Well, I'm a Volvo person with a lot of experience owning and wrenching on my Bricks. My interest in the 04 and later alu cars has only grown over the last three years, as I look to expand beyond the realm of Swedish iron.

My latest obsession is a Super V8 for sale in my neighborhood, but in general, I am fixated on the Rs.

I have reviewed the stickies and so forth, but I wondering about longevity, not so much on specific repairs. My budget (about $10K US) dictates that the cars will have some mileage to reckon with.

Any further thoughts on how I could make my (obsession) assessment more clear?

 

Hello sanfelice,

You already did an Intro back in August 2013:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/n...-volvo-101569/

Your question about longevity and potential purchase assessment is best asked in the X350 tech forum so I've moved it.

Graham

 

I'm in a similar position. Can't decide whether I want a Volvo V70R, V60 R-design or Jaguar Vanden Plas more. I'm in love with the Super V8 but not sure my budget can stretch that far. I know the Jag is a superior vehicle at more than twice the price new, but so often with greater complexity comes higher ownership costs.

 

Not trying to sway you too much....lol


But as regards higher ownership costs - The depreciation is terrible so you can get a huge amount of car for the money


As far as repairs go?
That's why we're here, to save you and everyone else $$$ if not $$$$


We're pretty good at it too, so many helpful and knowledgable people here all willing to help.


But, don't let that sway you


Good luck

 

I bought my wife the XC90 when it came out and it was a great car, until literally she hit 100K, and I've never seen so many issues crop up. I am a pretty fanatic maintenance guy as well, so neglected it was not! My sister purchased one about the same time with the same outcome. It was really dissapointing, as things from fuel pumps, bevel gears and suspension bits (along with brakes every 30K), coupled with trim items that fell apart in your hands but seemed bombproof before. I'll never forgot, I got it in the car on a Spring day sat in the drivers seat and the seams in the center section split about 5"! My wife is tiny and I ain't no ox either.. ;-) Quality items there!

Never again as a result. Volvo is in trouble in the long term IMO, the edge is gone and you don't see the cars (at least in the Rockies) as you once did. Great in the snow, but the torque steer was a little too much for an AWD. Great for little kids too.

Just my two sense..

Jeff

 

Just remember that any car pushing 100'000 miles will have wear & tear, and will cost you money, regardless of the make & model.

You can buy a well-maintained vehicle in good condition and still have big bills, it comes with the age & mileage.

But once they are sorted, there's nothing more satisfying than sitting in those leather seats, surrounded by wood, listening to the supercharger howling away...

Buy the Super V8, it's a more comfortable version of the XJR, with the same power & performance.

 

I've had Volvos my entire life and run a garage specializing in European cars, especially Volvo.

Jaguars in comparison to the Volvo, especially the x350. The money you budget for repairs on the Volvo, double it for the Jaguar. Run some numbers in comparison for normal wear and tear items and build off of that. For example the Jaguar has three ball joints in the front and all of them cost four times what a Volvo ball joint costs if purchased from Jaguar. The aftermarket for normal items is slim pickings in comparison to the Volvo too.

I say Volvo is the Toyota of luxury cars. Yes, I firmly believe that Toyotas develop expensive repair bills at 100K too.

With that said, should it stop you from getting one? I've bought a few and haven't regretted it. I'm working on my project Super 8 now and really enjoying it. I personally like it a lot more than the S60/V70Rs I've owned, but if talking average cost of maintenance and overall practicality a XC90 V8 is the better car. Quite a bit of money, but they are lovely lovely trucks that I think close to peerless for it's price point, especially with the Executive or Sport trims.

Sure, it doesn't have as many bells and whistles as an X5 or presence on the road as a Land Rover, but they fantastic overall.

I'm thinking $10,000 will probably get you more car for your dollar in Jaguar than in Volvo though.

 

Something you might think about is the second-generation S80s. They can be very nice. My wife has a 2010 S80 T6 that she likes a lot, and they can be had in the lovely V8 as well.




With the executive package you can get sort of close to comprobable interior as the Jag




Heated/cooled/massaging seats, navigation, lane departure warnings, adaptive cruise, etc. Not as comfortable as the Jag for sure, but an interesting comparison.

 

I would say motor mounts off that bat. Along with that a tranny mount and two transmission lines.....Somehow I managed to make them leak after the mounts. Otherwise mechanically its an awesome drivetrain. Dependent on abuse suspension parts here and there...Depreciation value bad for new owners....Great for you...Get one!

 

I don't know the price level for Volvo parts but for sure you can get Jaguar parts cheaper than dealer prices, especially for suspension components.

Front lower ball joint, Jaguar will sell you a complete new vertical link, but you can buy the ball joints separately in the aftermarket and have them pressed in.

Front upper ball joint is non-serviceable, but you can buy complete upper wishbones aftermarket for a fraction of the genuine Jaguar price.

Front/rear wishbone bushes, Jaguar will sell you a complete wishbone, but you can buy the bushes and have them pressed out for a fraction of the price of a new wishbone.

Other suspension components are available to buy in the aftermarket (or from the OEM i.e. ZF Lemförder) much cheaper than from Jaguar.

A lot of service items have aftermarket alternatives, e.g. quality made-in-Japan ignition coils can be bought for $40 each where the genuine Jaguar part is >$90. Or the O2 sensors >$220 from Jag, same part from Denso in the aftermarket under $100

A number of Jaguar parts suppliers stock aftermarket or OEM service parts as well as the genuine ones because they recognise a lot of people can't/won't pay new car parts prices on an old car.

In many cases the aftermarket parts are better quality than the OEM Jag ones anyhow, e.g. brake rotors.

Taking any 10-year old car to an official dealer can drain your wallet, regardless of if it's a Jag, Volvo, Toyota, or whatever. An official dealership will be obliged to supply genuine parts only, at genuine prices...[/quote]

I picked out 100k miles because these cars are pushing 8-10 years old now, and because 100k is the major service on the V8 model. And to be honest the service items at 100k are not comprehensive enough. With the benefit of hindsight I would have changed out a lot more parts at the 100k service than what the service sheet says. Do it all in one hit, rather than something else coming up every year after that.

Well said!