Hey everyone,

I've never owned a Volvo before. I'm looking for a new (used) car. I found this 2013 XC90 in my price range.

https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/invent...ting=343800128

I know that driving an older vehicle -- and an older European model -- can mean more expensive repairs and maintenance. I don't know how to quantify that, though. I haven't found much in this price range, and this Volvo is one of the. more attractive options.

Two questions:

1. What should I check out or have inspected before I purchase it?
2. Would you expect the repairs/maintenance to be so much more expensive over other cars (if I drive it for another 100k+ miles) that I'd be better served paying more for another car (e.g. similarly used Toyota)? I don't mind paying for more expensive than normal repairs -- my former car was a VW TDI, so repairs and maintenance were more expensive. But if I should expect obscenely expensive repairs/maintenance, then I might as well look at a difference vehicle.

Any help received would be greatly appreciated.

 

The good news is this car has an I-6 which uses a timing chain so no timing belt maintenance. As to cost of repairs and ongoing maintenance, I would say it will be less than a VW, more than a Highlander.

Two important things when buying used: first does the car have a full maintenance history? Carfax will show if the car was dealer serviced so that's a good place to start. second, get a professional inspection. A car may drive right but show flaws once on a lift or scanned with tools. $150 for a one hour inspection is good insurance for an $11,000 investment.

Personally, I keep cars a very long time and do a mix of home repairs and indy/dealer (depending on the issue). Our 95 850T was retired at 250K, a 2000 S40 is still a daily driver fighting road salt in Massachusetts at 130K miles so I would expect a 2013 XC90 to go 200K easy. Things to look out for are brakes, axles, struts etc - all normal wear items.(excepting the axles)

 

Thanks for the reply. One difficulty I'm having is that there are no Volvo dealerships near the used car dealership, and none of the nearby mechanics will do a pre-purchase inspection on a Volvo.

The used car is over one hour away from me, and so I can't take it to the local mechanic that specializes in Euro imports.

Not sure that I can get a pre-purchase inspection, and I'm not sure if it is wise to purchase it without one.

 

Does the seller offer a warranty window where you can claim any prior unknown issues? If the car has been dealer maintained then you should be ok without an inspection. most dealers do an inspection with each service so if nothing has been reported you should be good to go.