Volvo XC90 or Discovery 3?
Volvo XC90 or Discovery 3?
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white_goodman

Original Poster:

4,521 posts

220 months

Thursday 13th March 2014
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Thinking of going to look at either or both of these this weekend, as a possible replacement for my 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0 Limited. They're both 3 hours drive away though, so wanted to do my homework first.

http://www.westperimeter.com/used/2008-land%20rove...

http://www.autotrader.ca/a/Volvo/XC90/Winnipeg/Man...

Similar kind of price and both lowish mileage (the Volvo has lower mileage though). These cars are only available with these engines here (Canada), so no diesel option sadly but perhaps the big petrol engines will make up for their lack of fuel economy with better reliability? The Volvo has a 3.2 Straight 6, which I believe is a Ford/Jaguar engine and the Land Rover a 4.4 V8 (BMW engine)? I imagine the Volvo will be marginally more economical but either not fantastic but probably better than the 18mpg that I get out of the Jeep!

What I'm interested in knowing from anyone who has owned/had extensive driving experience of them (and I expect this will be mostly with the diesel versions but other aspects should be similar) is:
1. How do they drive on the road (ride and handling etc)?
2. Are they comfortable? (Volvo has a good reputation for comfort but I imagine the Land Rover will be pretty comfortable too)
3. How do parts prices compare?
4. Which would you expect to be most reliable? (I've always fancied a L322 Range Rover but potentially expensive reliability problems have put me off. I know that Land Rover has raised their game in terms of reliability in recent years but does that apply more to the Discovery 4 rather than the Discovery 3)?
6. Which has the most boot space when using as a 5/7 seater?
7. Which has the most comfortable/spacious 3rd row seats and what will access to them be like? (I will have 2 kids under 2 in the middle row in child seats and don't want to have to remove them every time I want to use the rearmost seats).

Any insight on either or both vehicles would be most welcome.

abbotsmike

1,033 posts

174 months

Thursday 13th March 2014
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Can't tell you a lot about either, but Dad used to be a volvo tech. Check the 4wd on the volvo actually works. From memory it's a part time viscous coupling system, which can give up the ghost.

Other than that they are nice cars, can't help on the engine as most of his work was on a fleet of diesels!

Pooh

3,693 posts

282 months

Thursday 13th March 2014
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I have a 4.4 litre petrol V8 XC90, it is comfortable, refined, surprisingly quick and I like it but the reliability and build quality are not great.
The V8 is much better than the 6 cylinder car so I would look for one of those if you do want an XC90.

Searider

1,005 posts

284 months

Thursday 13th March 2014
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Auto gearbox on T6 Volvo said to be made of chocolate.

I've an XC90 and access to the rear row is from the centre of the car - I.E. you do have to unclip any child seat there that uses the seatbelt.

white_goodman

Original Poster:

4,521 posts

220 months

Thursday 13th March 2014
quotequote all
Searider said:
Auto gearbox on T6 Volvo said to be made of chocolate.

I've an XC90 and access to the rear row is from the centre of the car - I.E. you do have to unclip any child seat there that uses the seatbelt.
This is just an NA 3.2, not a T6 (240bhp?). My car seats attach to the ISOFIX. Would I still need to remove them to access the 3rd row?

legless

2,034 posts

169 months

Thursday 13th March 2014
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The engines on both cars are made at Ford's Bridgend plant. The 3.2 in the XC90 is from Volvo's modular family, also used in the Freelander 2. The D3's 4.4 V8 is a variant of the Jaguar V8, not the BMW M62 used in early L322s.

white_goodman

Original Poster:

4,521 posts

220 months

Friday 14th March 2014
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legless said:
The engines on both cars are made at Ford's Bridgend plant. The 3.2 in the XC90 is from Volvo's modular family, also used in the Freelander 2. The D3's 4.4 V8 is a variant of the Jaguar V8, not the BMW M62 used in early L322s.
Thanks, didn't realise that. Didn't know Jaguar did a 4.4 V8, thought they were all 4.2 but I knew BMW did a 4.4 V8, so thought it must be the BMW engine!

MadmanO/T People

910 posts

234 months

Saturday 15th March 2014
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white_goodman said:
legless said:
The engines on both cars are made at Ford's Bridgend plant. The 3.2 in the XC90 is from Volvo's modular family, also used in the Freelander 2. The D3's 4.4 V8 is a variant of the Jaguar V8, not the BMW M62 used in early L322s.
Thanks, didn't realise that. Didn't know Jaguar did a 4.4 V8, thought they were all 4.2 but I knew BMW did a 4.4 V8, so thought it must be the BMW engine!
The Volvo B8444S V8 is not a Jaguar unit at all. It's built in Japan by Yamaha.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volvo_B8444S_engine

white_goodman

Original Poster:

4,521 posts

220 months

Monday 17th March 2014
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MadmanO/T People said:
The Volvo B8444S V8 is not a Jaguar unit at all. It's built in Japan by Yamaha.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volvo_B8444S_engine
I think he was referring to the 3.2 straight 6, which is the one that I am looking at.

anonymous-user

83 months

Monday 17th March 2014
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MadmanO/T People said:
white_goodman said:
legless said:
The engines on both cars are made at Ford's Bridgend plant. The 3.2 in the XC90 is from Volvo's modular family, also used in the Freelander 2. The D3's 4.4 V8 is a variant of the Jaguar V8, not the BMW M62 used in early L322s.
Thanks, didn't realise that. Didn't know Jaguar did a 4.4 V8, thought they were all 4.2 but I knew BMW did a 4.4 V8, so thought it must be the BMW engine!
The Volvo B8444S V8 is not a Jaguar unit at all. It's built in Japan by Yamaha.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volvo_B8444S_engine
He said that the D3's 4.4 V8 is a variant of the Jaguar V8, and doesn't mention the Volvo V8 at all. You're both right about their respective origins though biggrin