Bought my first Volvo

[oragex]

Volvo, such a sweet dealer. They added the Pool option for FREE to almost all of their cars, without even mentioning it

[nickringelberg]

Wow! you really ripped it down! I just bought an auction 2005 xc90 for $1000, but it had 218,000 miles on it and I eventually found that it needed $1500 in parts: 3 wheel hubs, 1 cv axle, 1 abs sensor, parking brakes, 1 rotor, and a parking brake cable, and loads of front end parts. The radio works great and the previous owner must have had it turned up REALLY loud to cover all the noise coming from the axles. Congratulations on your buy. It really is a nice car to work on, isn't it? I have no suggestions for you, as I am learning my way through this car. However, a question: you said you had a leak through the cowling onto the front floor. How did you find where it was coming from? Spray a hose?

[FLXC90]

Score! for a grand you got the right T-6. While you had the floor out, were you able to check the yaw rate sensor under the amp/passenger seat? Common failure item due to location...underwater

Mine has had most of the typical failures, but overall, did its job well as 7-seater. now just one kid at home, and she has her own car, so the future is unclear for mine ( it might turn into a C70 soon!)

Good buy, and good luck

[shiloh51933]

For a grand you can't go wrong if you get a year out of it, if the trans last longer you got a great deal. Exterior looks great in pics.

[SuperHerman]

Solid buy and solid car, transmission aside. Sourcing used parts and doing the work yourself is the smart approach. Site sponsors are a great source for new parts both price and selection wise.

Suspension noise - first place to look is the front two sway bar end links. In my 10 plus years of ownership of our 2004 XC90 (and four other Volvos, Audi, Range Rover, Jaguar) front clunks usually are the end links. The cheap ones don't last very long so spend the money and buy Meyle HD, Moog or OEM. They are easy to change out - even the best ones can fail if the car hits a pot hole just right.

Check your front struts for leaks and carefully examine your spring seats. Spring seats have a finite life and are a source of clunking and related issues. Otherwise it is the normal ball joints, tie rods and lower control arm. First stop is to examine the sway bar end links.

If you got an alignment when you installed your new tires, which you should do especially with a car of those miles that you don't know the full history, they should have told you if the ball joints, control arms and other front items were suspect. Usually they cannot do an alignment if they are bad. If you want your tires to last - have an alignment done.

Would not hurt to change your transmission and related fluids. There are four of them. Also check all your seals while you are under the car - with AWD the car has a large number. Check your PS fluid and hoses - the hose likes to leak on the reservoir. Sometimes a tighten works, other times a small trim of the hose and a new clamp do the trick.

For the CV axles, if the boots are torn you can just replace the boot, assuming the grease has not been compromised with grit. This avoids refurbished units that many times leak. A good used unit is also an option. Putting a new boot on is nothing too complicated. Best get on these sooner than later in the chance they are saveable.

Final item, the front CV joint on the propeller shaft gets crusty with age and heat. It can be cleaned up and refreshed with new grease.