Volvo xc60

[Fraseb01]

We had our big main service done on the Jeep by Westbury garage in Shrewsbury. A bit of a drive for us, but instead of paying over £1200, we only paid £650. We needed the transmission fluid changed which required a new sump plate and fluid. Jeep quoted us close to £1000. Westbury did the job for £350! Genuine Jeep parts were used.

Thats good prices for sure

 

[Buckman]

Thats good prices for sure

They used to be a Jeep dealership until 2012/2013.

 

[Beachball]

It seems like only yesterday you collected the Tourneo.
What colour this time?

Magnetic (Gun metal grey) buts all the same it got a nice shine .

 

[CustardAvenger]

Anybody tow or Has in the past with above vehicle? If so what are the pros and cons? And how much is a standard service on it. TIA.

@borderbilly - I've owned a 2014 [P3/Mk1 facelift] XC60 D4 AWD Auto for 8 years, and towed with it since day one. It's a great tow car, but if not the best on luggage space compared to an estate. Here is more info:

Bought the P3 mk1 XC60 after the SPA mk2 XC60 had been released, so could see the full lifecycle. Overwhelming majority of cars available in the UK were diesel autos, badged either 2.4D/D4 or D5. Not sure if I've seen a UK car on a D3 tune, but have in Europe. T6 petrol's are out there, but are thirsty. I test drove a manual D4 2wd and hated the gearshift. It was a huge throw and the standard gear-knob was massive.

When I was looking to buy, D4 engine of my car's generation could either be 4cyl on 2wd or 5cyl on AWD, with about 181bhp (tuneable to the D5's standard 215BHP with Polestar tuning.) 5cyl autos were mated to a 6 speed Torque Converter based boxes. I think 4cyl got the Ford Powershift. Horsepower varied but was about the figures quoted here. [D4 has a different turbo set up to D5, otherwise the same 5cyl engine.]

Towing capacity for my car is 2000kg with a 90kg towball limit. I had the Volvo detachable towbar fitted when I bought the car from the dealer. It's a Volvo branded Brink towbar I believe. I tow a 7.5m 1500kg Sprite, which does dull the acceleration, but the D4 will pull all day, and will do 70+ uphill with a caravan on. Only ever had the box kick-down once when faced with a hill, which was towing from Inverness to Grant town on Spey.

18k service intervals, usually pay my indie around £2-300, but he is very particular with parts and consumables and I trust him, unlike my old Volvo dealer [now closed]. Their service became rather poor after the good manager we had dealt with for years had left; we were treated rather shabbily so did not go out of our way any more to frequent them.

Just had to have a new alternator fitted at 99k miles, and an idler pully which was shot. Total came to just shy of £1500 for parts, servicing, MOT & Labour. Parts were expensive, £580 for just the alternator & belt, but a non-Volvo sourced alternator from EuroCarParts was only £90 cheaper. Buy cheap/Fit twice?

Wheels: I've got the povvo-spec 17s, but I only buy premium tyres - currently Michelin Cross Climates - so tyres are about £100-150 per corner.

It's quite a wide car, so can be difficult to park in narrow spaces and I struggle to judge the nose, so make sure you get one with parking sensor all round.

Tax is creeping up ever year. Now about £300 I think.

I've had a few niggles with the car, had to have a new rear door lock as it stopped remote locking, the radiator is leaking, but has been for a few years, and will eventually need to be replaced. Just keep checking the coolant every now and then. AWD Haldex threw a code and was serviced with new filters and oil. Gearbox has also been serviced with new fluid, but only once, despite Volvo's sealed for life claim. Headlight lenses are starting to go cloudy, may need to take a brave pill and get the sandpaper/clearcoat on them.

Big one: Fuel economy.
I have recorded every litre of fuel that has gone into my car, so have a true lifetime average MPG figure: 33.03mpg - Not great. Not terrible.

This is from every mile I've ever driven in the car, either solo, towing, hypermiling or firewalling the throttle. My latest figures show an average of about 36mpg for town and motorway driving, and I would say 30mpg is about average for when I was touring and towing.

In conclusion, It's a great car and I can see why it was Volvo's most popular model. Its practical, capable and comfortable. I've now done over 56000 miles in it, and had I not gone 100% WFH, it would have been way more. I've now owned this car the longest of any car I've ever owned and would buy it again if I needed to.

Hope this helps.


Edit:
Just checked How Many Left, and it looks like D3s were sold here, but were confined to the first year or two of sale.

 

[borderbilly]

@borderbilly - I've owned a 2014 [P3/Mk1 facelift] XC60 D4 AWD Auto for 8 years, and towed with it since day one. It's a great tow car, but if not the best on luggage space compared to an estate. Here is more info:

Bought the P3 mk1 XC60 after the SPA mk2 XC60 had been released, so could see the full lifecycle. Overwhelming majority of cars available in the UK were diesel autos, badged either 2.4D/D4 or D5. Not sure if I've seen a UK car on a D3 tune, but have in Europe. T6 petrol's are out there, but are thirsty. I test drove a manual D4 2wd and hated the gearshift. It was a huge throw and the standard gear-knob was massive.

When I was looking to buy, D4 engine of my car's generation could either be 4cyl on 2wd or 5cyl on AWD, with about 181bhp (tuneable to the D5's standard 215BHP with Polestar tuning.) 5cyl autos were mated to a 6 speed Torque Converter based boxes. I think 4cyl got the Ford Powershift. Horsepower varied but was about the figures quoted here. [D4 has a different turbo set up to D5, otherwise the same 5cyl engine.]

Towing capacity for my car is 2000kg with a 90kg towball limit. I had the Volvo detachable towbar fitted when I bought the car from the dealer. It's a Volvo branded Brink towbar I believe. I tow a 7.5m 1500kg Sprite, which does dull the acceleration, but the D4 will pull all day, and will do 70+ uphill with a caravan on. Only ever had the box kick-down once when faced with a hill, which was towing from Inverness to Grant town on Spey.

18k service intervals, usually pay my indie around £2-300, but he is very particular with parts and consumables and I trust him, unlike my old Volvo dealer [now closed]. Their service became rather poor after the good manager we had dealt with for years had left; we were treated rather shabbily so did not go out of our way any more to frequent them.

Just had to have a new alternator fitted at 99k miles, and an idler pully which was shot. Total came to just shy of £1500 for parts, servicing, MOT & Labour. Parts were expensive, £580 for just the alternator & belt, but a non-Volvo sourced alternator from EuroCarParts was only £90 cheaper. Buy cheap/Fit twice?

Wheels: I've got the povvo-spec 17s, but I only buy premium tyres - currently Michelin Cross Climates - so tyres are about £100-150 per corner.

It's quite a wide car, so can be difficult to park in narrow spaces and I struggle to judge the nose, so make sure you get one with parking sensor all round.

Tax is creeping up ever year. Now about £300 I think.

I've had a few niggles with the car, had to have a new rear door lock as it stopped remote locking, the radiator is leaking, but has been for a few years, and will eventually need to be replaced. Just keep checking the coolant every now and then. AWD Haldex threw a code and was serviced with new filters and oil. Gearbox has also been serviced with new fluid, but only once, despite Volvo's sealed for life claim. Headlight lenses are starting to go cloudy, may need to take a brave pill and get the sandpaper/clearcoat on them.

Big one: Fuel economy.
I have recorded every litre of fuel that has gone into my car, so have a true lifetime average MPG figure: 33.03mpg - Not great. Not terrible.

This is from every mile I've ever driven in the car, either solo, towing, hypermiling or firewalling the throttle. My latest figures show an average of about 36mpg for town and motorway driving, and I would say 30mpg is about average for when I was touring and towing.

In conclusion, It's a great car and I can see why it was Volvo's most popular model. Its practical, capable and comfortable. I've now done over 56000 miles in it, and had I not gone 100% WFH, it would have been way more. I've now owned this car the longest of any car I've ever owned and would buy it again if I needed to.

Hope this helps.


Edit:
Just checked How Many Left, and it looks like D3s were sold here, but were confined to the first year or two of sale.

Mr. Custard, many, many thanks for detailed review, greatly appreciated.

 

[Hutch]

At last a great reply to your question. Only 55 postings. Thanks Custard Avenger.

 

[borderbilly]

At last a great reply to your question. Only 55 postings. Thanks Custard Avenger.

Yes, someone buy the man a pint.

 

[GaryB]

Just to add to the information given above (and ignoring reliability grumbles etc!), I owned both a D4 engine Volvo (2018 model, 180bhp diesel) and a B4 engine Volvo (2022 model, 180bhp petrol mild hybrid), both engines were the 4 cylinder variants. Both cars (V90's) were used to tow a 2018 Sprite Quattro twin axle, MTPLM uprated to 1800kgs. Towing capacity was 1800kgs for the diesel and 2000kgs for the petrol mild hybrid. Nose weight limit was 110kgs.

Both engine variants were backed by the same Aisin 8 speed auto and both handled towing the caravan with ease, gear changes were a bit more frequent with the petrol but not that much.

Towing economy was 24mpg (petrol) and 27mpg (diesel). My 85 mile commute to Wrexham once a week saw an average economy of 44mpg (petrol) and 48mpg (diesel). With the price variant between both fuel types there wasn't a massive difference in fuel expense.

I had an aftermarket fixed swan neck towbar fitted to the 2018 diesel and a PF Jones dedicated wiring harness, the electrics COULDN'T be "coded" to utilise the cars in built towing functions but I managed fine without. The 2022 petrol had a genuine Volvo folding towbar/electrics fitted by the dealer which allowed everything to work BUT the towing module did give problems, throwing up trailer light warning errors when I wasn't towing, cost was also high, around £1,200 versus £500 for the aftermarket version on the diesel model.

I genuinely loved the Volvo V90, I think Volvo certainly improved styling and general build quality, but the software reliability and dealership competence resulted in my current car NOT being from Volvo.

 

[Buckman]

I genuinely loved the Volvo V90, I think Volvo certainly improved styling and general build quality, but the software reliability and dealership competence resulted in my current car NOT being from Volvo.

The above is the main reason why we sold our S80 after 18 months of ownership from brand new. Lovely comfortable car to drive and you felt safe in it and software issues with the gearbox caused us a lot of issues. However at the time Volvo was owned by Ford. No idea on the modern Volvo.

 

[otherclive]

The above is the main reason why we sold our S80 after 18 months of ownership from brand new. Lovely comfortable car to drive and you felt safe in it and software issues with the gearbox caused us a lot of issues. However at the time Volvo was owned by Ford. No idea on the modern Volvo.

Ford had minimal input to your S80 as it was a Volvo design and in production by the time Ford bought Volvo. But they were lovely cars, beloved of company chauffeurs.

 

[otherclive]

We had. 2010 Gen 3 XC70 D5AWD and it was an excellent towcar albeit very short on rear legroom for passengers. Strange given its overall size. It took us on enjoyable trips around UK and to the south of France and to Poland.

It had a few weak points in that during DPF regeneration it could lead to fuel getting in to the sump. There was only a “technicians” dipstick low down almost impossible to get to as normal oil monitoring was electronic. Volvos interim answer was to undefill the sump to allow some fuel to increase the level before a warning light activated. It also had two emissions sensors fail and go into limp mode. I seem to remember a recall relating to auxiliary belt tensioner/pulley.

So after 4 years when we decided to sell the caravan and its chattels and we decided to sell the Volvo. Our long established family dealership MRG had had the Volvo franchise removed and they then became a Subaru dealer. So we moved to Subaru. But now MRG have the Volvo franchise back.

 

[Buckman]

Ford had minimal input to your S80 as it was a Volvo design and in production by the time Ford bought Volvo. But they were lovely cars, beloved of company chauffeurs.

I am fairly that the software probably came from Ford as when we did buy a brand new 2010 Ford Mondeo it had exactly the same software issue with the gearbox which was unacceptable. However possibility that Ford inherited it from Volvo, but could not resolve the issue.

 

[CustardAvenger]

Mr. Custard, many, many thanks for detailed review, greatly appreciated.

You're welcome!

Someone else has mentioned the Volvo Forum. This can be handy for resolving problems.

At last a great reply to your question. Only 55 postings. Thanks Custard Avenger.

My Pleasure.

Yes, someone buy the man a pint.

A Guinness for me, please.

...I had an aftermarket fixed swan neck towbar fitted to the 2018 diesel and a PF Jones dedicated wiring harness, the electrics COULDN'T be "coded" to utilise the cars in built towing functions but I managed fine without. The 2022 petrol had a genuine Volvo folding towbar/electrics fitted by the dealer which allowed everything to work BUT the towing module did give problems, throwing up trailer light warning errors when I wasn't towing, cost was also high, around £1,200 versus £500 for the aftermarket version on the diesel model.

I genuinely loved the Volvo V90, I think Volvo certainly improved styling and general build quality, but the software reliability and dealership competence resulted in my current car NOT being from Volvo.

My Towbar being a Volvo part meant it had the matching trim cover for the hole they had to cut in the lower valance, and the "Trailer Module" software is there. However, except for the indicators not beeping like they did on my old aftermarket towbar electrics, there is no indication on screen there is anything there. I think it has additional software for the DTSC traction control, and turns off the rear parking sensors when a trailer is connected.

We had. 2010 Gen 3 XC70 D5AWD... It had a few weak points in that during DPF regeneration it could lead to fuel getting in to the sump. There was only a “technicians” dipstick low down almost impossible to get to as normal oil monitoring was electronic. Volvos interim answer was to underfill the sump to allow some fuel to increase the level before a warning light activated. It also had two emissions sensors fail and go into limp mode. I seem to remember a recall relating to auxiliary belt tensioner/pulley.

So after 4 years when we decided to sell the caravan and its chattels and we decided to sell the Volvo. Our long established family dealership MRG had had the Volvo franchise removed and they then became a Subaru dealer. So we moved to Subaru. But now MRG have the Volvo franchise back.

Yep, same - Dipstick is only accessible with the car in the air and the undertray removed. Have seen it with my own eyes and it's as good not there without a lift. Quirk of my car, it has the later "Sensus" entertainment screen, but not the full TFT digital gauges, has analogue speedo with a low resolution digital display in the centre. like this: [Got used to that low battery warning during lockdown, too!]


The only way to get the Oil level displayed was to hold the start/stop button for 15 seconds, wait for the chime, then the oil level option was available. The instruction manual in the infotainment gave instructions that didn't work. Also: didn't think I'd ever use a digital speedo, but I only use the screen read-out now and ignore the analogue speedo.

Not had issues with the DPF but am conscious of only doing short town driving. The Oil level is only filled to 80-90% for possible coolant contamination. Previous diesel was a Peugeot/Ford/Volvo 2.0D engine, with a DPF requiring a special "Eloys" fluid dosing module, bit like ad-blue but a dealer-only job. That was refilled every 15-25k? can't remember. The whole DPF to be replaced every 75k. I did 2 DPFs in that car!

Johnsons of Solihull were our dealers, they weren't my closest or 2nd closest Volvo dealer, but we had such a good relationship with them, that we kept buying from them. Then the manager left for personal reasons and the good sales people eventually followed. Changing jobs, then the small viral outbreak meant we did less miles and kept our cars longer, so haven't been back to them and cut ties prior to the dealership closing.

If I think of anymore, I'll update my post.

Edit:

Remembered I would get a severe "CLUNK" when selecting Drive, almost like you were stalling a manual car. This would usually manifest after towing. Found a post on the Volvo forum that seemed to be the same problem, and this was solved by a quick process which I doubted would work.

After starting the car, select Neutral, then flick between N and R five times, then between N and D five times. Engage park and turn the car off. Apparently this resets the shifter and stops this problem.

 

[GaryB]

My Towbar being a Volvo part meant it had the matching trim cover for the hole they had to cut in the lower valance, and the "Trailer Module" software is there. However, except for the indicators not beeping like they did on my old aftermarket towbar electrics, there is no indication on screen there is anything there. I think it has additional software for the DTSC traction control, and turns off the rear parking sensors when a trailer is connected.

On the later cars it tells you when the indicators AREN'T working rather than when they are, it even tells you which one isn't working! The later folding tow bars don't require a cover as they retract up underneath the bumper. Disabling the rear parking sensors is certainly a good feature of the factory system. There is also a "trailer light check" function which allowed you to check the caravan lights after hitching up, it gave you a few seconds to get out of the car and get to the back of the caravan where it would illuminate each of the caravan lights separately so you could check it's function but it didn't give you much time to jump from the drivers seat and get to the back of the caravan!

 

[CustardAvenger]

On the later cars it tells you when the indicators AREN'T working rather than when they are, it even tells you which one isn't working! ...

No power deploying towbar option on the Mk1.

I think lights are the same on mine, warning on failure, but all the caravan's lights are LED, so never had one. Nor is there a test mode AFAIK.

 

[otherclive]

You're welcome!

Someone else has mentioned the Volvo Forum. This can be handy for resolving problems.

My Pleasure.


A Guinness for me, please.

My Towbar being a Volvo part meant it had the matching trim cover for the hole they had to cut in the lower valance, and the "Trailer Module" software is there. However, except for the indicators not beeping like they did on my old aftermarket towbar electrics, there is no indication on screen there is anything there. I think it has additional software for the DTSC traction control, and turns off the rear parking sensors when a trailer is connected.


Yep, same - Dipstick is only accessible with the car in the air and the undertray removed. Have seen it with my own eyes and it's as good not there without a lift. Quirk of my car, it has the later "Sensus" entertainment screen, but not the full TFT digital gauges, has analogue speedo with a low resolution digital display in the centre. like this: [Got used to that low battery warning during lockdown, too!]

View attachment 8870
The only way to get the Oil level displayed was to hold the start/stop button for 15 seconds, wait for the chime, then the oil level option was available. The instruction manual in the infotainment gave instructions that didn't work. Also: didn't think I'd ever use a digital speedo, but I only use the screen read-out now and ignore the analogue speedo.

Not had issues with the DPF but am conscious of only doing short town driving. The Oil level is only filled to 80-90% for possible coolant contamination. Previous diesel was a Peugeot/Ford/Volvo 2.0D engine, with a DPF requiring a special "Eloys" fluid dosing module, bit like ad-blue but a dealer-only job. That was refilled every 15-25k? can't remember. The whole DPF to be replaced every 75k. I did 2 DPFs in that car!

Johnsons of Solihull were our dealers, they weren't my closest or 2nd closest Volvo dealer, but we had such a good relationship with them, that we kept buying from them. Then the manager left for personal reasons and the good sales people eventually followed. Changing jobs, then the small viral outbreak meant we did less miles and kept our cars longer, so haven't been back to them and cut ties prior to the dealership closing.

If I think of anymore, I'll update my post.

Edit:

Remembered I would get a severe "CLUNK" when selecting Drive, almost like you were stalling a manual car. This would usually manifest after towing. Found a post on the Volvo forum that seemed to be the same problem, and this was solved by a quick process which I doubted would work.

After starting the car, select Neutral, then flick between N and R five times, then between N and D five times. Engage park and turn the car off. Apparently this resets the shifter and stops this problem.

“Coolant contamination “ wasn’t it overfuelling during DPF regeneration ?