New guy to the forum here... I've driven quite a few (but never owned) Volvos over the years, looking forward to picking up my father-in-law's hand-me-down (price too good to refuse) 2004 XC90 this week. I had to edit my post because after looking again, mine is the front wheel drive version with the 2.5L 5-cylinder engine, not the 2.9 T6 as originally reported and shown in the thread title.

My other car is a VW Jetta Sportywagen diesel, which I cannot use to tow anything...This one has a towing package that will make it very useful for me as an outdoor fun/local-chore car... Looking forward to owning this great, one owner car!

I'm sure I'll be a frequent visitor here as I discover my new swede-wagon's quirks and issues along the way.

See you around...

JT

 

You should research the longevity of the GM transmission used in the early T6 cars - I would not tow anything with that car (unless you want to replace the transmission sooner) And baby that gas pedal to not stress the transmission.

I leased one of those in 2004 when they first came out. Transmission lasted 22000 miles. My Friend has put 3 transmissions in his very low mileage t-6 - one was a cheapo rebuilt that did not last. And I have installed many for my customers - Volvo recommends replacing both transmission oil coolers and the flexible lines going to them to make sure the metal shavings are out of the system. Makes for a very expensive Transmission replacement - that at this point would be more than the value of the car. I did not purchase the car at the end of the lease!

If I had a choice of Volvos to purchase - I would choose any other one - with the exception of the v-6 engines cars from the 1980s. And I would never recommend that car to a customer during a prepurchase inspection unless the transmission had just been replaced the way Volvo requires it to be done to maintain the parts warranty. Sorry to be so blunt.

 

Thanks for the insight... the car came from my father-in-law super-cheap, with no conditions. The most I'd ever tow would be a jet-ski trailer... so I'm hoping that will not be too taxing on the tranny. I have been around this car for over a decade as it was in his possession, and it was well maintained. I will ask about the transmission and heed your words carefully as I contemplate my short vs. mid vs. long term plans for this car... So far, I'm really liking that its mine... hopefully, nothing changes that mindset soon!

 

If you do your own work you might want to pull the transmission pan to get a baseline as to what's going on in there. It takes regular fluid so that's not expensive.

 

Thanks again for your willingness to help. But, I'm happy to report that I just took a closer look under the hood and it is not the T6 as he originally told me... It's the smaller inline 5 cylinder, which hopefully has a different/better transmission. I don't think it's AWD, either, which I don't really need and saps gas mileage...

He bought it from the dealer in 2005, it was a "last year's model" car that was manager's car/dealer loaner for 2004. Looks like I'm the 2nd official owner. Towing package was added three years ago, not at Volvo.

 

That's good news, although the t5 transmissions have their own problems- but they usually last much longer than the GM in the t6. The 5 cyl transmissions do require special fluid.