Volvo XC90
- Thread starter The Judge
- Start date
You're kidding me surely?
I owned a S60 D5 for 18 months. Sure, it was reliable, but had the power of a BMW 4 cylinder, linked to the thirst of a BMW 6 and the smoothness of a London taxi when cold/stationary. Sure, it was "characterful", but IMO for all the wrong reasons.
As for the XC90, check Warranty Direct's Reliability Index, which is the closest I've seen to genuine stats on the objective costs of maintenance for cars. The XC90 was lousy, over 200 IIRC. I know it's not the same class of car, but the Honda CRV scored 45, and lower most certainly is better.
Only driven it in an S60 - The car itself fell dynamically miles short of what you'd expect from the e39 but I genuinely thought the engine was a standout.
Yes it rattles when cold, but it's a stinky diesel they all (bar perhaps the bmw 6, but the 4 certianly does) do it. It was linear, made an almost reasonable noise when warm and felt perfectly adequate for the car in terms of power.
This was when we have a 2003 530d in the house and the D5 was a similar age iirc. I'd never have picked the Volvo over the e39 but honestly felt the engine was pretty decent.
That's not to say living with it wouldn't change my mind though
Yes it rattles when cold, but it's a stinky diesel they all (bar perhaps the bmw 6, but the 4 certianly does) do it. It was linear, made an almost reasonable noise when warm and felt perfectly adequate for the car in terms of power.
This was when we have a 2003 530d in the house and the D5 was a similar age iirc. I'd never have picked the Volvo over the e39 but honestly felt the engine was pretty decent.
That's not to say living with it wouldn't change my mind though
Soldato
I would go for a volkwagen Toureg in that suv class.
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It's almost impossible to recommend a specific car without knowing the budget. If he's in the £5k bracket then a Touraeg is as bad a suggestion as anything else, really the best thing to do when you have that sort of money is go for something Japanese. Honda CRV perhaps. Not cool, but then neither is a £1500 bill on your 10 year old once £50k premium SUV when you are only buying 5 grand cars.
Soldato
Sorry but that's rubbish. a D5 auto XC90 is only supposed to do 40mpg extra urban, combined they are supposed to do 33.
However as others have said it's a very good engine. I certainly wouldn't call it clattery.
Associate
Perhaps I'm being overly picky and harsh. It would be on my list when thinking about non-premium 4x4s like the shogun and land cruiser. And it would still lose because of the reliability. But it just doesn't cut it as a premium SUV.
50mpg from an XC90? Pull the other one
Experience of 4x4 vehicles says you'd struggle to get more than 30 from an XC90 diesel.