Some buying advice XC90 at 100K+ OK?

[Haskear]

Hi,

I'm posting for the first time on here, i haven't owned or own a Volvo. I do however know about the good reputation for reliability they have.

Any how, i'll get to the point of my post. Recently my partner had an accident in our very reliable Vauxhall frontera, it was actually a grt vehicle and had served us well and cost very little. We have a 4x4 as we need to tow horses, or i should say my partner does! So anyway the Frontera was written off. Now we're not particularly flush at the moment due to investments in the house and with insureance and some savings about 3K. Now i'm fairly knowledgeable about many of the 4x4's on the market and know that many are a bit of a nightmare running cost wise and reliability wise and the defender which i'm quite keen on and have worked on before is pretty overpriced at the moment. So i started looking at the XC90 based on the reliability i know the brand is famous for and the fact that 3k would get one with about 100-120K on the clock. My worry is however could that be a mistake? Or is an xc90 still got plenty of miles in it. I've heard the D5 engine is pretty special when it comes to reliability and longevity. I see them mostly with automatic gear boxes, were these reliable/no other option? Are there any major issues than can raise there head?

Looking forward to hearing your views

Cheers

[Peter V70 D5]

D5 is great if it's had good service history
100k is nothing to worry about but watch that the Timing and Aux Belts and all other assosiated bits ,pullies idlers, water pump have been changed at the proper times also worth checking the belt of the A/C Commpressor (If seperate on that engine) and it's Clutch- Pully - that's what did in my engine! with a loose belt causing a chain reaction!!!!
Good Luck All MHO.

[Peter V70 D5]

If used for just short trips better not bother , DPF problems and Rising Oil Levels. there is a software upgrade but I don't know if it works?

[Bonefishblues]

It's about the mileage that XCs tend to become 2wd. Search on here for details - an important check to carry out on any potential new vehicle.
ETA
Search also for well-known issues with the AW5 autobox (not in itself a bad box, btw, but Volvo made it so by not specifying ATF changes)

[ts72]

Just bought a 2004 D5 manual with 115k on the clock and a full service history, and it drives better than cars I've owned with half its mileage, however it is suffering from the common spline sleeve/angle box lack of 4WD problem - dealer supplied a new spline sleeve kit from Volvo which I will hopefully tackle in the next couple of weeks.

As 4WD sounds like it's a necessity for you ( or your missus) , then an easy check is to crawl under the car from the right hand side from behind the front wheels, then locate the exhaust. Right above it and to one side is the propshaft. Grab hold of it and see it you can physically turn it with the wheels on the ground. If the prop shaft turns then you have no 4WD as the spline sleeve is either worn out or worse the angle box is knackered.

Also, the electrics/electronics in these cars are very complex and prone to a number of issues that can be very costly to put right if they are faulty, especially if they involve the Central Electronics Module (CEM) , Brake Control Module (BCM) and Infotainment Control Module (ICM) as examples. I would seriously recommend having a full and proper fault diagnosis done on any car you look at, and not just plugging in a generic OBD2 code reader. Could save you a small fortune if you buy one that turns out to have a number of issues.

[Haskear]

It'll be used for he daily comute of about 30 mile round trip and possibly the odd long haul. The AWD problem is one i have heard of, thanks for reminding me of it. If we go ahead and look for one it will definately be something I check.

[Tannaton]

At that budget you will be into the early 163 BHP cars and hence no DPF to worry about. In fact no engine worries at all - if it's running fine when you buy it, make sure the servicing is up to date and it should be fine for a long time. Cambelt changes AND aux belt are critical - if the aux belt fails it can take the cambelt with it, so if you can't be sure it had been changed, get it done.

Suggest you do a search for "buying advice" and similar phrases, this has been done a good few times on this forum.

Auto gearbox - not the best but not the worst - biggest problem is Volvo do not specify scheduled oil changes for it and this ultimately leads to an early demise in hard worked cases. Check gears change smoothly when the box is cold and warm. Change the ATF oil as soon as you get it and it should stay fine.

Check the "splined sleeve" issue which causes no drive to the rear wheels - well documented on here.

Check ALL the electrics. Fairly reliable but can be expensive to fix.

Check all suspension bushes and engine mounts - the XC90 is a heavy car with a lot of suspension travel so they can creak and groan a bit as they get older. Check all wheels for even tyre wear to - especially inside edge of fronts.

The 163 XC90 is an excellent tow car, if a bit sluggish but will probably be quicker than your Frontera. One thing to watch is the maximum nose weight of the trailer which is rated 90kg and is quite low (and also b0110cks as the same car is rated 180 Kg in Australia) but the Nivomats (self leveling rear shock absorbers) deal with anything more than this quite well.

If you like Defenders though - have a look see if you can find a mint 300 TDi or TD5 Disco 1 or 2. It's a Defender underneath with a posh frock. XC90 is much more refined but if you like Land Rover mechanicals you might enjoy the Disco. All Disco 2's I've seen though had rotten rear chassis rails.