I'm usually found in the S70/850/V70 threads, and don't have much experience with XC90s. I am a mechanic that specializes in European cars, and a good customer of mine is bringing by a 2003 XC90 T6 with 51,000 miles for me to inspect. Any particular areas I should pay close attention to? I understand that there are some transmission issues with this model... anything else that I should really look at?
Thanks!

 

Okay... saw the car, mostly checks out, average maintenance, etc, etc. However... the trans fluid is black as night. I told the customer to keep looking, unless he could get a few thousand knocked off the price and is willing to accept that it will need a trans fairly soon.

 

I've got a 2004 XC90 T6 AWD. 85k miles. Transmission fluid is black as night. It is black in both of my Audis also. Based on my experience, most transmission fluid turns black due to normal operating heat. Doesn't mean that the transmission is ready to fail.

Vehicle has been maintained religously by the Volvo dealer and has been 100% reliable. If it continues to do as well as it has it may even survive longer than my 300k 960 wagon.

 

Dark fluid IS normal in your Audis- VW uses a special trans fluid that is brown from the beginning, rather than pink/ red. When pink/ red fluid turns brown, that means it is burned from EXCESSIVE heat- caused by slippage. That is what was present in this vehicle. It also contained excessive wear particles/ clutch plate material. A car that uses regular red trans fluid should not have burned fluid with only 51,000 miles. Given the known issues with the transmissions on the T6, as well as my training and knowledge, I couldn't in good faith recommend this car to the customer.

 

Interesting. I know a lot of people with XC90 T6s (they are extremely popular in NE Ohio, especially the green ones for some reason) and every single one of them has had good luck with their vehicles. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the vehicle.

 

As others have said, it is not if the T6 will need a new transmission, but when. At 51K miles, there still might be time to extend the life of the transmission. Changing the fluid seems to add some miles (your experience may vary).

We were told our T6's transmission was shot at 75K. A fluid change at an indy shop and we drove another 17K before the dreaded "urgent transmission service" light again. Another fluid change (at home) and we have added 3k more miles...still going (fingers crossed).

So, if your client purchases the T6, recommend frequent fluid changes....like every year!

 

This is some good reading. I am trying to decide if I should take advantage of these incentives and trade in my 2004 xc90 T6. I have 94,000 miles; have not changed my trans fluid (recommended by the guys on the radio) and have had no problems. Are transmission failures really that common??

 

The XC90 T6 has to be the worst Volvo ever made. We have 2 waiting for transmissions because they are on back order from Volvo. I would have to say these cars have a 90% transmission failure rate. I diagnosed a failed transmission in one the other day that only had 30K miles on its second transmission. Fail.

 

Thanks for the input. I think it is time to dump it. I've been lucky that I haven't had any problems. I bought the extended warranty and it expires in 5 months or 5,000 more miles and I think the thing to do would be to trade-in.

 

I'm still not convinced. I've yet to meet any XC90 T6 owners personally who have had this problem. My sense is that most people only respond to forums when they have an issue. I have had ZERO issues with my XC90 T6 after 85,000 miles. ZERO. Maintain it to the letter and I would suspect to continue to have good luck with this vehicle.

 

Please enlighten us with your maintenance schedule since you and everyone else in Ohio appear to have the best built XC90 T6's in the nation.

FWIW, the issues with my XC90 have had NOTHING to do with maintenance but with build quality and engineering.

 

Guess I've just been lucky. Volvo dealer does all the scheduled maintenance and I treat the vehicle right. I don't floor it when the light turns green.

Funny, I also have an Audi Allroad that supposedly has the worst engine and transmission ever built (2.7T with tiptronic). Again, I've never had one bit of trouble with that car since new.

I must have built up a heathy supply of good karma.

 

I was on my way to DC from Columbus, OH to look at an XC90. Called a local dealer in the DC area to schedule a pre-purchase inspection and when I told the service manager it was T6 with 78K on it he advised me to stay away from it. Said the 3.4 (or was it a 3.2) was good, but the V8 was the best. I am going to wait until the V8's drop in price and then get one. I bought a used Envoy for $3500 to hold me over and tow my boat until I can find what I want.