Talk to me about Volvo XC90s

I've got a friend with a petrol hybrid xc 90. It feels pretty quick for its size, uses 0 fuel on short journeys and gets less than 30 mpg once the battery is depleted.

Mate bought one and I asked him his criteria. He said safety for the family and less interest from the villains/drug dealers. He likes it but I can't comment on mpg. Range Rovers and Discos are not long on your drive in Sheffield

Out of interest, what made you choose the XC90 over the Q7? From what I’ve read the Volvo is very good but the Audi is comfier, quieter, easier infotainment system and has stronger engines. Used prices seem similar.

I've got diesel one (2015) bought 2nd hand unseen during covid. It is a fantastic family car, my wife loves it. It's rather large, width is more than the previous model. Not economical nor fast. Approx 32mpg overall with no city driving. Loads of boot space and seats, loads of toys (inscription model), nothing really has gone wrong in our ownership except a door handle stopped working and it was replaced under the 1yr warranty that came with the car as we got it from a volvo dealer.

I considered the electric hybrid, but read it wasn't very economical unless you can do full electric journeys, which we wouldn't be able to due to the short range.

Big service from volvo dealer (cambelt and service) was surprisingly cheap. Tyres not so cheap, even worse if you get the biggest alloys apparently..

Now done 40000 miles in our ownership, bought at 35k.

Ho ho, safety for the family and death to everyone else these monsters hit. How about a large Volvo V90 estate for space.

STW went nuts about someone asking about a portable ac unit recently, yet we need vans and massive SUV's to drive our bikes somewhere to ride it.

The Estate will be loads better to drive, more economical and not have ****t status.

Some families need 7 seats (and decent boot space). V90 has only 5....

OP didn't spec kids. My sister has a massive Seat SUV for her, husband, dog and a baby. It usually just has her in and baby. FFS.

Some families need 7 seats

So get a people carrier. Much better thought out for that job.

Much better thought out for that job.

Everyone tends to sit inside of the crumple zones in a people carrier.

You won’t get 35miles out of the pure electric - more like 20-25. We have petrol PHEV XC60. It works pretty well. No issues with the car

Before this goes off track, yes I know it’s a large SUV,

Ho ho, safety for the family and death to everyone else these monsters hit

5th reply. I'd not even had time to unwrap my (M&S) choccy biscuits😕

but anything I should look out for ?

Something more economical? 😉

Everyone tends to sit inside of the crumple zones in a people carrier.

Really? Is there an actual.source for MPVs being less safe for occupants? Compared to cars or SUVs?

Pepparkakor anyone?

Next door had one a while ago. IIRC replacement tyres were an eyewatering amount per corner but if you've already got a fairly large beast I suspect you've already noticed that cost...

I’d not even had time to unwrap my (M&S) choccy biscuits

It's almost like some people hang around just waiting for a thread to preach on [usually completely disregarding the original question]

🤷🏻‍♂️

It’s almost like some people hang around just waiting for a thread to preach on [usually completely disregarding the original question]

I know! I'd not even got round to mentioning about my 7 seat XC90 before the pile on started and made me hide behind my choccy biccies

Self levelling suspension on Volvos is done by an automatic pump up mechanism in the shock absorber, which makes replacement shocks extremely expensive.

XC90s are also ridiculously big, they have one across the road it looks absurd.  Must be bigger than a RR?

Just buy a tank and regularly use the machine gun turret to mow down innocent bystanders 😉

Self levelling suspension on Volvos is done by an automatic pump up mechanism in the shock absorber, which makes replacement shocks extremely expensive.

Nope. Well kinda nope.
Volvo sell a pair of Nivomats for the same price (£450) as a single shock to encourage people to change them as a pair. Safety and all that.

Hmm.  I thought I'd read elsewhere (on here?) someone was charged £1500 for replacements.  In any case £225 is quite expensive for a shock absorber, but not as bad as I'd heard.

I have a Volvo v90 and whilst I'm convinced it's fluffy bunny cuddly and loving to all, I bet it's just as efficient at killing innocent bystanders as the XC90.

What are parts costs like for recent Volvos (compared to other brands)? My dad had an older S60 and parts were eye wateringly expensive.

What are parts costs like for recent Volvos (compared to other brands)? My dad had an older S60 and parts were eye wateringly expensive.

I buy genuine parts for my V70 and XC90 (older non Geely Volvos), there are a few Volvo main dealers that sell on eBay and offer decent discounts on parts that they haven't listed.
Also Autodoc in Germany have Volvo OEM stuff (Sachs, Lemforder, ATE, Elring, Corteco etc) and are the cheapest place I've found for parts.
I expect you'd get your pants pulled down in your local friendly Volvo dealership parts counter if you just walked in off the street.

Some of our friends have a similar ish vintage diesel

The diesel sounds like a bag of spanners

The interiors are ok but not the best quality of finish. The info system isn’t great. The ride is not great either!

Positives are that it’s big in every way !

The diesel sounds like a bag of spanners

There's quite likely something wrong with it. I'm pretty sure @saxonrider 's is diesel and that sounds fine despite being nearly 20 years old IIRC

So get a people carrier. Much better thought out for that job.

I’ve driven most models of 7-seat MPV; I’m pretty certain anyone in a smallish car will come off looking pretty secondhand if hit by an MPV at speed… Come to that, a Transit Custom for living the van life is a fair bit bigger than an XC90, yet everyone gets all excited about driving a sodding great van for family purposes.

There’s quite likely something wrong with it.

Nope it’s just nothing like as smooth as a BMW diesel. It’s a premium car so should be up there with the best but it certainly isn’t

 have a Volvo v90 and whilst I’m convinced it’s fluffy bunny cuddly and loving to all, I bet it’s just as efficient at killing innocent bystanders as the XC90

AFAIK it's the extra height that helps increase the kill rate...you can see the targets from further away.

I’ve got a V90 and the engine is definitely not as smooth as a BMW or Merc. And annoyingly for such an enormous car, the boot isn’t anywhere near as large as it ought to be due to the sloping rear. It’s very very comfortable though. But then so was the Merc. 🤷‍♂️

Anyway - nowt do do with XC90’s though, sorry OP!

Come to that, a Transit Custom for living the van life is a fair bit bigger than an XC90

I've just looked, they're actually within a couple of mm's of each other.

All I can say is that my sister in law, who has been a serial car changer, loves hers and has now had it 5+ years. It seems to swallow family is 5 plus dog well, needs two parking spaces regularly, and has been more reliable/less go wrong than her husband's brand new 5 Series.

@tlr

Out of interest, what made you choose the XC90 over the Q7? From what I’ve read the Volvo is very good but the Audi is comfier, quieter, easier infotainment system and has stronger engines. Used prices seem similar.

Tested a Q7 last year, its a lovely car, loads of tech, quick and quiet, looks supertanker huge on the outside, but didn't feel big on the inside, my kids through the car was dark on the inisde even with the panoramic roof and they really didn't like the third row of seats. It is a really well put together car.

now I have 5 minutes again.

Thanks for all the replies. the hybrid version doesn't sound like its worth the extra expense, which is a pity. Can't comment on the diesel, as I test drive a new petrol - the salesman did say that they demo the petrol or diesel, as no-ones really buying into the hybrid model.

Parts are weird, some are really good value and some aren't. If you are going into any main dealer these days, its likely you are going to have your pants pulled - regardless 🙂

I looked at the whole STWVanLife and its just too expensive to buy a VW van (yes I know there others, but large van = divorce, so too expensive). And this has to be slightly worse than a SUV, driving a transit sized vehicle everywhere.

Had BMW cars and motorbikes, fancy something not had before.

Also had about 4 big estates, best were the Fords I had years ago, but I find MPV's and the bigger SUV's just so much more comfortable after a decade of back problems.

Also had numerous MPV's - mainly Renaults, really good cars if you are into cubby holes 🙂 Great at the time, but I don't like the few models available now and I may be mistaken - looks like the market has moved to a boatload of small-mid-large size SUV's instead of MPVs.

This car isn't to lug bikes around inside, I have a tow bar mounted thule XT rack for that.

As for the Range Rover size comparison, the RR is 10cm shorter, 6cm wider, same height as the XC90. Parts for the RR are 4x as expensive. Quick google and the new Disco is even bigger than the Volvo !

I did consider a RR for a moment as a last hurrah for an ICE car, as second hand they are really good value for what was a super expensive motor new. Came to my senses 2 seconds later though.

We had a 2020 diesel inscription.

good things:

- amazing ride which convinced us to get it

- front seats are most comfortable I’ve been in

- loads of space for dogs etc

bad things

- too much tech

- it’s huge, no coincidence we kept knocking in to things which has never happened in any other car

after a year we swapped to an xc60 with air suspension. We haven’t knocked in to anything since.

We've had an XC90 for about 12 years (and something like 160,000 miles). We like it, though with the kids grown up we don't really need such a big car any more. That said it us useful for house/uni moves, and green recycling to the local waste collection. Continuing to run it into the ground is probably the greenest thing we can do with it.

Its had a few expensive services, but overall I think the cost of ownership has been reasonable. However, I probably wouldn't buy another as they seem to have repositioned themselves in the market (and are a lot more expensive than they were, even allowing for car-price inflation).

One of the biggest (potential) expenses was when the radiator failed. I'd have paid the price but the Volvo main dealer couldn't source one and we were going on holiday. Turns out the local garage could get a pattern part next day, so we did that and have never been back to the main dealer since (this was probably 6 years ago). Saved a bunch too.

LR

Well at least it can't be as unreliable as the disco. More time on the roads to mow down bunnies I guess 😉

One important thing - make sure you check what size wheels you are buying.  My experience as a passenger is that too big wheels (often ordered) ruin the ride... Stick to smaller ones if it's an option

LRD4, XC90 and LC. Here. LR and 90 are both 20 plates. Although neither has broken down the XC costs notably more to run. Goes through consumables quicker. I think this is to do with just being a large car and the components are at the top end of the design envelope. XC90 had a couple of issues repaired in warranty. Intermittent fault with handbrake and braking issues. Both sensor related. The LR is in overall better condition after 3 years, the XC90 uses softer material so not as robust. Corrosion has started around the wheel nuts on the XC. Garage suggest repair. I want replacement. For me the LR is a superior quality vehicle. The LC (17 plate) is a different kettle of fish and my #1 choice without hesitation. The XC is the wife's car. Had a 14 plate old shape prior, she much preferred that. I think I did too. It felt very solid.

Here's mine

https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/following-on-from-my-400-bangernomics-500-volvo/page/2/

Sounds like people are talking about (at least) 4 or 5 different generations of engine and 2 *completely* different platforms.

Makes life easy doesn't it.

the salesman did say that they demo the petrol or diesel, as no-ones really buying into the hybrid model.

Sounds like salesman speak, we're not even allowed to order EVs of any flavour on the company car scheme as proper paying customers want them all...