USED Volvo XC90 4x4 (02 - )

My car

I have owned my XC90 for close to two years. I had previously had two jeeps but needed more space. I initially missed my Jeep as the seats in the Volvo were not as comfortable and the interior storage on the dash poor. In addition the fuel consumption is very high and the fuel tank very small for the size of car.

However the excellent acceleration won me over as did the road handling and saftey spec of the car. However the car has been plagued with problems from collapsing electric windows to wheel nuts falling off. The latest problem is a intermittent loss of power which is very dangerous, but because it is intermittent the computer does not register it and Volvo has been very reticent to sort the problem out. Shame as the car is great but poor workmanship and terrible after sales service lets it down badly.

My car

Yes the fuel consumption is lower than the manufacturer states (isn't it always) but this is a really practical, comfortable and comparatively good value luxury family 4X4 (compared to an X5, RX300, Disco etc).

The cabin is excellent and the additional two standard seats in the back meant we could swap our people carrier for a something that looks and drives more like a "real" car.

The diesel is a bit slow off the mark (think this is a problem with the auto box more than the engine) but I understand that the latest version has addressed this.

The car eats up long distance driving and round town it is big but parkingis not too big a problem. You don't get cheap running costs with a £35k car but we would certainly buy another one.

My car

I have owned my XC90 for 12 months now and covered 33000 miles. The car has been faultless with no problems to date.

Tyre wear is heavy (onto my 3rd pair of fronts). Fuel consumption is around 30mpg which is not bad for very mixed driving however servicing costs are high. Comfort is excellent and with 5 kids the practicality of the car is superb. Performance is good - mine is a manual - although I have considered having the performance enhanced.

I have just been offered a great trade in for another XC90 by my local dealer (£28000) and I am considering changing but am also looking at a Discovery or a Toyota Landcruiser. If I buy another XC90 it will be without Sat Nav which is an expensive waste of money.

My car

Anyone considering buying an XC90 should stick to the diesel. It may be slow and unrefined, but this far outweighs the horrendous running costs of the petrol T6. Ours has run at 30-40% below quoted fuel figures since new. Our average has been 13.5mpg, even on a non-stop motorway run not exceeding 65mph the best we could achieve was a paltry 18mpg.

Also, the best part-exchange valuation we could get against a new vehicle means a depreciation of 40% on a vehicle only seven months old, with 6000 miles on the clock.

While appreciating vehicles lose most of their value in the first year of ownership, the main attraction of our purchase was the so-called excellent depreciation record of this particular vehicle.

The whole ownership experience of our XC90 has been very unsatisfactory, and it will be some time before we think of purchasing another Volvo.