Looking at a Volvo XC90 for my oldest, anything I should know?
Looking at a Volvo XC90 for my oldest, anything I should know?
Sorry, not much detail there. It's a 4.4, towing package, 200k, being sold as bad alternator which isn't terribly expensive if the rest of the car isn't either.
Its no Volvo but...$3,200 for you. Detailed further here
You know I'm cheap, probably $1k into the Volvo
05 still had the balance shaft failure issue. If you buy it, don't wash the engine...
https://blog.fcpeuro.com/the-dark-side-of-volvos-excellent-v8
Check to see if the valve covers are leaking, that is a much more involved job than it sounds. You have to pull the fuel rail off the the injectors to get the lower intake manifold off. 15 year old plastic sitting in the middle of that v has seen a lot of heat and will be very brittle.
I really like my 06... I also wish I never bought it.
I worked for volvo for 7 years, and in the auto industry all my 42 year life, those are the worst cars I’ve ever encountered in terms of cost of ownership. The running joke was the customers all said “I’m here for my $1000 oil change”.
The most extreme example was a woman traded in a 2005 rx330 on a similar year xc90 (this is an extreme example because it had the yamaha v8) . I bought the rx wholesale with 70k on it and daily’d it for 4 years. I was a service advisor at the time, and I noticed that she was getting slammed on repairs. I thought it would be funny to run the numbers on cost of ownership between what I had spent on the lexus and what she had spent on the xc90. It worked out that if she had kept the rx, bought the volvo and set it on fire the first day, it would have been cheaper for her. A big part of that was that it ate a balance shaft and needed a $14k crate motor but there’s still a long way to go before it was a good financial choice. I’m sure someone will come on here and tell you that theirs has been perfect or whatever, but Massive cost of ownership was the rule. Just my experience, maybe you’ll have a great one.
Such glowing recommendations...
The I6 is a better XC90. My Father just got rid of his. Unfortunately my Discovery has held up better than his volvo did. While it didn't need a new engine, just wound up needing almost everything else and the interior all but self destructed from it's time in Florida
Thanks guys, I'm passing. Have a year or so to find, fix and test something before passing it off to her.
Less euro more japanesy.
Loved my old 850 turbo wagon and volvos still turn my head.....luckily the brain inside says no no no not again.
The Yamaha V8 is a sweet motor, and seems to be as indestructable as Volvo's own homegrown engines. I know of a couple examples over 200k and one over 300k with only regular maintenance concerns (oil, filters, plugs, water pump.) I've got the same motor in my S80 and it really sings. 135k miles and nothing but plugs, oil and filters. So clean, you could eat off it.
The problem here is the model year. As already pointed out, the 2005 could experience balance shaft failure due to a lack of water drainage. If that happens, the motor is pretty much done. I'd steer clear of this one.
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