2010-12 xc90 Diesel or Petrol 3.2 for short trips?

volvonewbie75010

Hi everyone,

We are looking at buying a second hand Xc90 to cart the family and the kids' friends around. The problem is that we only do 10,000km/yr and mainly in lots of 10 min trips around town. We do occasional longer trips (1-1.5hrs?) but my eldest daughter gets quite carsick so we try to limit our long trips and often stop once or twice on route.

I'm worried that this will be too challenging for the Diesel particulate trap, so thought we should get a petrol version instead. But reading this forum, lots of very informed people (Philia Bear, Snoopy, say that the Petrol 3.2 should be avoided like the plague.

We're limited to an Executive because I have a bad back and the other versions have car seats which are too bucket for me. We looked up V8 Executives, but there seem to be hardly any around, so are worried that if we wait for one, we could be waiting a long time.

So what to do?? any advice? Please help!!!

Also what should we be looking for to check the car is ok before we buy? We were planning on getting it inspected at Voldat's or Berry Motors first, but the dealers have said that we have to buy the car subject to mechanical inspection, so I assume they'll only take a car back if there's something wrong with it, and not just because it's not in great condition..

Deanna

Philia_Bear

V8 for sure

Ex850R

Mmm.
Welcome.
I didn't know the seats would be any different amongst the different models??
It does sound like a 2.5T is going to best suit your requirements.
Are you looking at 2014 onwards?
(best for gearbox iirc although others can comment., my memory is weak...)

Don't you just love dealers!

I would kick them in the shins hard, poke them in the eye and ask why don't they want you to test the car that you are making the second biggest investment in your life after a home at an independent mechanic that you trust because car sales people are all rogues and scoundrels and you may cause another eye to be poked if you don't answer in a sensible manner that isn't insulting my intelligence cos mate, you are very close to permanent injury here.....

I suggest you walk away, tell them they have a poor sales technique. Go elsewhere.
Do t be worried a good one won't turn up because the ones recently bought by peeps on here have been after much anguish and what they thought lost opportunities and yet they have now got exactly what they wanted.

Do some searching, throw it up on here, we can dissect it and whittle it down.
And then as for dealers, we can lend weight as the biggest Volvo information resource in Australia, tell em they are being watched and judged and that I may visit them and do a surprised shin kick and run away sortie ...
That should do it.

Philia_Bear

T5 ended availability in 06 with the end of the 5 speed trans

volvonewbie75010

Hi everyone, thanks for all your comments so far.

We're currently looking at a 2010 XC90 3.2:
http://www.carsales.com.au/dealer/details/Volvo-XC90-2010/OAG-AD-13719199/?Cr=5

We talked to a really helpful person at Voldat who said that we were right to worry about the Diesel particulate trap for our kind of driving. But he also said they haven't seen any more problems with the 3.2L petrol over the other engines, as long as it was later than 2008/09. They do use more fuel, but given how little we drive, we can live with that. So he said not to worry too much, as long as the car was in good condition, the 3.2L should be ok.

As for the seats, we did a lot of trying various cars. The R-design was really bucket with not enough lumbar support for me. The LE was ok but not great, the Executive was much firmer with really good lumbar support. Guess my back is just a bit demanding :(

Ex850R

Nice!
Go with John and Mark at Voldat, you can't go wrong!
If you can get them to look at it for you, any troubles they can point out and you will have a warranty anyway.
Have them look after it for you ongoing and you will be fine.
Apologies, I didn't think of the different models in the newer range. (seat wise)
Is that one the one the dealer said no to an independent test?
What details on car?
Link to it?

volvonewbie75010

the link is above? http://www.carsales.com.au/dealer/details/Volvo-XC90-2010/OAG-AD-13719199/?Cr=5 (or did you mean something else?)

The dealer (Ocimad Prestige) seems genuine but said that he was fine to sell it to us subject to inspection (rather than doing an inspection first). We're ok with that in principle, but I've read of others who have bought a vehicle subject to inspection and then had a lot of trouble getting the dealer to take the car back when the inspection comes back not great but not terrible.

We also looked at some cars at JustVolvo (http://www.justvolvocarsales.com.au/) but they said that they wouldn't accept independent inspections. Not sure if they were ok with selling subject to inspection (we didn't press the point at the time) but he sounded pretty unimpressed about us getting any other inspection. On the other hand, they offer up to a 3-yr extension to the manufacturer's warranty on any of their cars, so guess they must be ok.

Anyway, we're going to test drive today. Fingers crossed it's as good as it seems!

Philia_Bear

volvonewbie75010;92442 wroteHi everyone, thanks for all your comments so far.

We're currently looking at a 2010 XC90 3.2:
http://www.carsales.com.au/dealer/details/Volvo-XC90-2010/OAG-AD-13719199/?Cr=5

We talked to a really helpful person at Voldat who said that we were right to worry about the Diesel particulate trap for our kind of driving. But he also said they haven't seen any more problems with the 3.2L petrol over the other engines, as long as it was later than 2008/09. They do use more fuel, but given how little we drive, we can live with that. So he said not to worry too much, as long as the car was in good condition, the 3.2L should be ok.

As for the seats, we did a lot of trying various cars. The R-design was really bucket with not enough lumbar support for me. The LE was ok but not great, the Executive was much firmer with really good lumbar support. Guess my back is just a bit demanding :(

DPF if fine for your sort of driving, its going to be the EGR valve that clogs up long before anything else
Even then, its cheap and easy to have it soda/CO2 blasted and then its just like new again

My personal XC90 was driven under the exact conditions you describe for the first 7 years of its life from 07->14
It was only earlier this year after it hit 120k that the EGR finaly tossed a code
3 hours later and the EGR was like new with Zero new parts added

I inspected the DPF earlier this year and it was like new
Volvo went really cautious on the DPF design and function after 2009 so anything with a software update after 09 or delivered after 09 puts a lot more fuel into the exhaust stroke and as such the DPF just does not clog

The rule with the D5 is that you change the oil every 6 months or 10k religiously and use only a good full zinc full synthetic oil like Penrite HPR10

If voldat has not seen the rate of failures I have seen on the 3.2 its because they are lucky
The 3.2 itself hardly fails, its everything not the engine block that fails
Also... the parts prices on 3.2 accessories (eg Alt) are astronomical as compared to the stuff on the v8 or D5
(water cooled alts are not cheap as an example)
Though the chain driven accessories might count as they are inside the block... much like the saab timing chain issues on the 9-3 they are a critical failure sort of thing with no warning

The 3.2 is just piss week on output and drinks fuel under any conditions
The issues I have seen with the engine range from 07->2014 and there is not much difference in rate of failures as most things seam to be an hours thing and not a millage thing

in the $25k bracket here are my choices
D5
http://www.carsales.com.au/private/details/Volvo-XC90-2009/SSE-AD-4221296/?Cr=4
http://www.carsales.com.au/private/details/Volvo-XC90-2009/SSE-AD-4174796/?Cr=7
http://www.carsales.com.au/private/details/Volvo-XC90-2010/SSE-AD-4327303/?Cr=8

V8
http://www.carsales.com.au/dealer/details/Volvo-XC90-2010/OAG-AD-13736387/?Cr=1

Most of them have shit china tyres on them which should be promptly replaced before daily use

Philia_Bear

volvonewbie75010;92447 wrote On the other hand, they offer up to a 3-yr extension to the manufacturer's warranty on any of their cars, so guess they must be ok.

No offense but your need to research a little about aftermarket dealer warranties a little and how worthless they are
They are not an insurance product covered by the FOS and they are not covered by pretty much any thing you could take a company to VCAT for
If you read the fine print on most it says "This is not an insurance product and we will only pay if we feel like it"
They are happy to offer it because it is not their product and they have zero liability so they can offer it on the worst shit box with zero risk....

The only 2 warranties worth any value are
1. Dealer statutory warranty as enforceable by VCAT
2. Warranty from Volvo

There are some very minor exceptions to the above that only apply to brand new cars which I'm happy to detail if interested

Further readings
http://www.smh.com.au/national/extended-warranties-useless-according-to-consumer-group-20150813-giy88n.html
http://consumeraction.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/DonatingYourMoneyToAWarrantyCompany.pdf

Ex850R

Regarding the justvolvocars place , read the trouble @morgan had with them and he walked away saying they were the worst car dealer in the World. He bought elsewhere .

volvonewbie75010

Thanks for the heads up Snoopy, and thanks also to Bear for the details on warranties.

So we test drove the 2010 xc90 3.2L today and it was really smooth and quiet. Everything checked out as far as we could see (to the completely untrained eye). All the gizmos seemed to work, there were small scratches on the bumpers which we were ok about bc it suggests that there hasn't been any major incident with the car that resulted in body work. There was some wear to the fabric on one of the internal pillars (near the driver's seat belt) but in general, everything looked in very good condition.

We were still a little nervous about the problems mentioned by Bear above, but we've been watching the online ads for a while and haven't seen any V8 Execs in Vic (all in NSW and Qld). So given the car drove so nicely and it looked like it had been taken care of, we decided to take a chance on it.

So we've put a deposit down on the car ($1k) and will take it to Voldat's for an inspection. If everything checks out, then I guess we've got ourselves a new car. Now we just need to sell our little 12yo Toyota Corolla hatch! (going from a tiny hatch to the XC90 will be a shock to the system!)

Thanks to everyone for their help and comments above!

Vee_Que

With oil changes. If your doing 10,000kms a year, definitely do oil changes every 6 months. The wear and tear is harsh on a car treated like this

bigal

Someone with permissions able to put this thread under the right category?

Philia_Bear

volvonewbie75010;92500 wrote So given the car drove so nicely and it looked like it had been taken care of, we decided to take a chance on it.

You can lead a horse to water.....

Ex850R

Philia_Bear;92507 wrote
volvonewbie75010;92500 wrote So given the car drove so nicely and it looked like it had been taken care of, we decided to take a chance on it.
You can lead a horse to water.....

Mmmmm, my sentiment too.
I expect this vehicle to show up again with all the issues that @Philia_Bear occurring but I do hope it goes well for you.

Deanna, Mike (Philia_Bear) is a Master Volvo Technician. He knows these vehicles.
This forum provides the best information with honesty.

I would suggest you could have taken that deposit money and had the V8 delivered to your door from QLD or NSW, the risk in doing that is Far less than the gamble you take with the 3.2 six cylinder time bomb as described by Mike.

I do hope you have a good experience and Voldat can keep you going well.

volvonewbie75010

Hi Snoopy and Bear (and others),

yes we are feeling nervous but we feel more nervous about buying a car sight unseen from Qld. No idea how to get it looked at or assessed so far away. What happens if we do the deal, get it delivered and only then decide we don't like it??

However one thing we did think was that the purchase has a 3 day cooling off period (we still have to get an inspection done, and haven't taken delivery of the vehicle yet), so we're not totally decided yet.

What proportion of 3.2's really do suffer these problems? Is it really a ticking time bomb (i.e. all of them in the end) or just that some people are lucky and others unlucky? can you ward off the problems with good and regular servicing?

Also how much does it cost to fix if/once the 3.2 breaks down? is it $1k? $5k? $10+k? write off??

Thanks again for everyone's help. And yes we are listening and valuing your expert opinions. It's just that we concluded we wouldn't be able to get a V8 Exec in Vic so had no option.

Ex850R

It really is worth going interstate.
Read above the issues that will occur with the dud 3.2 motor.
Yes, you will wish you didn't have to write it off.
Or wait till a V8 or D5 comes up here.

volvonewbie75010

I tried reading up but could only find general references to problems with accessory functions being driven off the drive (timing?) shaft. But no details about what parts and costs and whether it was a $500 fix or a new vehicle. My partner says that if the petrol vehicle is $2k cheaper than a diesel, then we have $2k more to spend on repairs which is quite a lot of repair.. (he's more comfortable about this car than I am). And he's very uncomfortable to buy interstate. If it all goes wrong we are struck.

I tried looking up the Bruce threads but no idea where to them??

Ex850R

@Philia_Bear

lasercowboy

http://www.carsales.com.au/dealer/details/Volvo-XC90-2011/OAG-AD-13921944/?Cr=3

Looks nice - you've probably already seen it.