General: XC90 3.2 petrol or diesel??!

[Rawas]

Originally Posted by cath123

Thanks for replies it seems the v6 maybe the one to go for.
I am a little concerned about the demand come resale but will be planning on keeping the car for a few years.

What's the service plan like on these?
I am coming for VAG where there is long life servicing, not that I am great fan of keeping the oil in for 20k miles!

I guess the AT oil needs every 40k miles?

Is there a cam belt on the 3.2?

Sorry for all the questions!!

Cheers!

The 3.2 is an inline six cylinder and not a V.
Engine oil should be changed every 10.000 Km. or 6250 mile. I do it every 5000 Km.though. Volvo recommends Castrol high grade synthetic.
If I were you, I would take the car to a trusted & specialized Volvo mechanic for a complete check up before purchase, in case you are skeptical about dealer diagnosis. Always buy the extended warranty, peace of mind.
Nothing wrong with a minor tune up upon acquiring car, you will never know.
The choice is right, forget about diesels, even if you have to spend more at the pump. The petrol is definitely more fun.
Keep us posted, best of luck.

[JimG]

Very jealous, wish I could justify/afford a petrol.

Enjoy Cath123, and stay with us once you've got one. We don't have a lot of petrol owners on the forum but you can still get good tips concerning tyres and other generic subjects.

[Jim314]

Originally Posted by Rawas

The 3.2 is an inline six cylinder and not a V.
Engine oil should be changed every 10.000 Km. or 6250 mile. I do it every 5000 Km.though. Volvo recommends Castrol high grade synthetic.
. . .

Changing oil at 5000 km (3000 mi) is wasting good oil. Modern synthetic oils should last at least 7,500 mi (12,000 km). 'Extended life' synthetics are 'guaranteed' to last 15,000 mi (24,000 km) or 1 year. But I admit that I don't know of any independent verification that they really last that long.

My practice has been to use Mobil1 Extended Performance and to change it approximately annually.

[Rawas]

Absolutely right, I am being very meticulous!

[cath123]

Thanks so much for the replies and info!

I've found 2 potentials, what seem like good examples not too far away (40 miles) from us so if they are still on the market next weekend we will be going over there to take a look.

One is the 3.2 petrol and the other the 2.4 diesel. Both appear to be good examples, a viewing and thorough inspection might tell otherwise though!

Just a couple of questions re the injector issues on the diesel... I know if there are starting issues this may signify potential failure but there anything else I should look for?

Also if in the unfortunate event of failure how open are Volvo to good will payments if the car is purchased outside of the dealer network? The car has full Volvo service history.
I have come from VAG where they have acknowledged that there is an issue and are making good will payments for cars with full dealer history.

Many thanks in advance!

[Clan]

Originally Posted by Jim314

Changing oil at 5000 km (3000 mi) is wasting good oil. Modern synthetic oils should last at least 7,500 mi (12,000 km). 'Extended life' synthetics are 'guaranteed' to last 15,000 mi (24,000 km) or 1 year. But I admit that I don't know of any independent verification that they really last that long.

My practice has been to use Mobil1 Extended Performance and to change it approximately annually.

The service interval is 18000 miles or one year in UK ,
but must use 0w/30 A5/B5 oil ... Volvos have been running up and down the UK doing millions of miles since 2005 when the 18000 interval came in with no problems .

[cath123]

Originally Posted by cath123

Just a couple of questions re the injector issues on the diesel... I know if there are starting issues this may signify potential failure but there anything else I should look for?

Also if in the unfortunate event of failure how open are Volvo to good will payments if the car is purchased outside of the dealer network? The car has full Volvo service history.
I have come from VAG where they have acknowledged that there is an issue and are making good will payments for cars with full dealer history.

Many thanks in advance!

Anybody got any knowledege of the above?

Cheers!

[Jim314]

Originally Posted by JimG

Very jealous, wish I could justify/afford a petrol.

Enjoy Cath123, and stay with us once you've got one. We don't have a lot of petrol owners on the forum but you can still get good tips concerning tyres and other generic subjects.

Europeans' preference for diesels in their private cars is a holdover from the time when they ran their diesels with no pollution controls. The decision to require diesels to meet the same pollution standards as petrol engines has reduced the mpg advantage of diesels over petrol. The diesel engine is a more efficient heat engine, but this comes at the expense of higher initial cost and potentially higher maintenance costs.

Also some of the higher mpg of the diesel is due to the fact that diesel fuel is about 12% denser than petrol. Proper fuel efficiency calculations are based on weight of fuel consumed and not volume.*

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diesel_fuel
As of 2010, the density of petroleum diesel is about 0.832 kg/l (6.943 lb/US gal), about 12% more than ethanol-free petrol (gasoline), which has a density of about 0.745 kg/l (6.217 lb/US gal). About 86.1% of the fuel mass is carbon, and when burned, it offers a net heating value of 43.1 MJ/kg as opposed to 43.2 MJ/kg for gasoline. However, due to the higher density, diesel offers a higher volumetric energy density at 35.86 MJ/L (128 700 BTU/US gal) vs. 32.18 MJ/L (115 500 BTU/US gal) for gasoline, some 11% higher, which should be considered when comparing the fuel efficiency by volume. The CO2 emissions from diesel are 73.25 g/MJ, just slightly lower than for gasoline at 73.38 g/MJ.

Diesel engines are especially unsuitable for short trips in a cold climate because they do not warm up nearly as fast as a petrol engine. Proper cold weather operation of a diesel is best achieved with an electric mains block heater to warm up the engine before starting. A cold diesel at idle will not melt ice and snow on the windscreen.

*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brake_s...el_consumption

[JimG]

Originally Posted by Jim314

Europeans' preference for diesels in their private cars is a holdover from the time when they ran their diesels with no pollution controls. The decision to require diesels to meet the same pollution standards as petrol engines has reduced the mpg advantage of diesels over petrol. The diesel engine is a more efficient heat engine, but this comes at the expense of higher initial cost and potentially higher maintenance costs.

You're probably right Jim. Diesel used to be used mainly by farming/agriculture/HGV type vehicles and was significantly cheaper than petrol. As the cost of petrol started to rise there was a big push by the Government to switch to diesel as the MPG was much better. As soon as most people were on board the cost of diesel went up too!

I couldn't imagine the cost of running a petrol XC, as much as I would love to. However when you compare the fuel consumption and emission figures of the new 3.0 V6 diesel Touareg, it brings home how dated the XC is.

[Miles121]

All the XC90's have adreadful turning circle. My local dealer said that the V8 petrol was even worse as the physical size of the engine encroached on the steering. Don't know if this is true, but if you have to do a lot of tight parking, a three point turn can easily becaome a seven point turn.