Getting back to my XC90, my first two years of ownership have been nothing short of fantastic. I absolutely love the car and its night and day better than the 4runner in terms of overall driving enjoyment. The fact that its nice enough pick up important business clients for lunch in style, yet still sporty enough to throw skis on top or mountain bikes on the back on weekends is probably what I most love about it. Not many, if any other SUV’s can legitimately pull off such a feat. My wife also loves the XC (though she hates that the doors don’t automatically unlock when parking), particularly the ultra-safe ‘feel’ of the car with its sturdiness and heavy doors, which swoosh when you shut them instead of that awful clank. And now that we have a toddler in the fold, safety is of paramount importance to us—for example we now watch YouTube videos of crash testing instead of various performance tests like 0-60 and such. As mentioned I’ve had no issues with the car whatsoever, which is partially the reason why I didn’t purchase an extended warranty at 50k. That, and from my point of view, 59k miles to me is basically nothing, in which the the car is just getting broken in, so I’m curious to see how the next few years go, especially when I hit the 100k plateau.
With all that said, I’ve read accounts on here of people getting 200k+ on their XC90’s, and I’ve read other threads that basically opine that 150k miles is basically tops for this vehicle with major repairs needed from that point forward. So, my question is what exactly can I expect out of this car long term? Is it a pipe dream to expect it to be mostly as trouble free as my previous 4runners? I’m meticulous with maintenance, and again I do mostly highway driving, both of which are big factors; but my only fear is that expensive repairs loom around the corner at, say, 75k, 125k, etc. miles, which would really disappoint me given my previous experiences and most likely would prevent me from buying another Volvo. Make no mistake—I don’t expect it to equal my previous 4runners, but at long as it comes relatively close without a lot of nagging or expensive repairs, I’ll be more than happy.
Again I can say enough how much I love the car, and my local dealer has been fantastic to work with as well. In fact, my wife is now considering an XC60 over the next year or so, and given our Swedish ancestry on both sides of the family to boot, we’d love to continue to buy Volvos from this point forward. All we ask for safety, comfort, a bit of understated style, and reliability. No doubt we’re happy with the first three, but the jury is still out on the last one for us.
Thanks in advance for your input.