Looked at a 2007 XC90 V8 today

[jimmy57]

Also v8 power steering pumps leak and the escape is to go through the drain hole in V and then into bell housing.

[ggleavitt]

RMS "leak" may also be due to PS pump seeping. Super hard to see it but runs to the rear of the engine and down the back, looking like RMS leak. Another possibility, assuming that you're not fully verified that it's oil leaking and not PS fluid.

[scot850]

More great input from you guys! Many thanks. I'll forward this link to the Volvo Foreman so hopefully they can use the info when they ever get around to inspecting the car!

Neil.

[scot850]

Still never heard back from the dealer after 2.5 weeks. Guess they are not too keen to sell the car after all!

I saw a 2006 XC90 V8 for sale at a local auction. Asking for a minimum $9900 CDN (about $7500 US) and car has 145,000km on it (about 90,000 miles). It has an engine check light on, a broken key fob (only opens the car manually with key), and a broken drivers door mirror case, and a few chips (no cracks) in the front windshield. No obvious signs of leaks of any sort, started on the button and no weird noises.

This is the first time I really looked at the trunk area with the 3rd row seats folded. To be blunt, I think my P80 wagons have a bigger load area. Add to that the height my dogs have to be lifted (not sure they can jump in, and I would worry the height they have to jump out), I'm not seeing the advantage of the XC90 over a wagon. Really only thing I like is climbing into the SUV over having to get down into the wagon.

Maybe I need to re-think this. Talking to my neighbour, they have a Chevy Traverse, and it has a way taller trunk area and bigger and a lower load height. GMC Acadia also. You can also get a much newer vehicle for the same money with lower miles. I had a 01 Suburban 1500 and loved everything about that car except the usual GM rust issues.

Hmm...

Neil.

[RedGeminiPA]

If you venture into one of the GM triplets (quadruplets, if you count the discontinued Saturn), be sure to get a good extended warranty. Engine and transmission issues are semi common. A friend's '10 Acadia had the transmission replaced around 100k, and about 10k miles later, the timing chain puked and the aftermath was an engine fire while her son was driving it. He was quick to put out the fire as a first instinct (she said he should've let it burn, LOL). GM helped with replacement costs, (she still forked out over $3k) but first crate engine with 33 miles on it was defective, requiring another wait for another replacement. Everything seems fine for now, but that's a lot to go wrong around the 100k mark.

A quick search will show lots of timing chain failures with the 3.6L in various GM vehicles. It's one of the main reasons I steered away from a CTS4 and a Saturn Outlook.

[scot850]

Thanks for the in-sight. Not an engine I am familiar with yet. The XC90 V8 plan at the dealer was shot down on the fact the Ba$***ds sold the vehicle without ever getting back to me on the inspection which I had chased them on.

I have so far owned 4 GM vehicles (2 in the UK, both inline 3 liter 6's) and here a 96 Yukon beater and an 01 Suburban. Mechanically they were all very reliable for the most part, and all very comfortable to drive. Loved the Suburban in particular. However, the nemesis of all GM vehicle for me is corrosion where I have lived. I would have expected by now they would be able to build a vehicle that doesn't decompose the second it sees salt in the winter!! All were sold before the bodies got too bad.

Not stuck on GM, but not a Ford fan (like the Exploder). The newest Durango looks good, but Chrysler is up with GM in the corrosion market. Japanese all are too expensive and are mostly the ugliest contraptions. The 4 runner may be big enough as may the Pilot. Have to do some checking out when time allows.

Neil.

[RedGeminiPA]

There's always Subaru. I've owned 4 over the years, and they were all good vehicles. There were issues, sure, but the overall reliability was good. I found rust issues to be better than average, especially for the US-built models I owned. My '05 Forester (built in Japan) was the only one that had rust issues, and that's semi-common, at least for that generation. My favorite was my '01 Outback VDC H-6. At 245,000 miles, it ran like a beast, and I averaged 26-27 MPG highway. I didn't complain about it, as a 6 cylinder with full-time AWD (45/55 front-rear split) it did well on fuel. I drove it on a 3,000 mile trip before I traded it in. It ran like a champ.

Subaru is releasing a new 7-passenger SUV in about a year, and from what I've seen so far, it's not too shabby.

[scot850]

Subarus are good cars, but currently nothing is available that is big enough for our little 'pony' (our new large puppy). The reason I ran a suburban in the past was to fit our 120lb wolfhound/shepherd and 70lb Husky mix. That is why I am now looking at larger SUV's. I won't buy new as I drive currently very little being retired. My 'R' does about 2000km/year for the last 4 years, and my wife has a 2015 (bought new) Kia Sportage which has averaged 6000km/year and that includes about a year my 'R' was off the road for various large repairs. She doesn't use a car to go to work so that doesn't do much either.

So to buy the new larger Suburu it would have to be 5/6 years old, by which time our older dog will probably not be around. Hence the reason for looking at something a bit older with a lot less depreciation to it.

Thanks for the suggestion though.

Neil.

[FCPEURO]

Neil,

Also, be sure the power steering pump isn't leaking. When these leak, the fluid travels down the balance shaft cover to the drivers side of the vehicle and leaks down the transmission. This is commonly mistaken for a rear main seal leak and misdiagnosed all of the time.

If leaking, unfortunately I only have the Genuine Volvo unit available without any other brand option. I personally had to go with the Genuine unit myself on my V8.

You can view it here: https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/volvo- ... 0-36000748

Jason

[scot850]

Thanks for the input Jason. I've come to the conclusion that the XC90 is not for me as I said earlier, the load area with the 2nd row of seats in place looks smaller than my old P80 wagons, so to buy one to fit the large puppy makes no sense to me now. I had assumed the load area would be much larger with the 3rd row folded, but even the 5 seat variant has a very high load floor which only became obvious when I saw them without the winter rims stored in the rear!

Looks like it may be the last Volvo I will be buying for a long time (after a nearly continuous 40+ years of Volvos). They just don't make anything in the last 10 years that I would pay money for. The engine choices are limited to the asthmatic 3.2 i6, the 3.0 (?) T6, the V8 to 2011, for all the SUV's (XC models). I have seen a couple of run out XC70's with the 2.5T but too new and expensive as yet. Don't think we got the T5 AWD here in Canada or did we?

We still have the 2 x 2000 V70's and 06 XC70 for now but I will probably not have the P80's come the end of the year. Just have to spend lot of time selling on all the spares I have accumulated!

Neil.