koldonibane Hey Greg, I hqve a friend that worked for Volvo Car Australia and told me that 2016 XC90 had some reliability issues (being the first MY of the new platform). Sounds like the newer versions from MY17 onwards had lots of issues corrected. I can also confirm timbo's comments on rotors and pads! Look out for air suspension problems, and dpf issues if diesel
The rotors and pads are from the radar cruise and setting the distance to minimum, the radar cruise only uses the rear pads for slowing down unless the emergency stop is triggered
When in city traffic this wears the rear excessively. I was told Volvo did this to 1. Make more money from service and 2. Ensure the front pads are saved for emergency braking
Swapping the discs to t2's and the pads to bendix euro+ saw the my15 xc60 t5 go from 30k per set of rotors and pads to 90k+ in combination with getting the driver to use the medium (3 bar) setting on the radar cruise
Spa... I've only seen engine issues on the petrol units excessive oil consumption and pretty much everything else that I saw when the Ford 3.2/t6 came out
Crash wise... the spa platform only has drivers aids for safety over the p2 based xc90's. The iis did small offset testing of the p2 xc90 and the results are pretty much the same as the spa based xc90
I've still got the cross section cuts of a p2 xc90 if you want to see them... they are insane with how much protection there is for small offset.
Safety wise they have the same number and type of airbags and pretensioners as the spa cars except for the rear occupant kidney bags. If anything it's better than a spa car as you can find one sans sunroof which reduces injury to occupants from rollover where the ground is not flat (tree stumps etc)
Servicing wise, as Tim mentioned, you are way better off with a p2 or p3 car for long term servicing and reliability, I would expect the 2019+ spa cars to be affordable in about 4 years and that's when I might consider upgrading to a t8 version.... maybe
As I still have a USA postal address and USA based credit card and USA based home IP, I have a VPN setup so that I can use a non Chinese dice unit with a laptop and make Volvo still think I'm a independent tech in the USA.... i still have to call tech support and explain that I'm supporting a diplomatic RHD car and then they will let me do stuff.... massive pita but does mean that I can do SPA cars when I really need to.... having a relationship with the local dealer such that I'm always welcome in the workshop and behind the parts counter etc.... I've mostly been able to just agree on $180 And they let me do whatever i need to for up to an hour which has been quite infrequent. As Tim noted.... I find more leaking gaskets and physical issues than electrical ones