At an oily crossroads with our V60 D3
 

Hi

As some members already know, my wife's 2015 V60 D3 R Design Lux has high oil consumption, currently averaging 1 litre per thousand miles.

We are therefore at a crossroads, and we're considering our options regarding what to do.

In essence, we can currently see three options in front of us: -

1. Trade it in, possibly for a much lower mileage 2017 or 2018 D3 or D4 R Design Lux.

2. Get it repaired for £3K-ish. An issue for us, however, is that if we embark upon a repair, we are committing lots of money without being 100% certain at the start that the problem is what we think it is (carbon build-up on the pistons, blocked oil control rings and kn*ckered valve stem oil seals). Also, in some ways we would be spending £3K to stand still. The car's value would remain the same after spending that £3K.

3. Run the car and just accept the cost of £13 per thousand miles for oil.

Do any members have any views about the above options, or about an option that we haven't considered?

Many thanks in advance.

There are really 2 options.

The emotional response is to replace it, particularly if you simply fancy another/newer car.

The logical response is to repair it. Provided there is a high degree of confidence that the repair will be effective then there is no way you'll get a replacement car of the type/cost that you favour for the £3000 cost of fixing it, so the repair is the cheaper option by a large margin.

So it comes down to head or heart, and only you can decide whether you want to base your decision on logic or emotion. Neither is wrong, it comes down to you alone.

I dont think leaving it is a viable long term option, for all sorts of mechanical reasons.

It's becoming an old car so just get some cheaper oil and carry on as you are. Admittedly mine burns a lot less but this is oil that I use for top-ups and meets the VEA spec and is only £5/L... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/114068010...4AAOSwpbheH4sP

I definitely wouldn’t spend that money fixing it, especially when its not guaranteed to be problem free when fixed.

If it was me, I wouldn’t trade it in either. I’d keep adding oil, count my losses & run it for as long as possible.

Oil is much cheaper than buying a new car/fixing your existing one!

The issue there is one is making an assumption that it will continue to consume oil at the same rate and there won't be eventually ancillary damage to items such as DPF or the cat.

It won't, and eventually it will, and the longer it is left the greater the rate at which it will worsen, and then the OP may be left with a car that is undriveable, unsellable, and costing even more to repair.

As to the question of the efricacy of the repair, I did actually qualify my advice in that regard, and problems there are easy to safeguard against. When the car goes in ensure the jobsheet upon which one places ones signature states "rectify excessive oil consumption issue", and not simply "replace X, Y or Z components". If the repair is unsuccessful then one has legal redress - pay on a credit card and the question of redress becomes incredibly simple.

Remember, you're paying an expert for an end product, not simply expecting them to conduct amateur scattergun diagnosis at your expense.

Many thanks for all the responses so far.

I perhaps need to clarify that the repair job would go to our local Volvo specialist, but we would now follow the valuable advice of agreeing a price for a specific fix rather than just presenting a blank cheque.

So is £3k an estimate of what you think it’ll cost, or has that already been quoted?

I’d still be inclined to keep buying oil for now, but if it gets worse, then trade it in. I definitely wouldn’t spend money fixing it. That’s not meant to sound harsh, but I think you’ll be throwing money up the wall because you don’t know if the fix it guaranteed.

Many thanks.

This is why agreeing the outcome up front is so crucial.

That £3K comes from my local specialist as a ballpark figure.

Right now, we could spend that £3K on the repair, or we could put it towards the trade-in, or we could pocket most of it and hope for the best.

I must admit, however, to being slightly worried about the longer term effect of not repairing the car.

Not an easy one, but members' responses are helping a lot.

Your medium-term wait-and-see strategy is actually very interesting by the way. :)

You’re welcome.

Its not an easy decision to make, I understand.

What have you got to lose? You could keep topping it up with oil & it could last for ages. Obviously, you’ll have to monitor the oil consumption closely. If it gets worse, you tried at least.

If finances allow, then trading in is the ideal option, but I’d continue topping the oil up first. In these uncertain times, one can’t blame someone for hanging onto something a bit longer before splashing the cash!

Keep your money for now & put it towards a deposit on another car. In the mean time, keep topping up the oil. A £3k repair is wasted on this car, as the repair won’t add value & its not guaranteed to be 100% sorted either.

Personally I would keep topping up with oil.

All the advice on here is good but I struggle with the option of trading in because the problem is passed on to the next owner who is excited by a purchase of their next car and they inherit a problem?

Having said that I would not hesitate at that option because the dealer would presumably offer a warranty, but excessive oil consumption might be excluded.