What to replace an XC90 with?

[sthodgson]

Hello all,

It appears I am coming to the end of my patience with our XC90. We've had it for about 6 years - bought it at 117K, now on 145K, 2004 D5 SE. It is loved by the family but hasn't exactly been cheap to run or free of faults.

What has gone wrong from memory:

Handbrake, thermostat housing, cd player (twice), rear wiper, heating thermostat, suspension bushings, limp mode managed by feeding it diesel treatment every couple of months, most of the trim has fallen off, leaks in footwell, clock spring on steering wheel, battery, mice infestation, and I could go on.

I suppose a lot of this is general wear and tear, but it's getting to a point where we might need to move it on. I have spent the last few days exploring the wonderful and colourful rabbit hole that where the bunnies-of-car-buying live; leasing, PCP, bank loans, diesel/petrol, reliability, etc, etc. It's a fun place to go if you don't have much else to do with your life.

Looking for a high driving position, preferably automatic, cheap to run (not fast) and a good fit for a family of 5. 7 seats desirable but not essential. Can't afford a new Volvo - not sure who can, but well done to those that can - what's it like on the other side?

Wash out my mouth, but Skoda and SEAT do some interesting options, but then I read about the major engineering issues they have with engines and the like, and get scared.

So, is my XC90 experience typical or are they better than that? Are XC60s a better bet for a smoother financial ride?

Leasing looks interesting as minimal maintenance and can get dealer to fix if goes wrong.

Many thanks!

[Odysseus]

Originally Posted by sthodgson

Hello all,

It appears I am coming to the end of my patience with our XC90. We've had it for about 6 years - bought it at 117K, now on 145K, 2004 D5 SE. It is loved by the family but hasn't exactly been cheap to run or free of faults.

What has gone wrong from memory:

Handbrake, thermostat housing, cd player (twice), rear wiper, heating thermostat, suspension bushings, limp mode managed by feeding it diesel treatment every couple of months, most of the trim has fallen off, leaks in footwell, clock spring on steering wheel, battery, mice infestation, and I could go on.

I suppose a lot of this is general wear and tear, but it's getting to a point where we might need to move it on. I have spent the last few days exploring the wonderful and colourful rabbit hole that where the bunnies-of-car-buying live; leasing, PCP, bank loans, diesel/petrol, reliability, etc, etc. It's a fun place to go if you don't have much else to do with your life.

Looking for a high driving position, preferably automatic, cheap to run (not fast) and a good fit for a family of 5. 7 seats desirable but not essential. Can't afford a new Volvo - not sure who can, but well done to those that can - what's it like on the other side?

Wash out my mouth, but Skoda and SEAT do some interesting options, but then I read about the major engineering issues they have with engines and the like, and get scared.

So, is my XC90 experience typical or are they better than that? Are XC60s a better bet for a smoother financial ride?

Leasing looks interesting as minimal maintenance and can get dealer to fix if goes wrong.

Many thanks!

Interesting challenge. I'll be in a vaguely similar position in 18 months / two years when it's time to move on my Lexus GS for something that will fit a family of five including three children in child seats. I already own an XC90 which is day-to-day used by my wife but ideally both cars should be up to the task of carrying the whole family.

A lot depends on your budget but in the seven seater SUV segment I'd avoid Land Rover Discoverys on the basis that Land Rovers break down constantly. Many interesting (non-MPV) cars can be found under £10K, including Audi Q7s, the Mercedes-Benz GL class, Mitsubishi Shoguns, Toyota Land Cruisers, Subaru Tribecas, and my current personal favourite, the Jeep Commander, which is essentially a re-bodied Grand Cherokee but with the same Mercedes engine and proven mechanicals.

There are smaller seven seaters such as Mitsubishi Outlander or Nissan Squashqui +2 or whatever it's called.

Best of luck with your search and let us know how you get on.

[TruckbusUK]

Your big issue will always be, as with any pre-owned car (if thats what you settle for) .... what you get (gem or dog) is totally reliant on the previous owners attitude to care and maintenance .... even the "most reliable" cars can be dogs depending on the previous owners attitude and approach.

I don't believe all XC90's and your experience is typical ... but its clear, and often said in these forums, an XC90 is neither a cheap car to own nor maintain.

Hope you have just been unlucky, plus I would agree with Odysseus ... give LR a wide berth unless you happen to own a LR dealership or are best chums with your local AA/RAC recovery driver (other services are available.)

[sthodgson]

Thanks for the replies - some interesting options to look at.

I am perhaps the most unlucky car owner there is. Alternatively I believe that even car breaks down and cost the earth to run. I am mechanically sympathetic, almost to a OCD level. I never ride the clutch, neutral at lights, handbrake on, gentle when cold, let them cool down a bit after a long run, bang on with services, top up the oil, and the buggers stiil cost me a fortune.

[reggit]

When I was considering an SUV, the choice was XC90 or VW Touareg- although the latter only had 5 seats. In the end, I decided i didn’t really need a bigger car and stuck with my V70

[john langrick]

Hi

for what it is worth, I have had similar expense on typical problems, but in retrospect I like the car. Mine is my2003. I accept that maintenance will be high on such an old car., but if problems are sorted systematically, one hopes that that specific problem are resolved for a few years, for example.. If you replace wheel bearings. Use genuine volvo, then that part is good as new


My suggestion would be to replace with a later, lower mileage xc90, but do your homework and make sure it has been looked after. Look at the service history and the mot history.

That would be my choice, but years are running out on me... Maybe my last car....

And you meet such a nice class of people on this forum....

Cheers john l

[okedave]

Originally Posted by sthodgson

Wash out my mouth, but Skoda and SEAT do some interesting options, but then I read about the major engineering issues they have with engines and the like, and get scared.

As a VAG owner myself (SEAT Exeo), I would say they make fantastic cars, but if you go for a second hand one DO NOT buy one that has had the emissions update done to the engine. That has caused all the engineering issues youve heard about and they refuse to put it right.

[Rentagas]

The main reason I would change my XC90 is for a Euro 6 car its going to be an extra £25 to take my car into London and then out a day later-in addition to the congestion charge. If I could justify the expense I guess I'd buy a V90 or XC90 T8
.

[idiotgap]

This is an interesting topic to me because I only recently got a used XC90, the journey to that choice took me round a few of the options you are considering.

Previously I've been running older Mercedes e-class estates. I had a 1996 W124 shape one which I bought for under £3k and sold 5 years later for nearly double what I paid for it as they grew in classic status while I had it. It wasn't without faults though and with the 130k + mileage inevitably it needed various suspension, leaks and other things attended to. We had to get rid of it in the end after I'd attended to all the faults, because although it was a seven seater with two rear facing seats in the boot with 3 sons I needed to seat them all in the front 2 rows much of the time and that model only had a lap belt in the middle seat.

After that we got a 2004 e-class w211 style estate for about £3.5k Again with 130k= miles it also needed work from time to time but with much more electrickery in it's construction they tended to be more complex to deal with.

Both of those options were very cheap in the general scheme of things and especially when compared to buying or leasing a newer car, but they whilst not leaving us stranded or anything did need time with mechanics and some sympathy to keep going.

My approach was that although we could afford a new car, the advantages against cost seemed to be highly weighted toward having something new and 'bling' on the drive which isn't something that interests us very much.

Never the less, we thought we would try something new for a change and see how we got on. We wanted petrol to preserve re-sale, power and weight to tow our caravan and 7 seats for at least occasional use for kid's mates/grand parents etc.

We decided on a Skoda Kodiaq after test driving the kia, hyundai, VW equivalents etc. unfortunately the buying experience was very poor. Horrendous delays, badly managed changes in specs when the new model year came in and an expectation that we would pay thousands extra and wait even longer despite the problems being caused by faults in the supplying dealer and manufacturers process. So we cancelled.

Re-evaluating the problem we decided to look at a used, but not too old car to balance initial depreciation against not needing to constantly be maintaining it. After that, we determined that an XC90 was the car that was most likely to meet our needs from an interior and practicality point of view. Whilst the new ones are pretty, they've not been around all that long and still quite expensive, plus petrol ones are not so often available and we saw reports typical of cars shortly after launch a few issues coming up regularly.

In the end we went for a 2013 XC90 so hopefully it's a well developed product and our example well maintained, full main dealer history etc. The expectation is that it will last us a good few years and although a diesel resale won't be such an issue it already having depreciated significantly. We don't expect it to be maintenance free, but perhaps better from that perspective than we've endured with the older e-class cars and a reasonable total cost of ownership in the end.

[Bigjimknickers]

My wife’s car is a seat Ateca, very very good car, a little on the sportier side of a 5 seater suv but that suits her.
16k trouble free miles in 2 years since it was new.
Enough room for 3 adults in the back, plenty of engines to choose from.

I’d recommend one.