Looking at a 2.4 diesel Active manual. Anybody owned one any issues to look out for?
thanks
Richard

Well done on finding a manual. I didn’t buy in the end due to the consumption which seemed bad on paper, and friends confirmed was considerably worse in real life, but guess you know that.

Lovely cars. Based on the old (pre-Ford) platform that dates back to 1999, which is a testament to its design appeal.

Thirsty and big, but really the only big 4×4 that isn’t for dic*heads.

We have one (2004 model). Fab car, solidly built and fast enough for 2.5 tonnes of lumbering bulk.
Thirsty at about 30mpg when I drive, but mid 20’s when my wife drives.

Nice car, mates at the sailing club went through a sucession of them during the 04-07 season before they eventually found A6 Allroads better for carting gear and towing boats around the coastline.

Good cars by all accounts, best mate had one for 2 years and it was really nice, all you need form a tall vehicle. He sold it though for a XC70 estate in the end which he still has.

Diesel Auto FTW, alledgedly. 😆

I looked at one then bought an A6 Avant Quattro 2.7 TDI auto (2007)

The Volvo has 7 seats and more ground clearance also more interior space with higher roof. The Audi is a 5 seater only but great in snow/low grip conditions and is much more economical (we averaged 35-40mpg depending upon use and weren’t particularly careful).

Cheers for the comments all.

Mrs will drive it daily for work (18k pa) and we plan to use it for family trips/ camping etc so the 7 seats are bonus with a dog and two teenagers MPG is an issue but she is a very careful driver!(she has a company car-a Golf diesel estate at present and gets 58mpg)

We have the auto D5 activ, on a good run fully loaded with bikes on the back we get 35mpg, empty 38mpg, local 30mpg but we live in the Pennines. 24mpg with horse box and two horses

I was threatened with divorce when I said sell it, the wife loves it, runs on winter tyres all year. Free breakdown and mot at Volvo who discount prices and give good service.

The auto is fabulous to drive, so easy and comfortable, will,look for a new one in a couple of years, current one is 4 years old.

Acceleration and handling are not class leading but as a comfortable long distance cruiser are brilliant at Easter we had 4 people, 4 sets of skis, 1 bike inside, 1 snowboard, clothes and gear for the week inside and 3 bikes on the rack with 36mpg.

We have had one for 11 years (yep really, one of the first in) and it’s still great.
Currently doing 33mpg but only using it for longer runs as we seem to have acquired a mini as well as the golf.
We are a famiily of 5 plus dog and regularly move loads of bikes/boats/etc. Immense carrying capacity – I needed to get an old double divan bed to the tip the other day…. just folded it in half and it went straight in the back!
Very very comfy and if you can get the premium sound system it’s brilliant (they may not not do it now!).
In our ownership the car has had 2 x rear struts (possibly my fault overloads with work stuff), 2 x rear brake calipers, 1 x rear hub, 1 x steering rack (known issue with early cars) and a flywheel plus a few suspension bushes and droplinks. It is a big heavy car so the suspension will get it unless you only drive on motorways.
Wife and I agreed the other day that we still need a big car but there’s nothing else out there that I like/have heard good things about.
New XC90 looks the mutts though…. especially the hybrid!

We’ve got a 2010 D5 (185bhp) Active auto.
Had it from new and done 91k so far.

Great family car, done loads of trips to France, 4 bikes on top and loaded with camping gear. 3rd row of seats are actually good enough to use and you still get a bit of boot space.

Problems so far: 1 wheel bearing under warranty, since warranty expired:1 temperature sensor, 1 rear seatbelt, some creaking from front end which is still unresolved. All pretty minor stuff really although most seems to have happened in the first year out of warranty.

As for fuel consumption – those claiming mid-30s must be driving like Miss Daisy! Lightly loaded, set the cruise to 70 and you’ll get 30-32. My driving is a mix of urban/motorway & the computer average is usually 28/29.

My local dealer is a shambles – not sure if that’s typical though!

We’ll be keeping it as the long term family workhorse & I’ll get something a bit less fuel-hungry. Quite liking the look of the Merc E300 hybrid right now!

Edit: meant to say, I wouldn’t have one with a manual box. Personally I don’t think big heavy 4x4s are suited to manuals. I previously had a Disco 3 manual – always felt like hard work.

I average 28-30mpg in mine around town, but got 35 going to Eurodisney the other month.
As a family we wouldn’t be without it, not very quick(54 reg, 163bhp) but extremely comfortable and safe(or so I believe).
Tried a manual and apart from the initial responsiveness when pulling away could see no reason to get it.
HTH

I’ve had a 2007 auto for the last 3 years.
On the whole very good car – I wanted 4×4 and 7 seats – only other option was a Disco which was more expensive for the same age/mileage.
It is thirsty and parts can be expensive – Volvo dealers seem to be pretty rubbish too – find a good indy.
Mine is on 80k and there is a strange noise at about 50mph which is a bit worrying – sounds like transmission/diff.

Also agree with the above – don’t get a manual – auto much more suited.

Very timely thread guys

Test driving one tomorrow. Decided a VW transporter was not the best 2nd car option.

How easy is it to get bikes in / out of the boot? Can a MTB with wheels off fit in boot with the 5 seats up? Not a deal breaker but would be cool if they did.

Great and very helpful reviews 🙂

With 5 seats I can get 4 mtb’s in the boot with wheels off and riding gear.

My aunt has one as a family hack due to the seven seats. It’s a 2010 car, D5 auto with pretty much every option and has never cost any money aside from routine servicing, tax, tyres etc.

I’ve driven it a few times and it’s pretty good for a big 4×4 (much less car like than an X5). The turning circle is huge though and the sat nav is diabolical (still can’t believe that Aston saw fit to use it). It shows it’s age in certain places but I think they have a certain charm.

I’d agree with others that I’d want the auto, especially with the diesel.

Have heard of problems with diffs and gearboxes. Uneven tyre wear causing the diff problems and having to renew all 4 tyres at once. I like them but the fuel consumption is dire by all accounts but then it probably is on most cars like this.

One minor detail – if you have the car serviced at Volvo, you get free Volvo assist which is basically free European recovery.
Mate of mine has used it a couple of times in France and was very complimentary about the service.
Probably not going to influence your decision, but a nice-to-have.

However my Dealer neglected to tell me anything about it until a few months ago so,I’ve be paying £90 a year for cover which I didn’t need!

I’ve had a 53 plate 2.4D Auto for 4 years now, with 120k onthe clock. We are about to chop it in for a newer XC90.

It’s hilly down here in Sussex, and we get 29mpg on local runs, and 35 on big family trips fully loaded.

On the lads Alps trip last year, we got 9 bikes in the back with all the seats folded down!!

It’s heavy on tyres (outside edges wear due to body roll on corners) but you can swap side to side to double the life.

Great feedback, now looking at Autos too, thanks all.

It’s heavy on tyres (outside edges wear due to body roll on corners)

Nope that’s your wheel alignment – get it looked at. It affected ‘some’ earlier cars but not others….. ours wasn’t.
We use Nokian WR winter tyres all the time and get about 30k from a set.

With 5 seats I can get 4 mtb’s in the boot with wheels off and riding gear.

Salsa did you place the bikes laid flat or upright?

Now that the kids are growing up I need to get 4 bikes for regular trips over to mainland UK/France without worrying about overnight stops with bikes on rack etc.

had been considering a caddy maxi life but was struggling to get Mrs Bartesque enthused about driving a van also I work on construction sites so etxra clearance / 4×4 a bonus

The turning circle is huge

I’d agree with that, and your wife might not find it much fun in the normally somewhat limited parking at offices these days

Manual is theoretically a little more economical (1-2 mpg) but I too would get the auto just because it’s the more common, rare or unusual usually = expensive at some point IME.

If you really need the space (and think long and hard) the alternate is a Disco which is just more of the same and them some (I’d love one if someone else was paying) or taking a bit of a compromise and buying an S MAX which has virtually the same luggage space and 20MPG better.
That with a MaxxRaxx takes our family of 5 camping with bikes reasonably comfortably.

Its worth pointing out that if you are in the market for a new one, there are some very good deals around – 9-10k off the top spec model is easy to get. This brings brand new into the 1-2 year old used price category.

Yes we had considered an S-Max, I ran one as a co car a couple of years ago. Really practical and very carlike to drive and although we liked it the Volvo seems to have more appeal for her, she has driven 4WD before so is used to the slightly cumbersome feel. Disco is out, too expensive and too big for our needs I think, friends have owned two and put us off with overall experience of dealers, servicing and warranty fixes.

Newer D5’s are 215bhp. Same injun as V70?

@tricky – further to the above I would test drive one with time spent on parking, have a try in a tight car park/multi story and if not standard look for a car with parking sensors. We found the A6 Avant a big old beast around car parks and rear sensors invaluable (in fact on that car front sensors would have been useful)

FYI we had two Shoguns (200k miles in them total) and a RAV4, would happily buy again

I thought the difference between Auto and Manual was bigger than 1-2mpg (based on responses to me asking a similar question to the OP a few years ago). I thought manual’s did mid 30’s?

I test drove one (it was manual), I thought it was really nice inside, (interior reminded me of an old merc, which I like) and clever design (it wasn’t like a Toureg which is massive on the outside, but very little useful space on the inside). During my test drive we had to stop for petrol….the car felt massive in the petrol station, and that put me off. I ended up with an SMax, which only averages high 30’s.The stereo in the XV90 was effing brilliant…best I’ve heard. Seat were lovely too.

The biggest downside to these cars it that it’s horrible getting bikes on the roof (because of the height), at least the XC90 has roof rails.

Found a d5 Active 2010 model manual with 30k miles and FSH 1 owner for £13.5k seems like a good deal?
Richard

those claiming mid-30s must be driving like Miss Daisy!

From the back seat? 😀

Bartesque

The frames are placed on top of each other flat, then the wheels on top of the frames

If you can get the xenon lights they are brilliant, fry eyeballs if anyone pulls out on you at night.

Cant believe so many of you admit to owning one tbh?
Its not like its a good looking car?
Horses for courses I suppose 🙂

Cant believe so many of you admit to owning one tbh?

Why?
Given the huge success that the XC90 has been I think you may be wrong/troll/without family*

*delete as applicable

Resurrected this thread, any issues with foot operated handbrake or false warnings from engine sensors?
Thanks
Richard

any issues with foot operated handbrake or false warnings from engine sensors?

In 93k miles, foot brake is fine (it’s not electronic, so no reason it would be any worse than a traditional hand operated one). I had an air temp sensor fault which sent the car into limp mode a couple of times – cost about £150 at Volvo main dealer.

Handbrake is an pain. Basically use it or lose it. If it fails an MOT on the handbrake you need to remove the rear wheels, calipers and brake disks and clean the rust off the inside of the drum which is actually the inside of the disk. I suspect they made it better after about 2 years of manufacture.
No false warnings in 12 years of ownership.

Thanks for replies.
Just picked up a 59 plate d5 active and very impressed. Has had new pads discs and shoes for handbrake but not really holding car too well, more adjustment needed I think. The engine management light comes on intermittently and I blew load s of water from the sensor in the engine bay new sensor ordered that should sort that out.
Great cruiser and fun to drive after my T5 van!