Hi folks,

I just bought my dad’s 2013 XC60 T6. He bought it new, and it has less than 12,000 miles and has always been kept in a garage and taken care of well, and has spent its years in north Florida, so no road salt. So that’s pretty cool.

Now I’m wondering what I need to do with it or to it.

I’m new to this group and I’ve looked around at a lot of threads, but figured I’d throw myself in and ask for opinions.

He didn’t get a lot of bells and whistles on it. I’m wondering if there are mechanical or electrical things I should be aware of to watch, or get checked. For instance, the struts that hold the (non-power) tailgate open seem pretty weak, so I may need to swap those out for new ones, unless that’s normal.

Also, two first steps for me-

First - The car doesn’t have a backup camera, which, now that I don’t have one, I miss. Are these cars all pre-wired for one, and if so, is installation is a (relatively) simple matter? Obviously I could go with an aftermarket one that would display on the dash in a separate display or in an aftermarket rear view mirror, but if installation of an OEM one is not a huge deal I’d like to consider that. I don’t know if it matters, but the car does not have a nav system.

Second- the car doesn’t have a trailer hitch, and I need one. I’ve read a number of posts about fitting one and it seems like aftermarket ones are OK, and that’s the direction I’m leaning, but I’ve read a few things about the wiring harness for lights and perhaps needing to program the car to tell it that a hitch is installed. Places like e-trailer sell wiring harnesses and hitches, and there’s a good hitch place here that I could get to do the work if I don’t want to do the install myself, but if an aftermarket wiring harness could damage the electronics, or if the car need to be programmed somehow to make it all work properly, then I want to take all that into account and make sure it’s done right. Also, if folks have views regarding whether, say, Curt is better than Draw-Tite or Reese or some other brand, I’d like to hear those.

Third, I’ve read some posts about undercarriage protection, like a skid plate, to protect the delicate nether regions of the engine. Needed? Unnecessary? Bad idea? I don’t plan to use the car in off-road rallies on gravel roads, but if things under there are more delicate than other cars I don’t want a chunk of retread that I run over to leave me stranded.

Thanks everyone, and all suggestions are welcomed. I’ve ordered mud flaps and a retractable cargo cover, because my dad didn’t have those and they seem like they’d be good to have.

im also looking into installing the OEM rear view camera. I have and sensors on my 2015 xc60