. It's surprising what you can learn about the other half, even after 40+ years!

A quick look at Autotrader revealed just how numerous and affordable these cars are. For fun I started to check out the MOT history of a few, and was a little disturbed at how often serious corrosion issues seemed to crop up. Really disappointing when you consider the Lexus reputation for unbridled quality.

That in turn got me thinking about the XC90. If you're going to go big SUV then surely it's one to consider. Again, I was surprised at just what you can get for the money. Given our home county, we're not given to spending huge amounts on cars, so I was looking at sub £4k adverts. And there are any number for sale around that bracket.

So, if I were to go shopping for an XC90 with £4,000 to spend do you think I could buy something worth having? The ads I've looked at are for 12-15 year old cars, with between 100k and 150k miles on. Now I'm no stranger to old Volvos, having owned nothing newer than a 2000 V70. Indeed, tot up the ages and mileages of our last three Volvos and you'll get to 68 years and just shy of 700,000 miles between them.

If I do go XC90 hunting at that level just what should I be looking for? What are the plusses and minuses of these vehicles? I'm guessing that the D5 engine is the one to have (which gives a big mpg advantage over the Lexus).

It isn't often that SWMBO will countenance me swapping cars (that Yorkshire common-sense again - it ain't bust so don't fix it!), so if I'm to become a 4X4 driver I'm going to have to be quick!

What advice would you give?

Jack

[BlueRubber]

If buying one with an auto box try and get one that has had it serviced.
They are reliable if the oil has been changed in them regularly eg every 30-50k, but can be a bit of a gamble otherwise.
Ideally, the diff and angle gear oil should also have been changed but this isn't as critical.

Rust isn't a major issue on these.

[gmonag]

Welcome!

There are many threads here that cover your query. Try searching for a few. You should find what you need to know.

[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.

[ShakTak]

Depends how hard you look and for how long.

I bought my first D5 XC90 in March just before lockdown. It’s a 55 plate in almost mint condition which had 68k miles on it, no mot though.

Paid £3k, got an mot on it the same day and spent a bit on diy servicing everything.

It’s absolutely brilliant, but maybe I was lucky.

[NMB]

Hi Capt Jack,

I'd say that you can get a nice XC90 for that sort of money - mileage wouldn't be that much of a concern tbh - I would focus on something for good service history; mileage is the mileage tbh.

I'd go for the Euro 4 D5 185bhp engine as its very good (I have a 2006 vehicle and it pulls like a train)

[Clan]

Originally Posted by capt jack

Good afternoon XC90-ers - refugee from the 900-series pages here!

The Mrs and I were idling away a lockdown evening talking cars, or more specifically just how much we both like the look of the Lexus RX SUV. It's surprising what you can learn about the other half, even after 40+ years!

A quick look at Autotrader revealed just how numerous and affordable these cars are. For fun I started to check out the MOT history of a few, and was a little disturbed at how often serious corrosion issues seemed to crop up. Really disappointing when you consider the Lexus reputation for unbridled quality.

That in turn got me thinking about the XC90. If you're going to go big SUV then surely it's one to consider. Again, I was surprised at just what you can get for the money. Given our home county, we're not given to spending huge amounts on cars, so I was looking at sub £4k adverts. And there are any number for sale around that bracket.

So, if I were to go shopping for an XC90 with £4,000 to spend do you think I could buy something worth having? The ads I've looked at are for 12-15 year old cars, with between 100k and 150k miles on. Now I'm no stranger to old Volvos, having owned nothing newer than a 2000 V70. Indeed, tot up the ages and mileages of our last three Volvos and you'll get to 68 years and just shy of 700,000 miles between them.

If I do go XC90 hunting at that level just what should I be looking for? What are the plusses and minuses of these vehicles? I'm guessing that the D5 engine is the one to have (which gives a big mpg advantage over the Lexus).

It isn't often that SWMBO will countenance me swapping cars (that Yorkshire common-sense again - it ain't bust so don't fix it!), so if I'm to become a 4X4 driver I'm going to have to be quick!

What advice would you give?

Jack

The old xc90 is built the old S80 with stronger suspenson and AWD so you will be familiar with most of it .
You need to put about £2500 away to cover brakes , and any other issues which will crop up with this kind of mileage . It is not that the car will be falling to bits , when all done it will be good for another 150,000 miles . if you don't need 7 seats go for a V70 cross country perhaps ..

[Tineca]

Hi. Check the road tax. It goes up and down between the years. Just a thought.