MOT Check

Wrath_of_Kain

Hi All,
Was looking at a distance buy of a Volvo XC90 but noted this on last years advisory:

Nearside Front Track rod end ball joint has slight play (2.1.3 (b) (i))
Rear Suspension arm corroded but not seriously weakened all arms (5.3.3 (b) (i))

Any ideas of cost and if there is any issues in the immediate future. I just get a shudder when I read corrosion albeit I have been told that the MOT tick boxing is far more expansive now and that almost ANY corrosion is now pretty much standard on most of the avisories now.

Cheers
Kain

alan_d

I've owned a 2008 XC90 for ~6 years.
They all seem to suffer from surface corrosion on the rear suspension components - I assume that Volvo bought them in from another company, dunno.
I've *never* heard of one corroding enough to be a problem - i've done nothing with mine.
Track rod end play is a minor issue, the part is about £25 if it ever gets bad enough to warrant replacing.
Which engine are you looking at? What age? Mileage?

Wrath_of_Kain

alan_d wrote: »

I've owned a 2008 XC90 for ~6 years.
They all seem to suffer from surface corrosion on the rear suspension components - I assume that Volvo bought them in from another company, dunno.
I've *never* heard of one corroding enough to be a problem - i've done nothing with mine.
Track rod end play is a minor issue, the part is about £25 if it ever gets bad enough to warrant replacing.
Which engine are you looking at? What age? Mileage?

It is this one:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201909092021629?fromSavedAds=true&advertising-location=at_cars

Wrath_of_Kain

Was also looking at this one but I believe any oil issues on the Volvo XC range are to be avoided and noted it was mentioned on the MOT.

I think its something like for the sake of a £5 bolt that you end up having to split and drop the GB.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201909162263778?aggregatedTrim=SE%20Lux&sort=relevance&postcode=ab107gb&radius=1500&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=New&model=XC90&price-to=3000&advertising-location=at_cars&make=VOLVO&page=1

alan_d

I assume you're referring to this on the 2nd one:
Oil leak, but not excessive (8.4.1 (a) (i))
The earlier Euro3 D5 engine suffered from a core plug failure behind the flywheel, which caused a fairly major oil leak, and needed the gearbox etc removing to fix it.
They changed the core plug design (around 2005 I think) and later engines didn't suffer from that issue.
I had that engine in a 2004 V70 and had that issue, £5 part but £300 ish labour to fit it!
The later Euro4 D5 in your second car is the same as I have in my XC90. They are generally OK, but often have issues with the swirl flap arm failing - and this is usually coupled with an oil leak down the front left side of the engine (looking from the front). It needs the flaps and gasket replacing to sort, about £200 in parts + labour. I've done this job myself on my XC, not too bad but time consuming.
Out of the two, the earlier Euro3 is generally considered to be the better engine - no DPF or swirl flaps, and better MPG also. If there is history of the swirl flaps being replaced then the later one is probably a good buy, otherwise the earlier one is worth a look. What is impossible to check on a test drive is oil consumption - the later Euro 4 can suffer from high usage - which can be caused by several things.
These cars are heavy on their front suspension, so listen for knocks and rattles and pulling to one side under heavy breaking. None of the parts are too expensive or hard to change, but if it's been neglected and needs a few things doing it can rapidly add up.
I've had bad experience with aftermarket lower arms and top strut mounts so only buy genuine Volvo now.
Note that the drive to the rear wheels can fail (usually on pre-facelift cars) and you end up with FWD only. Test is to try to rotate the propshaft (which you can just about reach underneath when parked) - it shouldn't rotate. If it does the collar on the transfer box is stripped.
Also check the tax bands - on some the autos fall into a higher bracket than the manuals and therefore cost more!
Quick reference:
Euro 3 has a black engine cover, 163BHP.
Euro 4 has grey engine cover, 185BHP, fitted in the facelift models from ~2006 but there are some exceptions.

Wrath_of_Kain

alan_d wrote: »

I assume you're referring to this on the 2nd one:
Oil leak, but not excessive (8.4.1 (a) (i))
The earlier Euro3 D5 engine suffered from a core plug failure behind the flywheel, which caused a fairly major oil leak, and needed the gearbox etc removing to fix it.
They changed the core plug design (around 2005 I think) and later engines didn't suffer from that issue.
I had that engine in a 2004 V70 and had that issue, £5 part but £300 ish labour to fit it!
The later Euro4 D5 in your second car is the same as I have in my XC90. They are generally OK, but often have issues with the swirl flap arm failing - and this is usually coupled with an oil leak down the front left side of the engine (looking from the front). It needs the flaps and gasket replacing to sort, about £200 in parts + labour. I've done this job myself on my XC, not too bad but time consuming.
Out of the two, the earlier Euro3 is generally considered to be the better engine - no DPF or swirl flaps, and better MPG also. If there is history of the swirl flaps being replaced then the later one is probably a good buy, otherwise the earlier one is worth a look. What is impossible to check on a test drive is oil consumption - the later Euro 4 can suffer from high usage - which can be caused by several things.
These cars are heavy on their front suspension, so listen for knocks and rattles and pulling to one side under heavy breaking. None of the parts are too expensive or hard to change, but if it's been neglected and needs a few things doing it can rapidly add up.
I've had bad experience with aftermarket lower arms and top strut mounts so only buy genuine Volvo now.
Note that the drive to the rear wheels can fail (usually on pre-facelift cars) and you end up with FWD only. Test is to try to rotate the propshaft (which you can just about reach underneath when parked) - it shouldn't rotate. If it does the collar on the transfer box is stripped.
Also check the tax bands - on some the autos fall into a higher bracket than the manuals and therefore cost more!
Quick reference:
Euro 3 has a black engine cover, 163BHP.
Euro 4 has grey engine cover, 185BHP, fitted in the facelift models from ~2006 but there are some exceptions.

Hi Alan
Thank you so much for the comprehensive advice. Unfortunately it will be unlikely that i get an opportunity to test drive the vehicle so i am just trying to run through the XC90's that autotrader throws up within a £3k budget, try and pick the best of the bunch and then send a clickmechanic to do an inspection and if that is OK I will then fly to wherever i need to go. The delights of living in the Scottish highlands unfortunately

Any other advice/info would be grateful. Always great getting some insight from someone thats treaded the path before.

Cheers
Kain