Volvo XC90 T8 complete engine failure
 

So, my tale of woe is as follows.....

I have had my XC90 T8 from new, first as a company car, then bought from the lease company at 3 years and 85k miles old. I then ran it successfully for another 3 years whilst protected by an aftermarket warranty. When this warranty ran out in March 2022 I had some soul searching as to whether i kept the car, but figured that it was running well and I might as well keep it. The mileage was about 130k and I could not find any warranty company which would insure it either because it was a hybrid, or because of the mileage - or both. So I decided to keep it and run it without a warranty - I mean what is the worst that could happen?

A couple of weeks back it started making an odd high pitched metallic whine from the top of the engine, or the auxiliary belt area. It was particularly noticeable just as the engine was turning off, so with the hybrid turning the engine on and off with some regularity, I heard it just cutting through the wind noise and so investigated further. That was the Monday morning. By the Wednesday I had the master tech at my local dealers put their head under the bonnet and he said "I really don't like the sound of that". It was back with the dealers and me in a courtesy car the next day. They started the strip down..... I thought maybe a big bill, a supercharger, or a turbo maybe? Maybe a couple of grand?

So, what has actually happened is that the cams have eaten through their bearings, and into the bearing journals. It has also damaged the head. We caught it really quickly (or so I thought) and the engine is not full of swarf, but basically the head, cams and bearings are all scrap. Whilst the master tech was diagnosing, the noise was getting a lot worse very very quickly. So I cannot just rebuild it and send it to auction as the engine would be obviously shot. We still do not know if they have simply worn out, or whether there is another as yet undiagnosed issue with oil starvation.

The car has done most of it's life on the motorway, and for the last 3 years at least this has been at a constant 70mph doing the same commute. I have even been managing the use of the battery so that the engine does not constantly switch on and off on my daily commute. It has a full complete Volvo Service History. It has never missed an oil change.

So now my options are as follows:

Send it to a breakers, getting about 9k for it (which would also break my heart)
Put on a second hand head and new oil pump + belts, bolts etc.. - £7k cost
As above but with a new head - £8.4k cost
Stick a new Volvo engine in it - £9.3k cost
Stick a 2nd hand engine in it - £10k (go figure, Volvo engine from Sweden is £500 quid cheaper than a secondhand engine from a UK breakers)

After a lot of soul searching and calculating I have decided that the best thing to do is a new engine. Neither the 2nd hand head rebuild or the new head rebuild would give an re-assurance and the replacement engine looks remarkably good value by comparison.

The car is sitting looking very lonely in the dealers yard and awaits an engine from Sweden which looks like being 4-6 weeks for delivery.

As I understand it, Volvo UK have offered very little in the way of goodwill, so I don't expect much off that bill. That said my main contact has been off for a week so I need to catch up with him.

During this process I had a good chat with a number of independents. It would appear that this problem is not unheard of, and also that these engines tend to eat balance shafts, which then self destruct, swarfing up the inside of the engine and writing it off. I have heard of another T8 with exactly the same issue as mine (it had a warranty).

As ever Volvo Riverside Doncaster have been superb and brilliantly helpful, but there is not a massive amount they can do to soften the financial blow - although they have helped as much as they can.

So there I am. There is a big gap in the drive where my car should be and once it is fixed and back (maybe mid June if I am lucky?) I have to decide what to do. Sell and get a Polestar 2 through work, or keep driving it and worrying about another big bill. I think I might be going for the Polestar 2.

Oh and this engine is basically the same in all SPA cars. Mine is one of the earlier SPA cars and with a reasonably high mileage. Either I am just unlucky, or there are going to be a lot of very expensive failures as these cars age.

Happy days.

Sorry for your predicament, and if you've got an engine on route, my thoughts are redundant, but if one of the considerations is getting rid of it, would spending the least amount on it, to get it sold on in working condition, not have been the most prudent route, or was there a consideration that second-hand head wouldn't have even got it running ?

Ouch!

Theres a slim chance of goodwill if it has a full dealer history, although at that age and mileage the best you're liable to receive is not a lot.

Hopenit gets sorted with the minimum of expense and grief.

I would also get a new engine. There’s not a lot you can get for £10k at the moment and you’d be talking minimum 12 months for a new car at the moment so you’ve got nothing to lose if the car is paid for (albeit the £10k outlay but that will pay for itself if you have no further issues). I got my car also from Volvo Doncaster and they are superb.

I was absolutely convinced that was what I was going to do and dump it with WBAC in a running condition. But WBAC offered me 16k and I reckon maybe 23k as a private sale. There is basically nothing on Autotrader below 26k when I last looked, so think 23k as private sale for the car when completely sorted is not unrealistic.

I would be uncomfortable selling as a private sale with any of the options other than the new engine. Also if I spent 7k on a secondhand head and it packed up 1 week later before I got it moved on then I would have no comeback, be 7k down and back to square one.

And as someone else said there is nothing for sale at the moment. Even if I ordered the Polestar tomorrow it would be October before I get it.....

I think I'd do the same as you.
It's annoying and frustrating, but much like the reason you bought the car from the lease company, you know the car, you know it's foibles.

I'd be pressing Volvo for Goodwill Gesture of course.

All things considered, I think the new engine option is the best solution.

Maybe I might crowd fund it......😀

Your pragmatic approach is to be applauded.

All things being relevant £9.3k for a new T8 engine (presumably fitted) seems good value.

Sorry to hear about that, how unfortunate! I think I would be relictant to have a brand new engine fitted then sell.

I think you have every chance of having a very good and long service life after the swap.