Buyers Guide for XC90's
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Buyers Guide for XC90's
I'm looking to buy an older (02-06ish) higher mileage XC90 as I'm in the market for something with 3rd row seating I can pay cash for, and work on myself, and from my research it seems the XC90 might be a great fit once I can find the right one.
This will be my first time buying a true "beater" in the sense that I'm only looking to spend $2-4k so I could really use some help on what to look for, warning signs, red flags, etc. In my market I'm finding a lot of private owner sales for the XC's in my range and most will be at the 130-180k mi thresholds.
I know buying a high mileage car is always a bit of a roll of the dice, and that maintenance history is always the most important...I'm not in a hurry by any means as this is really just to give me something to commute with while I try to keep the miles down on my '99 F250 7.3, but finding a one owner car after this many years and miles is proving to be a bit of a unicorn. So I guess to start the conversation I'd like to be schooled a bit on the engine options as I know there's at least 3 I've come across so far being a 5cyl Turbo, a 6 cyl (turbo? NA?), and a v8 (I'm assuming NA). I'd prefer something that runs on 87 octane, and the better the mpg I'm all for, but reliability and longevity are the most important to me....also if one is easier to work on than the other I'm all for that.
I'm not opposed to something I'd need to put a little into up front either, finding something someone else is too fed up with / lacks the skills to fix themselves and wants to be rid of it. I'm no ASE master tech by anymeans but I've been wrenching on my own vehicles going on 20 years since my first Jeep Wrangler all the way through overhauling my 7.3. I'm a semi-regular over in the 7.3 section of the FTE forum and from what I can tell browsing over here once I find my volvo this site will be my go-to as well!
-Josh
Edit: I'm also looking at the XC70's as well, and I'm guessing the are pretty much the same so I didn't want to cross post yet but Mod's, if I should, please let me know! Thanks!
This will be my first time buying a true "beater" in the sense that I'm only looking to spend $2-4k so I could really use some help on what to look for, warning signs, red flags, etc. In my market I'm finding a lot of private owner sales for the XC's in my range and most will be at the 130-180k mi thresholds.
I know buying a high mileage car is always a bit of a roll of the dice, and that maintenance history is always the most important...I'm not in a hurry by any means as this is really just to give me something to commute with while I try to keep the miles down on my '99 F250 7.3, but finding a one owner car after this many years and miles is proving to be a bit of a unicorn. So I guess to start the conversation I'd like to be schooled a bit on the engine options as I know there's at least 3 I've come across so far being a 5cyl Turbo, a 6 cyl (turbo? NA?), and a v8 (I'm assuming NA). I'd prefer something that runs on 87 octane, and the better the mpg I'm all for, but reliability and longevity are the most important to me....also if one is easier to work on than the other I'm all for that.
I'm not opposed to something I'd need to put a little into up front either, finding something someone else is too fed up with / lacks the skills to fix themselves and wants to be rid of it. I'm no ASE master tech by anymeans but I've been wrenching on my own vehicles going on 20 years since my first Jeep Wrangler all the way through overhauling my 7.3. I'm a semi-regular over in the 7.3 section of the FTE forum and from what I can tell browsing over here once I find my volvo this site will be my go-to as well!
-Josh
Edit: I'm also looking at the XC70's as well, and I'm guessing the are pretty much the same so I didn't want to cross post yet but Mod's, if I should, please let me know! Thanks!
Last edited by MD_7.three; Feb 5, 2020 at 12:35 PM. Reason: Added question
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