2004 Volvo XC90 AWD T6

Summary:

After tranny problems are fixed, look forward to driving for years to come

Faults:

Transmission out at 158,000. Mechanic said this was the original tranny, so it seems the previous owner lucked out (most owners had problems @ 30,000).

Bought my dream car in cash, less than 6 weeks ago. The XC90 makes me feel safe like a tank, great height and love the “tailgate”. Best is how it turns on a dime and accelerates well (of course, until the tranny started slipping)

Most reviews are older than 10 years. I would like any new information regarding how Volvo is handling these ongoing transmission problems.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 19th November, 2019

8th Feb 2024, 17:18

What exactly was the issues with the transmissions on these?

In reply to 8th Feb 2024, 17:18

8th Feb 2024, 18:57

I don’t think there was an issue. This one smells like it was jerry rigged. Bought a car with decently high miles then the transmission is out almost immediately. Sounds suspicious.

2004 Volvo XC90 T6 2.9L

Summary:

Great family car

Faults:

We ordered this car new from the Massachusetts dealer in late 2003, and had the dealer do all of the service for the first 90000 miles. Since then we've been using a very trustworthy independent Volvo mechanic.

Volvo's are not cheap to keep… having owned at least 1 for the last 31 years… and the XC90 is no exception. However, the day that we feared would come arrived three days ago when our transmission died. I suppose that I should feel fortunate that we got 170,000 miles out of the original transmission, given the experience of many other owners who are on their 3rd or 4th transmission with fewer miles. Our dealer has offered to replace the dead unit with a new transmission to the tune of $5500+. They'll also give us a 2 year warranty.

My wife loves this car, so we'll likely go ahead with the new tranny in the hope that we can get another 50000 miles out of it. If we make it that far with this car, Volvo will need to do something truly spectacular to keep us as a customer.

General Comments:

Very comfortable car to drive on long trips, but the car eats tires. Our last set of Michelin MXM4's cost $1150.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 17th December, 2013

21st Dec 2013, 17:16

170k out of any automatic is good going... your best bet is to buy a newer one! The later XC90's are great cars and don't suffer the gearbox issues of earlier cars. Look for a 2007 or newer model, and you'll probably have no problems with the gearbox :-)

XC90s are great cars - well done Volvo!

2004 Volvo XC90

General Comments:

Here we go. Just bought a Volvo 2004 XC90, 77000 miles on it, after the Volvo 2003 S80 saved my 17 year old's life.

Well guess what, he was driving home the other night, and had an aggressive shift and now a service transmission light. I guess that his will cost me money I don't have.

Hoping that Volvo and the after market warranty with ease the pain... not looking forward to what is to come... fix it and sell it...

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 16th September, 2013

17th Sep 2013, 15:45

I have a 2004 Volvo XC90 Diesel here in the UK with manual gearbox... I would never buy anything else other than Volvo. I have a baby boy and a brilliant wife, and this is the SAFEST car I can buy and put them in.

Luckily I won't have the transmission problems, but if anything did go wrong, I would just fix it because you can't put a value on loved ones... Besides, it's up to 112,000 miles and giving 38 MPG. Replaced a 2005 V70 with 296,000 miles! And we have a 2003 C70 with 211,000 miles. ALL would have got me anywhere... great cars.

11th Oct 2013, 15:16

The T6 had transmission issues. V8, 2.5LT, had no transmission issues. What was the model of your XC90?

In reply to 17th Sep 2013, 15:45

22nd Jun 2016, 10:28

I live in the USA and would love to have a diesel XC90. What type of diesel engine is it and does it come in another type of vehicle??? I'm asking, because maybe I could take it out of that vehicle and put it in my XC90.

In reply to 22nd Jun 2016, 10:28

23rd Jun 2016, 10:46

Hi. It's a Volvo only engine with the diesel. A superb unit. It's a 2.4 5-cylinder turbo diesel. Early ones were 163bhp, upgraded to 180bhp in 2006, then upgraded again to 200bhp in around 2011 I think. I have the early unit in mine and it goes well with very good MPG for its size. Probably about 90% of XC90s sold here in UK were/are diesel models. We did also have T6 then from 2006, 3.2 and V8 models (V8 is superb!) but fuel and tax is very high on those, so most went diesel.