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I'm looking for a Volvo XC90 to use as a work horse. Feck me but Volvo like to a bit of engine variety!

Ideally I'd get the V8 but it's a bit too recent, so I'm looking at the following engines:

2.9T 6 in-line turbo (T6)
2.5T 5 in-line turbo (T5)
3.2 6-inline NA

I have heard that the box on the 2.9T T6 is made of bakerlite and likes to hari-kari so I'm kind put off this one.

I hear that the T5 is OK.

My mate who works at LR tells me that the same 3.2 Volvo engine that they used in the Freelander was rubbish and likes to leak and eat head gaskets.

I suppose I could get a diseasel but I'm not thrilled about the low output and I just don't like oil burners. Still, if the government is going to ban them then maybe prices will drop.

I might just give up and get a disco, but the Volvos are a bit better value for money.

If anyone's got any advice, I'm all ears.

Thanks.

We're talking old/used here presumably, nearly all current Volvos use a 2-litre engine with varying levels of tune/boost and hybrid support.
My modern (2-litre) T5 (not an XC90) has a creamy smooth 8-speed gearbox. The old 2.5 T5 engine has a good reputation.

Yup, I'm looking at 2005-2008 models.

Sorry, i've no experience of the older XC90's, but the wife bought an XC60 D5 AWD last September & as much as it pains me, it really is a fantastic car & caused me to have a sniff of the new XC90 before ordering my FFRR.

Being the D5, it's a 2.4 4cyl Diesel with around 220bhp, which is more than sufficient for the car. It's Auto but i'm struggling to confirm how many ratios it has, although 6 rings a bell, however it's a very well behaved box & like the engine, suits the car well.

T5 is used in the focus isn't it as well as the high powered Volvo's? Thought it was renowned for being a solid lump? Just go for that
Next question.

Yeah, I like the T5 engine. Not sure about the gearbox, though.

T5 is the one to go for but from what I remember when I was looking for one then all had gearbox made out of putty - apart from the V8 one.
Might be wrong though

Take it you can't get a manual?

I want an auto so that my wife is comfortable driving it. I want her to be able to drive me back from places when I've drunk too much and I don't want to hear the gears grinding.

Can you hear things when you're asleep then?
Is the ghey3 auto?

No, manual, and she doesn't drive it*. She'll drive the RS6, but only very, very reluctantly.

Who can sleep through grinding gears?! Even if you're shitefaced, that's a mood killer.

/* and the first and last time she did drive it, she ground the gears...

Shoppinit wrote: ↑

Fri May 12, 2017 2:48 pm

No, manual, and she doesn't drive it*. She'll drive the RS6, but only very, very reluctantly.

Who can sleep through grinding gears?! Even if you're shitefaced, that's a mood killer. No idea,
I wouldn't get in the car when the wife was driving when I was sober or drunk, except after my back operation.

/* and the first and last time she did drive it, she ground the gears... I wouldn't let her drive any of the cars again after that!

Reminds me of the last time my mom ever drove a car. She got the Daimler wedged in the car park up Wolverhampton after my dad had a triple by-pass, she got us back home and has never driven since (30 years ago)

Shoppinit wrote: ↑

Fri May 12, 2017 2:48 pm

She'll drive the RS6, but only very, very reluctantly.

Really? My other half bloody loves driving the 6, she drives it whenever she can and prefers it over the 4 that I bought for her....

Yeah, she's terrified of damaging it. I don't like being a passenger in it either because invariably it's only when she's driving it that a worthy adversary turns up and wants to play.

chunky79 wrote: ↑

Fri May 12, 2017 6:42 pm

my mom ... got the Daimler wedged in the car park up Wolverhampton

Surely that's a euphemism?!

shoppinit wrote: ↑

Fri May 12, 2017 6:42 pm

Surely that's a euphemism?!

Yep. I first met Chunky's mum 30yrs ago. I was twelve. I took her in the carpark.