General: 3 Year Review & Goodbye!

[perussell]

Thought that since my XC90 D5 Executive (163 bhp) would disappear tomorrow for a final time I would post a review and also wish all my fellow contributors Goodbye since it's the BMW forum for me from Saturday!

Mileage from new: 44, 569
Average economy : 30-31 mpg
Sets of Tyres from new : 1 (with approx 30% of tread remaining on existing set)

The Good:
Wonderfully comfortable cruiser, hugely practical - this never failed to do anything we wanted of it, golf clubs, suit cases, dogs, even people! - took everything we could throw at it. Economy overall is slightly above 30 mpg though 80% of my mileage is motorway (albeit at "highish" speeds) - pretty good for a vehicle of this size. I did laugh on one occasion though when accelerating hard and with the aircon on the instant mpg read out was '1'. Visibility is generally very good although the A-pillars are thick and almost led to me pulling out of junctions a 'little early' on a couple of occasions, door mirrors large. The sound system is excellent, as good as anything in our house. Tyre wear has been good in my case though the first set needed replacing as much through uneven wear due to misalignment as anything else (@ 22,000 miles) - both sets were Continentals. The rear DVD - used only occasionally by my kids but they enjoyed it albeit if you have small children it is likely they cannot see the screens since the original fit version don't tilt.The 'new car' feeling lasted longer with this car than any other I have driven!

The So-so:
Performance is adequate rather than dynamic, I got used to the turbo-lag. A little slow off the mark but overtaking at speed was fine. Parking needs some forethought, the thickness of the doors combined with the overall width of the car meant that standard car park spaces were often too narrow particularly if the adjoining cars had parked close to their 'white lines'. On one occasion I had to climb in through the tailgate! Reliability was somewhat disappointing for a car of this value, nothing serious but - rear wheel bearings were replaced at approx 30k miles along with corroded brake discs, the front airbag sensors corroded and needed replacing, the bonnet catch failed - the dealer had fun with that one! and a couple of recalls well documented elsewhere on this forum. A couple of bits of trim fell off several times. Washing it - if you like to hand wash your car plan for this to take some time and you will need a stool to reach the roof :-))

The Bad:
Refinement from a standing start or under heavy acceleration is positively agricultural, especially on cold mornings but in fairness it settles right down at speed.The wheel lock is not good which can make parking or U-turning a matter of several manouevres. Other large 4x4s are not great either but the figures suggest they are better. I tended to reverse into spaces since backing out into narrow lanes could prove difficult to get enough lock on the car. The SatNav - again a subject of another thread - excellent functionality and visibility but quite the worst route planning I have ever seen. I have been using a PND in preference for the last 18 months.

These are just personal opinions, I have never regreted choosing the car. So with both kids at Uni it's time for something with a little more fun (and power) in mind. The level of conversation on this forum has been excellent unlike the sniping and petty arguing I have seen on other forums. Enjoy your Volvos!