Newer S Max / Older XC90
Discussion
I can't comment on the S Max but we have an 2008 XC90 which is superb at what it does. I imagine the Ford will handle better if that's important. The Volvo isn't refined or particularly great to drive but great at everything else. It's not expensive to run although ours is approaching 100k and over 10 years old so a few things need looking at.
The only think I'll say about the Ford is check the mpg. We had a Ford Edge as a courtesy car for 3 weeks while some rear end damage was getting sorted on the Volvo. (A 3 tonne 7 seater is hard to see at roundabouts apparently). Anyway, the Volvo gets mid 30's mpg but the small 2 litre Ford managed 23 mpg over 3 weeks of the Mrs driving. She's slower than James May. That's terrible and less than my 3 litre petrol BMW gets. I'd be wary about fuel costs if they use the same engines.
The only think I'll say about the Ford is check the mpg. We had a Ford Edge as a courtesy car for 3 weeks while some rear end damage was getting sorted on the Volvo. (A 3 tonne 7 seater is hard to see at roundabouts apparently). Anyway, the Volvo gets mid 30's mpg but the small 2 litre Ford managed 23 mpg over 3 weeks of the Mrs driving. She's slower than James May. That's terrible and less than my 3 litre petrol BMW gets. I'd be wary about fuel costs if they use the same engines.
toon10 said:
I can't comment on the S Max but we have an 2008 XC90 which is superb at what it does. I imagine the Ford will handle better if that's important. The Volvo isn't refined or particularly great to drive but great at everything else. It's not expensive to run although ours is approaching 100k and over 10 years old so a few things need looking at.
The only think I'll say about the Ford is check the mpg. We had a Ford Edge as a courtesy car for 3 weeks while some rear end damage was getting sorted on the Volvo. (A 3 tonne 7 seater is hard to see at roundabouts apparently). Anyway, the Volvo gets mid 30's mpg but the small 2 litre Ford managed 23 mpg over 3 weeks of the Mrs driving. She's slower than James May. That's terrible and less than my 3 litre petrol BMW gets. I'd be wary about fuel costs if they use the same engines.
Is yours the 185hp? Mid-30s MPG is better than I expected for a 2 tonne tank. Anything will be better than our 2.5T S Max which gets about 25mpg if you are lucky.The only think I'll say about the Ford is check the mpg. We had a Ford Edge as a courtesy car for 3 weeks while some rear end damage was getting sorted on the Volvo. (A 3 tonne 7 seater is hard to see at roundabouts apparently). Anyway, the Volvo gets mid 30's mpg but the small 2 litre Ford managed 23 mpg over 3 weeks of the Mrs driving. She's slower than James May. That's terrible and less than my 3 litre petrol BMW gets. I'd be wary about fuel costs if they use the same engines.
Was the Edge a diesel? The S Max we are looking at is the 150hp tdci lump which supposedly gets 42mpg combined.
We had exactly this dilemma albeit it in 2011. We both loved the XC90 but in the end the lower costs to run (and risk) of the S-Max won. We haven't regretted the choice and have put 85K (140bhp diesel) on it, one end of Europe to the other and back several times, fully loaded (six people, dog, roof box and a year's supply of alcohol) - the only thing the XC90 would have been better at was some 'light' offloading and the S-Max did that OK. If we flogged it now it would have cost us £280 a month all in - fuel (about 50%) servicing, insurance, consumables the lot. It's given us very few problems (some worrying electrical gremlins lately but just turned out to be a bad earth and a loose plug). The XC90 would have cost us the difference in purchase price in fuel, plus more expensive consumables, insurance (probably) and the much higher likelihood of something oily and expensive - it's a has-to-work car and we don't want our (well, my) hobby to be fixing it.
Having said that, logic aside, we did and still do really like XC90s, to the point that when it looked like we'd have some expensive and annoying fault chasing fest on, we started looking at them again... There are some threads on here on things to look for when getting one, might be handy.
Having said that, logic aside, we did and still do really like XC90s, to the point that when it looked like we'd have some expensive and annoying fault chasing fest on, we started looking at them again... There are some threads on here on things to look for when getting one, might be handy.
Legend83 said:
Is yours the 185hp? Mid-30s MPG is better than I expected for a 2 tonne tank. Anything will be better than our 2.5T S Max which gets about 25mpg if you are lucky.
Was the Edge a diesel? The S Max we are looking at is the 150hp tdci lump which supposedly gets 42mpg combined.
Yes it's the 185hp version. The Mrs averages about 34/35mpg. It drops to 33mpg when I drive it. It's a pretty frugal 5 pot. It's not fast but competent enough to move the heavy car without feeling too sluggish. Pretty impressive engine although not refined in any way. It's all a bit agricultural in its delivery and noise. Was the Edge a diesel? The S Max we are looking at is the 150hp tdci lump which supposedly gets 42mpg combined.
The Mrs loved the Ford Edge but she couldn't live with the mpg. I'm used to mid 20's as all the cars I've had in the last 15 years have only managed about 25mpg personally but she thinks that's too low.
toon10 said:
The only think I'll say about the Ford is check the mpg. We had a Ford Edge as a courtesy car for 3 weeks while some rear end damage was getting sorted on the Volvo. (A 3 tonne 7 seater is hard to see at roundabouts apparently). Anyway, the Volvo gets mid 30's mpg but the small 2 litre Ford managed 23 mpg over 3 weeks of the Mrs driving. She's slower than James May. That's terrible and less than my 3 litre petrol BMW gets. I'd be wary about fuel costs if they use the same engines.
You should get 40-ish in a 2l diesel S-Max - our OBC (I've never bothered to reset it) says 41.4 over the time we've owned it - driven mainly by my wife commuting (mixed) and she is not slow. Edge has got to be a fair bit heavier?NervousEnergy said:
You should get 40-ish in a 2l diesel S-Max - our OBC (I've never bothered to reset it) says 41.4 over the time we've owned it - driven mainly by my wife commuting (mixed) and she is not slow. Edge has got to be a fair bit heavier?
I'm not sure what it was. The car drove fine so don't think it was broken. I didn't smell any fuel so don't think it was leaking either. For the power and size of the engine, I was amazed at the mpg and the Mrs said she'd never spent so much at the pumps over the 3 weeks she had it. Definitely thirstier than the Volvo by quite a way. Looking at honest John website they claim the "real" mpg figures range from 28 to 44 but we didn't even see that. Like I say the Mrs drives very gently too. We've had 2 XC90s (both 07 reg) which were used for the normal family duties (3 kids, towing caravan, 5 bikes on the roof etc...)
They both were superb but not exactly cheap to run. We averaged 30 mpg but it was used for short journeys in the week which affected the MPG.
Both pretty reliable. No big bills. Usual wear and tear. Changed all 4 tyres on one which ended up being about £600.
Massive inside, excellent seats, barge like around corners and slow auto gearbox.
Kids have grown up now so don't need a big 4x4 but XC60 will be our next car I think.
I test drove an S Max 2.2 TDCi when we were looking for a new family car a few years ago.
I really liked it and it drove really well.
Titanium X spec so had all the toys.
The MPG showed 38 which I thought was quite low.
Couldn't agree deal so got a V60 instead.
They both were superb but not exactly cheap to run. We averaged 30 mpg but it was used for short journeys in the week which affected the MPG.
Both pretty reliable. No big bills. Usual wear and tear. Changed all 4 tyres on one which ended up being about £600.
Massive inside, excellent seats, barge like around corners and slow auto gearbox.
Kids have grown up now so don't need a big 4x4 but XC60 will be our next car I think.
I test drove an S Max 2.2 TDCi when we were looking for a new family car a few years ago.
I really liked it and it drove really well.
Titanium X spec so had all the toys.
The MPG showed 38 which I thought was quite low.
Couldn't agree deal so got a V60 instead.
Edited by GreatGranny on Tuesday 4th June 12:04
We’ve had an XC60 and an S-max as family wagons, and My choice would be the S-max all day long between the two. The Volvo is a much higher level of fit and finish, but the D5 is a rough agricultural unit and the S-max handles and drives a lot better in my opinion. It also has significantly more modern engine!
SlowAndDull said:
We’ve had an XC60 and an S-max as family wagons, and My choice would be the S-max all day long between the two. The Volvo is a much higher level of fit and finish, but the D5 is a rough agricultural unit and the S-max handles and drives a lot better in my opinion. It also has significantly more modern engine!
Yeah it's a big factor knowing that the S Max is an all new car from 2015 with a modern Euro6 engine v the XC90 which is a 2004 design with updates!As I say my trepidation comes from it not leaving us as much of a slush fund plus being a private sale - a very good price compared to equivalent dealer notwithstanding.
The XC90 also has the "not a people carrier" plus point in it's locker.
I will wait and see if in the flesh but one thing I would add is that in pics the new S Max interior is disappointingly dull. Now the XC90 is old-fashioned in it's own way but at least you get "those" seats.
We had an xc90 for about 4-5 years. Cannot remember what year it was (maybe 54) but it was an early 185 I think. Needed a new set of tyres every year, mpg fairly terrible (tho my wife doesn’t seem to get food mpg out of anything). But v comfy and reliable. 185 fast enough. Think I would get an S max though...
They'll be loads of other smaxes knocking about at what ever price point you like. We've had ours 9 years. It's got its faults, I'm sure the face lifted one's are better, it's a14 year old car now and its had dogs abuse and always, sometimes annoyingly, kept going. Makes no sense to get rid now. Very hard to argue against one rationally.
Any particular questions other than the usual when dealing with private sellers you would ask re an S Max? It has the "Powershift" auto-box which I believe is the wet-clutch version on diesel's - presumably will want some evidence the box oil has been changed at some point in the 40k miles it has done...
S100HP said:
I really like the XC90 but I'd get the smax if I was you. Far more modern.
I'd go along with that. I love our XC90 but it's old and dated. Ideally, we'd like to get the new shape XC90 but that's a massive step up in luxury and the price is in line with that jump. Might have to wait a while to get into one of those.Legend83 said:
Any particular questions other than the usual when dealing with private sellers you would ask re an S Max? It has the "Powershift" auto-box which I believe is the wet-clutch version on diesel's - presumably will want some evidence the box oil has been changed at some point in the 40k miles it has done...
Well if you want a diesel they have a DPF so some subtle questions about usage pattern? (Not that ours has been any trouble and for a few years it did a journey mix that wasn't ideal.)NervousEnergy said:
Well if you want a diesel they have a DPF so some subtle questions about usage pattern? (Not that ours has been any trouble and for a few years it did a journey mix that wasn't ideal.)
Would choose the petrol ideally but not fussed so much that this is not worth looking at. I asked the chap on the phone what usage was like (it's done 40k miles in 3 years) and sounds likes it's generally mix of school run, longish commute plus 4-5 long distance holidays. So perhaps not ideal but not a deal breaker.Gassing Station | Car Buying | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff