Used XC90 Help...

[Big Purple Dinosaur]

Currently driving a Grand Picasso which is due to go back at the end of its lease.

Want something that's suitably spacious as have 2 teenagers and a dog the size of a small elephant - always liked the look of the XC90's and having experienced a number of Volvo's back in the 80s due to my Dad was thinking of looking at a used XC90. Not looking at spending a fortune - something in the region of £7k would seem to get me something like this

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Are they a decent second-hand car - what sort of things should I be looking out for, and is there anything I should run a mile from?

Thanks!

[Murph7355]

Good cars. We loved our mk1...(love the mk2 even more...but a lot more cash).

General things to be aware of...

- diff issues can render them 2WD. (though tbh I think this was all but sorted in around 2007...)

- rear wheel bearings are a weak spot. Ours went about the mileage of that car. Expensive as you have to buy the whole rear hub assembly

- very thirsty

- gearbox is slow witted so take care at roundabouts

- turning circle of an oil tanker

- they're a bit of a truck to drive really...but that's part of the appeal in many ways...

- not convinced the spec' on that one makes it good value

[oldcynic]

I’ve had a 2011 xc90 for 5.5 years now and I love it, but I often fancy something smaller and more agile. It turned 2wd last summer but that was a £400 fix at the specialist.
My biggest gripe is running costs - fuel and road tax - but it’s not worth the cost of swapping it to anything else. However now that we only have 2 children at home I’d be more likely to buy an xc60 if I had to replace it (although I’ve never driven one)
If I’m ever really concerned about my running costs then I take a moment to think about a colleague who’s had eye-watering bills from 2 BMW’s in a row, and then I climb into my tank and bravely traverse the .8 mile journey to my daughter’s school cocooned in tranquility and safely - tranquil apart from that pesky Diesel engine which is rattly as fk until it warms up.
What to look for? Probably leather, electric seats, headlight washers. I’d be surprised if they put a huge amount on the bill. Also look for a working parking brake - mine was awful for about 3 years then I spent £600 getting it sorted - and realised it should have been fixed before I bought it.

[wiliferus]

Great cars. The do it all family tank.

But - they are very thirsty. I never cracked 30mpg in mine (a 2010 197bhp) it generally hovered around 26/27mpg.

As mentioned above the gearbox is slow and clumsy. Moving away from a standstill, certainly if you want to nip out at a pace, requires forethought. You press the accelerator, it thinks for a second, then moves off. Took some getting used to.

Mine ate tyres, especially the fronts, and they are not cheap.

The plus side - massive inside. Will consume family life quite happily. It’s very comfy and you could drive across Europe and arrive fresh as a daisy.

If I could have put up with the mpg, I’d have kept mine without question. But 350 miles to about £85 worth of diesel wore a bit thin.

[oldaudi]

We’ve got a 2008 2.4 geartronic lux 186bhp I think it is. We only use it for towing for hobbies and do about 2500 a year. The first MOT we gave it as owners resulted in the above work. Weirdly I have paper work for 3 steering pumps on this car over a decade. We now have an anti skid service light in which I need to resolve. I’d get another but towards the end of the mk1 manufacturing as I think in the 10+ year old range they are very expensive to run. They get through tyres (paid £300 for two Cross Climates) and light bulbs at a fair rate too! Just had to put a new battery in last week . I don’t think we use it enough and it’s in the £500+ VED rates

The hand brake also appears to have to be stripped and scrubbed a lot.

Edited by oldaudi on Sunday 26th January 18:02

Edited by oldaudi on Sunday 26th January 18:06