XC90 owners - Help Please! Looking to buy

[LGriffiths88]

hello all

looking into the possibility of a mk1 XC90 as we have a need for a 7 seater car now. We have around a 4-5k budget for one. So a higher milage one is the likely one for us.

I have a few questions if people can answer please.

1) Do the middle row of seats move forward/backward individually
2) How easy is it to access the back row of seats? We will have a rear facing seat and a forward facing seat on outside. Is it possible to reach back most seats just by sliding seats forward and not having to fold seat 'flat'
3) Does the middle seat fold flat? Does this give easy access to back?
4) What extras are a must? Is there a certain spec to look for?
5) I KNOW there will be issues... but what sort of issues can I expect on one that's done say 120k plus?

many thanks.

[Murph7355]

LGriffiths88 said:

1) Do the middle row of seats move forward/backward individually

Yes. Not by a huge amount though - a few inches.

LGriffiths88 said:

2) How easy is it to access the back row of seats? We will have a rear facing seat and a forward facing seat on outside. Is it possible to reach back most seats just by sliding seats forward and not having to fold seat 'flat'

Not really. Small kids will probably be able to manage, older kids/adults less so. The seat back needs tipping really.

Definitely not possible with the rear facing seat.

If we need all 7 seats, we put our forward facing seat in the third row.

Note that getting out is more hassle than getting into the third row, even with the 2nd row back rests tipped forwards and the seat slid forward.

LGriffiths88 said:

3) Does the middle seat fold flat? Does this give easy access to back?

More or less flat. But not to the point it helps access (again, small kids would find it fun easy that way. But no one else really). The middle seats fold onto the seat bases, not into the floor.

LGriffiths88 said:

4) What extras are a must? Is there a certain spec to look for?

Not really sure any extras are essential. Though ours is an R-design so pretty well spec'd anyway which may cloud my judgement! I'm not sure what the base spec came with, but cruise control is very useful if it doesn't come with it. Seat heaters are very handy

LGriffiths88 said:

5) I KNOW there will be issues... but what sort of issues can I expect on one that's done say 120k plus?

Depends what works been done already. Diff is something to look out for on pre-facelift cars. As are wheel bearings. Plus usual consumables (discs/pads, tyres etc). Turbo possibly. Then just check everything else works, especially electrics.

LGriffiths88 said:

looking into the possibility of a mk1 XC90 as we have a need for a 7 seater car now. We have around a 4-5k budget for one. So a higher milage one is the likely one for us....

I would have though at 4k-5k you're going to be talking an early car with pretty high miles, but looking at AT there are quite a few that look OK... We've been offered 9k for ours by a dealer which is a 10 plate on 95k miles, and has "family wear and tear"...so is far from pristine now.

Go diesel auto IMO. And be prepared for an oil tanker turning circle, hefty-ish fuel consumption and sluggish take off unless changing manually. They're about the only negatives

They are brilliant utility cars. I've posted on a few threads on here so have a read back through as more has been written.