Mk1 XC90 - real world running costs
Discussion
I think it was "idiotgap" who on m recent Family Bus thread said he had bought a last of the line mk1 XC90 following a Kodiaq purchase falling through.
They remain SUV de-rigueur around these parts with every person I come across singing their praises (and caveating with "if you can afford it") and got me thinking - a 2011-on version with reasonable mileage can be had for £12k+ which is a lot less than the £18-20k we were considering for a newer S-Max / Grand Scenic...and leaves some readies for any maintenance or even a warranty.
Have not been to look round one yet but my instincts are:
+ comfy and spacious for a family of 5 (who like driving hols to France and friends in far away places)
+ safe
+ classless
- older diesel might create issues down the line with penalties / lack of access to cities (we also spend most of our time ferrying children around on short-ish journeys)
- dated, particularly the interior and info-tainment
- costly to run!
On the last point - what am I realistically looking at here? MPG of 25-30 I can live with (it's a 2.5t bus) but what of servicing / parts / tyres in the real world (away from everyone who tells me it's the best car they ever bought)?
They remain SUV de-rigueur around these parts with every person I come across singing their praises (and caveating with "if you can afford it") and got me thinking - a 2011-on version with reasonable mileage can be had for £12k+ which is a lot less than the £18-20k we were considering for a newer S-Max / Grand Scenic...and leaves some readies for any maintenance or even a warranty.
Have not been to look round one yet but my instincts are:
+ comfy and spacious for a family of 5 (who like driving hols to France and friends in far away places)
+ safe
+ classless
- older diesel might create issues down the line with penalties / lack of access to cities (we also spend most of our time ferrying children around on short-ish journeys)
- dated, particularly the interior and info-tainment
- costly to run!
On the last point - what am I realistically looking at here? MPG of 25-30 I can live with (it's a 2.5t bus) but what of servicing / parts / tyres in the real world (away from everyone who tells me it's the best car they ever bought)?
We have a 2010 D5 Active (base model) which we bought new and now has close to 140,000 miles on it.
It's been a great family bus - including many trips to the French south coast. The first 80k was mostly motorway.
It replaced a Discovery 3, which by contrast, was catastrophically unreliable!
The Volvo doesn't go through tyres and brakes as quickly as I'd expected. I can't give you any numbers without looking back at the receipts, but tyres are about £80 (18" wheels) and it's only had disks changed once.
Parking brake can be problematic - worst case I'm told c. £1k to fully strip out. Ours needs adjusting at every MOT but so far no major issues.
The only non-routine stuff we've had:
- 1 Wheel bearing
- 1 Steering angle sensor
- another sensor, can't remember what it was
- currently got a small radiator leak, but living with it.
- also the fake leather front seats haven't worn well. Had the drivers re-covered under warrantly but it look pretty ropey now.
Fuel economy isn't great, we probably average 23-25, but that's quite a bit of town driving.
Great car. I'd have another without hesitation.
ps. if you're in Herts/Beds - I'd highly recommend IVS (indie Volvo garage) in Letchworth.
pps. one other factor... it's pretty heavy on the steering, doesn't bother me but my wife complains about it from time to time as it aggrevates a shoulder problem.
It's been a great family bus - including many trips to the French south coast. The first 80k was mostly motorway.
It replaced a Discovery 3, which by contrast, was catastrophically unreliable!
The Volvo doesn't go through tyres and brakes as quickly as I'd expected. I can't give you any numbers without looking back at the receipts, but tyres are about £80 (18" wheels) and it's only had disks changed once.
Parking brake can be problematic - worst case I'm told c. £1k to fully strip out. Ours needs adjusting at every MOT but so far no major issues.
The only non-routine stuff we've had:
- 1 Wheel bearing
- 1 Steering angle sensor
- another sensor, can't remember what it was
- currently got a small radiator leak, but living with it.
- also the fake leather front seats haven't worn well. Had the drivers re-covered under warrantly but it look pretty ropey now.
Fuel economy isn't great, we probably average 23-25, but that's quite a bit of town driving.
Great car. I'd have another without hesitation.
ps. if you're in Herts/Beds - I'd highly recommend IVS (indie Volvo garage) in Letchworth.
pps. one other factor... it's pretty heavy on the steering, doesn't bother me but my wife complains about it from time to time as it aggrevates a shoulder problem.
Edited by theoriginalpaul on Thursday 21st March 12:40
I'd be interested to see what's said here as I'd be interested in one of these too. From what I remember they seem to have a touch of the Range Rover about them in that they're wonderful when they work and some people run them to six figure mileage with just routine servicing, but then a significant number say they're hopelessly unreliable money pits, and there's no real way of telling which you're going to get.
Roger Irrelevant said:
I'd be interested to see what's said here as I'd be interested in one of these too. From what I remember they seem to have a touch of the Range Rover about them in that they're wonderful when they work and some people run them to six figure mileage with just routine servicing, but then a significant number say they're hopelessly unreliable money pits, and there's no real way of telling which you're going to get.
That's my understanding too - I don't think price of Volvo parts helps and the fact they are big heavy cars which take their toll on all the suspension bits over time.I'm aiming for as late a car as I can afford and buying on condition without worrying too much about mileage - if it's a good one I would write it off financially as we'd be keeping it for the next 5 years at least.
I had a 2010 Exective, 197.
Mixed use saw 26mpg. I liked that bus a lot, it drove ok, was super comfy, and swallowed all the stuff I could throw at it.
The tech inside now feels very dated, but still had iPod connectivity, bluetooth etc.
I’m my ownership the only thing beyond consumables was a nsf wheel bearing.
Be aware tyres from a premium brand aren’t cheap. I paid thick end of £800 for 4 Pirelli all seasons.
Overall I would recommend if you can live with the mpg
Mixed use saw 26mpg. I liked that bus a lot, it drove ok, was super comfy, and swallowed all the stuff I could throw at it.
The tech inside now feels very dated, but still had iPod connectivity, bluetooth etc.
I’m my ownership the only thing beyond consumables was a nsf wheel bearing.
Be aware tyres from a premium brand aren’t cheap. I paid thick end of £800 for 4 Pirelli all seasons.
Overall I would recommend if you can live with the mpg
My business partner bought a 2004 model brand new 15 years ago. Now on 260,000 miles. Has worn them very well. Probably spent around £1500 pa on maintenance. 20 miles a day commute and motorway mileage at weekends. He drives like an old woman which has probably helped the car get to 260,000 miles. Still looks like a new car from a distance.
Also have a 2010 base spec model that I bought new from Volvo for circa £22k back when Volvo were discounting them massively (and when VAT was 15%). Mine now has around 125k miles on but generally aside from the annual service its not cost me much. The only other recent item I can recall was a wheel bearing a few years back, and it did limp home one night about 5 or 6 years ago with a failed 'charge pipe'.
Mine is the manual and I can get around 550 miles to a tank, which I think corresponds to the dash saying 36mpg. MPG is sensitive to short journeys and I think autos are worse. My driving is mix of fast(ish) B road and steady motorway driving. I run mine on all season M&S tyres and from memory get 35k-40k miles from a set.
Execs and similar models can have more reasonable spec, but they are all generally fairly basic though mine has sat nav and rear DVD screens. That said everything else is low tech (dash etc) but it all works. I do remember thinking it was a step backwards when in 2010 coming from a fairly well spec'ed A6 estate. Nearly 10 years on they have of course dated even more.
I do agree with others that as an all round car the XC90 does everything pretty well and it is certainly comfortable place to drive long distances (regularly do 400 miles in a day, and plenty of through the night mile trips to Alps / south France / Italy etc loaded up with 4 bikes on tow bar are no other for it).
Touch wood, I have had no suspension issues, unlike the A6 before it that seemed to constantly need something replacing.
Be aware the base "active' model does have crap 'pleather' bolsters. They all wear. I had mine replaced with full leather abut 5 years ago.
if you want more info there is an active Volvo forum. See here for a recent thread detailing a users purchase of a (very) high mileage 2012 model xc90 ....might be food for thought.
https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=29...
Mine is the manual and I can get around 550 miles to a tank, which I think corresponds to the dash saying 36mpg. MPG is sensitive to short journeys and I think autos are worse. My driving is mix of fast(ish) B road and steady motorway driving. I run mine on all season M&S tyres and from memory get 35k-40k miles from a set.
Execs and similar models can have more reasonable spec, but they are all generally fairly basic though mine has sat nav and rear DVD screens. That said everything else is low tech (dash etc) but it all works. I do remember thinking it was a step backwards when in 2010 coming from a fairly well spec'ed A6 estate. Nearly 10 years on they have of course dated even more.
I do agree with others that as an all round car the XC90 does everything pretty well and it is certainly comfortable place to drive long distances (regularly do 400 miles in a day, and plenty of through the night mile trips to Alps / south France / Italy etc loaded up with 4 bikes on tow bar are no other for it).
Touch wood, I have had no suspension issues, unlike the A6 before it that seemed to constantly need something replacing.
Be aware the base "active' model does have crap 'pleather' bolsters. They all wear. I had mine replaced with full leather abut 5 years ago.
if you want more info there is an active Volvo forum. See here for a recent thread detailing a users purchase of a (very) high mileage 2012 model xc90 ....might be food for thought.
https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=29...
Another Active manual owner here bought new for £22,000 back in 2010. Its exceptionally well equipped with xenon lights, heated seats, privacy glass etc and was treated when new to Polestar bringing the bhp up to 204. It averages 33 mpg and has taken us all over Europe from the Black Forest to South of France. Honestly we have never had a better car and it has needed very little in nearly 10 years - one set of tyres, a wheel bearing and last week i changed the battery. Alas our little ones have grown up now and a new Skoda Fabia has replaced the XC90 for my partner to take to work every day. My plan is to trade it in soon for a run-out V40 that could replace my 14 year old Golf. Did you know that the mk1 XC90 is one of the safest cars made? No one has been killed in one it seems! Even Jeremy Clarkson liked them!
We've had 2 XC90'sover the last 8-9 years.
One 06, the other 07 reg.
185 facelift models SE & Sport.
Wife ran them as daily's and averaged 32-34mpg.
Big tyres on Sport ruined ride so avoid that model IMO.
Spec was pretty good with nothing major bar the usual.
Tyres on SE were about £80-100 each.
With 3 kids it was ideal and could fit a huge amount inside.
We towed a 1500kg caravan and it was superb (if a little thirsty) for this.
Auto gearbox is 6 speed but slow (especially from standstill) compared to Beemers and Mercs.
There are lower tax versions (06 reg?) but not sure if newer ones (2011 onwards) are cheaper as well.
My Sport was top rate.
We have a V60 now but I still look at XC90s on Atrader and we have started using the caravan again so another may be on the horizon :-)
One 06, the other 07 reg.
185 facelift models SE & Sport.
Wife ran them as daily's and averaged 32-34mpg.
Big tyres on Sport ruined ride so avoid that model IMO.
Spec was pretty good with nothing major bar the usual.
Tyres on SE were about £80-100 each.
With 3 kids it was ideal and could fit a huge amount inside.
We towed a 1500kg caravan and it was superb (if a little thirsty) for this.
Auto gearbox is 6 speed but slow (especially from standstill) compared to Beemers and Mercs.
There are lower tax versions (06 reg?) but not sure if newer ones (2011 onwards) are cheaper as well.
My Sport was top rate.
We have a V60 now but I still look at XC90s on Atrader and we have started using the caravan again so another may be on the horizon :-)
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