Hi, all. I am looking to purchase a 2016 XC90. A local dealer had an Inscription model with every option including air suspension, HUD and B&W stereo. It had 71k miles on it. The price was reasonable - around $30,000 - and it looked nice. Before signing the papers, I put it up on their lift and was appalled. The frame, exhaust, driveshaft, CV joints and transfer case flange were rusted badly. The prior owner lived in Syracuse, NY so it saw some hard winters, but it looked like it was left at the bottom of the ocean. I contacted a local specialist to see if he could take a look himself for a PPI, but after describing it, he told me to walk away, which is what I ended up doing. I really want a car with the B&W stereo, Inscription seats, climate package and adaptive cruise/parking assist, which will be hard to find again, but feel like I made the right decision.

Is rusting like














this a common problem with these cars? Did I overreact? At this price point, why is Volvo not using a stainless exhaust system? Should I avoid the air suspension?

 

I know your post is old. In retrospect the pictures tell the story. Many cars look similar when driven in locations where they use salt on the roads.
The rust shown in some of the photos can be ignored as it is on exhaust components. The car may have been parked in a heated garage which is not a good thing after a winter drive on salted roads. A 2013 XC-70 I had was similar but not as bad, I live near the Atlantic Ocean where sand is used except when freezing rain then salt sand mix. I sold the car to my niece in Toronto area and her mechanic said that the first 8 years of the cars life near the ocean ruined it. The XC-70 was Rust checked 3 x in 8 years. If rust and corrosion causes structural failure it might be impossible to repair, or you'll end up spending $15,000 + + to make it good again. For me it would be 50/50 decision. BTW what did you do?

 

I passed on the Volvo and bought an Audi Q7 with no rust on the underframe and a stainless ehxust system (as one would expect at this price point). The aluminum engine block blew up at less than 100k miles to the tune of a $15k cost on a $30k SUV, so...yeah. Might have been better off with the rust bucket.

 

[QUOTE=PeterMetaxas;529002]I know your post is old. In retrospect the pictures tell the story. Many cars look similar when driven in locations where they use salt on the roads.
The rust shown in some of the photos can be ignored as it is on exhaust components. The car may have been parked in a heated garage which is not a good thing after a winter drive on salted roads. A 2013 XC-70 I had was similar but not as bad, I live near the Atlantic Ocean where sand is used except when freezing rain then salt sand mix. I sold the car to my niece in Toronto area and her mechanic said that the first 8 years of the cars life near the ocean ruined it. The XC-70 was Rust checked 3 x in 8 years. If rust and corrosion causes structural failure it might be impossible to repair, or you'll end up spending $15,000 + + to make it good again. For me it would be 50/50 decision. BTW what did you do?[]
Hey Peter,
I bought XC90 new with the rust on exhaust system and was told during first service that it was normal. I had 7 Subaru's over the past 25 years and they did NOT HAVE A SINGLE SPOT OF RUST even after 350,000km's of owning. What you are saying may be true in one case but Volvo's exhaust system quality is crap from any standards.