Hello guys, new here. Got a question about a possible future purchase. I may be able to get a 12 R-Design for whatever the trade in price would be. It was my mother's car, and I know it was not abused. It currently has about 30k on it and is in excellent shape. My question is about reliability, maintenance costs, and any other info I can gather. Is maintenance pretty easy to do yourself? Are there any glaring issues with this year/model? Warranty is obviously expired because it's past the 4year mark, so that kind of worries me. What's the life span of these cars if well maintained?

My other current choices are a '16 Maxima and a 16/17 Fusion. I know the fusion is a little lower than both the r and the Maxima but I like them and am replacing a fusion I just wrecked.

Thanks for any info!

 

Other than the potential problems that buying from family could entail and assuming that your Mom kept up with the scheduled maintenance and stayed away from the stop light drags then a 2012 R should be a no brainer . When maintained these cars can run 100k+ before anything major is needed and 200k + before the repairs exceed the value of the car.

That being said, a given repair for this car will be 2 -3x more expensive than the fusion and 93 octane is a must at the pump. It's not a car for someone that just wants basic transportation.

 

93 octane is not required. It should be fine on 87 actually.

 

Really? My 05 states that 93 octane is "strongly recommended" in the owners manual and it's a 2.5T LPT model. Did the fuel injection, ignition system, head design, piston design or a combo of the above change substantially to keep the 12 away from detonation using that larger turbo and higher boost pressures? If so, wtg Volvo! I'll still use the 93 though for the added performance and less carbon build up over time.

 

Volvo has never recommended 93 that I know of. They say 91 but it is not required until the new Drive-E engines due to the direct injection. 87 is the minimum.

93 isn't going to keep things cleaner and unless you're really beating the hell out of it uphill in a desert towing a boat, won't help performance.

 

I stand corrected. It's 91 octane and not 93. It's true that the octane rating has very little to do with the amount of deposits left post burn but some might argue that the slower burn helps generate a "cleaner" burn. Many gas stations put additional detergents into the premium gas to help keep things clean. It may all be smoke an mirrors but I have yet to replace an injector or pay for an injector cleaning. I have had my injectors flow tested in the past and I've always been in spec. Even on the old F150 with 300K on the engine.

THREAD HIGHJACK!!! Regarding the 2012 R, has the op made a decision? A low mileage R would be in high demand here in NC.

 

Correct, its the detergents, not the octane. It doesn't burn slower, it just doesn't preignite.

The new direct injection engines require 91. I've already seen some with the intakes off and the valves looking pretty nasty. But that's another issue..