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Adventure mobile (another build?), aka, welcome to Spikes Sh*t Show :)

13K views 113 replies 19 participants last post by  Davidov 
#1 · (Edited)
After 2 well loved white P2 S60's and a voluntary move back to the PNW to have more access to the mountains again, I decided it was time for an adventure mobile. My other obsession is ultra running and exploring.

Low mile, CPO P3 XC70's and XC60's seemed to sound ideal, and thanks to the crazy world of Corona virus in March 2020, my self defined budget dropped down to a smaller, cash purchase to avoid a loan in these uncertain times.

So after a week of feverishly searching private party, corner lots, and dealers, and driving everything from. $2k dumps to $18k Shiney dumps, Volvo's, Subaru's, even checked out an Xterra, we stumbled upon what appeared to be the best of the options.

I present to you, my new daily and hopefully not too much a project.
2011 XC60 T6 AWD, Terra Bronze Metallic with black leather interior and silver trim.

Packages include:
Multimedia Package
Climate package & xenon ABL headlights
Convenience package
& Personal car communicator

Private party sale, the car was bought and serviced from new to 103k miles at the local dealership in Tacoma, under the state license plates there were still the original dealer paper plates..... I have both keys, the window sticker, and I believe all of the dealer receipts. (They were presented post sale, more on that to follow) A little wear and tear as expected for a 9 year old car, but doesn't look abused by any means.

So.
Here are the first few photos I have, nothing wonderful, but it's been a busy week and we're still trying to settle into our house post cross country move and start our new jobs.







 
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#2 · (Edited)
Day 1.
Investigated the non working 12v outlets, disassembled the center console to clean up the gross outlet before replacing the fuse. I'll leave the bad pics off, but we'll say I've never wanted to glove up to clean a car before. Let's call it a Starbucks Frappuccino incident.

Besides the spilled drink, the interior is not abused or neglected, no major damage discovered yet, it just needed a good scrub to feel ok, and a little sanitization wasn't a bad idea either.

Once it got clean, a quick application of leather treatment to keep things good.





 
#3 ·
Why the overly graphic name for the thread?

Well, while cleaning the car I found the dealership receipts. I threw them in a spreadsheet so I can start managing what's done, what's due, and what to look for.

More or less, I have receipts for the major maintenance points, but nothing terribly overwhelming like how I manage my cars. The points of notice, would be things such as:
- AC Compressor & power steering reservoir replaced at 5k miles
- Pistons & rings replaced at 58k miles due to excessive oil consumption.
- Breather box has been replaced 2x, at 47k & 58k
- Oh, and engine oil cooler leaked into the coolant system, so new cooler & coolant at 97k miles

So, any number of the used cars I drove could have had this in its history, but I'm still not sure how I feel about this information. I guess, since the engine was rebuilt, in theory, I should be good for a bit longer? Guess this would have all shown on a carfax, lesson learned here.

I need to dig into the car more and start doing a deep evaluation, I'm still unsure how to feel...
 
#4 · (Edited)
Monday.
Owned the car for the weekend.

Need to go to work for 1 morning to on-board my new job in Seattle and get my personal laptop set up so I can work remotely.

It finally rained in the PNW, so on the way to work I can't clear the water on the window.
Wait.
What?
That water is on the inside.

10 seconds on google and I discover/am reminded that '11 XC60's are part of the family that has windshields that separate from the body (maybe technically, the windshield separates from the black perimeter), anyways.
Call 4 dealers, 2 glass shops, they replace the window. No R&R performed.
Call insurance, they say we can investigate it but it's most likely a preexisting condition they will deny.
Ugh.

Visit the local glass shop, it's so obvious the windshield moves, no charge for a test. They quoted me $1200 due to the camera's and trim pieces, so I'm having the dealer do it w/ OEM glass for $1100 on Friday. I will try to reach out to Volvo Cars, but I already expect that to be a wasted effort.

Friggin stupid, and each discovery I happen upon feels like a punch in the gut.

Also due for an oil change, so will get that knocked out at the dealer. Yes, this time I want a dealer to do it (NOT the one that did all this work to the car), I'm hoping to get an honest opinion on any other issues that may be lurking under this car.

The good pricing feeling is starting to fade..... Hoping to work out these bugs and be done so I can enjoy the car



 
#6 · (Edited)
It finally rained in the PNW, so on the way to work I can't clear the water on the window.
I take it that you're new to the PNW. Natives would have inserted a "didn't".;)
 
#5 ·
Nice XC! Like that color ...

We joined the XC60 ranks a couple months ago too. I looked for several months before I found the right one for our budget. Started out looking at 12-13's but then decided to go for the facelift version and spend a little more. I remember seeing a Terra RD out west when I was shopping, very rare. Sorry about your windshield. Just had that happen on my '10 S80, took it to the dealer (that I rarely visit) and they agreed to take care of getting is resealed, but (fortunately, lol) they cracked it so we were able to claim it on our insurance and got an oem windshield to boot after I pressed them.
 
#7 ·
Sorry about the windshield, I'd be more than a little peeved with the seller that it wasn't disclosed - that sucks. Is there any water staining now after the fact that you can see?

The service history is actually a good thing - the engine rebuild is an early SI 6 thing and was covered under a TJ so I wouldn't be concerned in the least, it was a pretty common problem. The other things don't seem like a big deal to me.

I really like the color combination, nice contrasting stitching on the seats!
 
#12 ·
Sorry about the windshield, I'd be more than a little peeved with the seller that it wasn't disclosed - that sucks. Is there any water staining now after the fact that you can see?

The service history is actually a good thing - the engine rebuild is an early SI 6 thing and was covered under a TJ so I wouldn't be concerned in the least, it was a pretty common problem. The other things don't seem like a big deal to me.

I really like the color combination, nice contrasting stitching on the seats!
No water staining that I can see, so this very well may have been a new issue.

I do like the colors, always a fan of white/tan though :)
 
#8 ·
Well any used car that old will prob. have surprises, so don't get too down on it. Keep an eye on coolant jug for oil to make sure system was cleaned out well. I wouldn't go as far as Volvo recs on oil changes either, don't forget they only care if it lasts as long as warr. period. Use a good syn. oil , and change every 5 or 6 k. I always buy penzoil on sale and use an OEM filter, makes for cheap changes. I would also change trans/angle gear/rear diff/aoc fluids(pull aoc black cover this time), and use good aftermarket syn fluids for diff and angle. Can do this way cheaper if can do yourself.
Our 13 has been a great car and has 110k on it now.
 
#13 ·
At the moment I'm planning on having this dealer do a change, I need to order a wrench and supplies and plan, also having a dealer give me a report will help me until I can get into it (still unpacking the house from the move, and trying to train remotely for the new job)

Driveline fluids as well are on the list to get done, definitely. Again, need to plan and order. I have some fluids from my old 09 S60, maybe some of those will work here.

I've already been checking coolant and oil just to make sure nothing funky is going on there.

I fully hope for another 100k & 5 years on this before I upgrade to a facelift or something newer!
 
#10 ·
No glass shop or the dealer offered to remove and reseal the w/s for $300-ish with the full price only if it broke? They get removed all the time for certain repairs and re-installed.
 
#11 ·
Nope, and I asked, they all declined to even attempt.

Maybe because this is a large region and they wanna avoid any issues? I dunno. I'll make more calls tomorrow to see if I can get any change
 
#14 ·
Progress!

After numerous calls and inquiries, found a local glass company/guy (with all great reviews) who was willing to pull and reseal the window and warranty his work for life.
Still have my OEM glass, and not having to move the camera or sensor to new glass also means it hopefully is non problematic nor do I need to recalibrate anything

He lives a few blocks away, took my car to his garage and brought it back in about 2.5 hours.

Cost is about %25 of what a new window installed would cost, so I am a happy man, now I'll get my maintenance items on order to begin with that part.

 
#16 ·
Yep, good deal on your windshield! I was expecting some push back from my dealer and was a little put off by them only offering to reseal the old one since I really wanted a new one. When they called and said their glass guy cracked it I was so happy lol. For a $50 deductible I got a brand new one without all the road pits. Now I hope that the 15.5 XC60 glass behaves since I have even more cameras and lasers up there, however I think this really affects the early model P3's and not the later ones.

So what are your wheel plans? I'm looking hard, can't wait to dump those Zephyrus!
 
#17 ·
Well, everything is on hold until things calm down and things aren't so iffy with the world.

I am a traditionalist with wheels, straight spokes look good to me, the xc60 r design wheels I like, but don't wanna up size.





I have a Subaru buddy with a lifted crosstrek, something like this wheel combo may look good, I'll have to think about it more though. I also am interested in seeing a lifted xc60 with these spacers.



But, it'll be 6 months before I feel like dropping more money, for now just maintaining and getting good.

For now, need to dry out the floorboard, will check tomorrow and see if I need to pull the carpet back ot if the desiccant boxes will work
 
#18 · (Edited)
Apparently these are black rhino wheels, I definitely like the look.

Unsure if a light color or black would be better with the bronze car, I will have to play with photo shop, plenty of time before that happens.



On a different note, playing around in the owners manual I discovered the car is on old nav, downloaded newest version to a thumb drive, and it's downloading to the car now.

Nifty! (as long as it doesn't error out, it'll take basically 3 hours.....)
 
#19 ·
Well nothing terribly exciting, but found the nav in the car was old, and new software was available to download, so went from V 30.12.04 to V 30.18.03.
Downloaded a small program from volvo and then downloaded 17+GB to usb over an hour, uploaded to car took almost 3, but, worked. Can't say if anything changed or just the map Database, but I'll take it, just trying to get everything updated.







Went towards Mt Ranier and found a desolate logging road, just needed to get out and see nature again, but I definitely need rubber floor mats!
 
#24 ·
Keen to see photos if you do buy and fit those spacers. Thinking I would like 20mm now I have the AT tyres on mine (parked on the driveway for another 3.5 weeks or more in lockdown)!

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I am extremely grateful I started my new job during lock down in the states and am withholding any purchases like this until things improve and I'm past my 90 day probation period [emoji16]

I've only bought some basic maintenance items for now, but am definitely eyeballing these.

2 styles on ebay, red solid aluminum or black hard plastic composite (PU I believe = poly urethane), I suspect the aluminum is a better choice, no degradation ever, but am just thinking through if the PU would be beneficial for vibration resistance or anything unexpected.



 
#21 ·
Does windshield insurance not exist for others around the country? I have a $50 deductable to have my windshield replaced in both of my Volvo's.


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#22 ·
Does windshield insurance not exist for others around the country? I have a $50 deductable to have my windshield replaced in both of my Volvo's.

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Depends on the state and the carrier. I've always had full glass coverage with any policy I've had. I don't know that a leaking windshield would apply though - interesting question.
 
#25 ·
You got lucky on the windshield. Mine's leaked for almost 2 years now. I just park it in the garage and take my other vehicle on rainy days. I keep a towel for sudden downpours and car washes :p I have Farmers and they don't even question glass claims. $100 deductible, but I refuse to pay for something Volvo should have done right in the 1st place on a car that cost so much new. :mad:

Tirerack.com sells wheel and tire packages. They have a configurator that shows them on the car too. I kept the stocks wheels though. I'm not picky. I did opt for high performance tires and have been very pleased with ride, grip, and noise. I'm a rideshare driver and have 200k very hard miles with only basic stuff. I was stunned to see your repair list, I've had engine mount/torque rod and PCV oil trap vent box, and both front axles at 155k and that's been it! For maintenance, I do full synthetic oil every 5k, down from 7.5k and transmission flushes every 50k starting at 100k when I bought it. I'd spend the money the dealer didn't get for the windshield on a trans flush from dealer or independent, repeat every 50k. It's worth it.
 
#26 ·
You got lucky on the windshield. Mine's leaked for almost 2 years now. I just park it in the garage and take my other vehicle on rainy days. I keep a towel for sudden downpours and car washes [emoji14] I have Farmers and they don't even question glass claims. $100 deductible, but I refuse to pay for something Volvo should have done right in the 1st place on a car that cost so much new. :mad:

Tirerack.com sells wheel and tire packages. They have a configurator that shows them on the car too. I kept the stocks wheels though. I'm not picky. I did opt for high performance tires and have been very pleased with ride, grip, and noise. I'm a rideshare driver and have 200k very hard miles with only basic stuff. I was stunned to see your repair list, I've had engine mount/torque rod and PCV oil trap vent box, and both front axles at 155k and that's been it! For maintenance, I do full synthetic oil every 5k, down from 7.5k and transmission flushes every 50k starting at 100k when I bought it. I'd spend the money the dealer didn't get for the windshield on a trans flush from dealer or independent, repeat every 50k. It's worth it.
For sure, I was pissed when I found out.
We decided to resolve the leak and consider it part of the new car purchase, also wanted to avoid future issues. (also I've done multiple glass claims with out an issue, but 2 days after adding the car to my policy, apparently it raised a flag)

I don't love these wheels, but, I don't hate them and also would rather put that $$ into other things, so, yeah.

Previous owner was a "normal driver" with an extended vip warranty.
She took it to the dealer it was bought at until the 100k warranty expired then bought a new one. She bought a white one, I figured another xc60, nope, an Audi.

Anyhoot.
First packages showed up today from fcp and ipd, work begins Friday.



FCP:
Oil filters
Oil filter wrench
Oil cap gasket
Engine air filter
Cabin air filter
Wipers

IPD:
Skid plate
DEM guard

In the mail, are Rensi floor mats and 6 liters of transmission fluid to begin the fluid exchanges this weekend.
On P2's its a 4 L drain/full process, seems these are closer to 3 L each change.

After a little research will line up haldex and diff fluids as well in the near future.

As I get into it this weekend we'll see what else I should start checking out...
 
#27 · (Edited)
Ok, well lesson learned, while my 09 S60 wouldn't let you choose the wrong market in vida, you definitely can on this one. About **** myself with a dozen major errors lol.
Once I chose "amer" instead of "nor", only found 1 fault code (seat control error? All memory & control buttons work though)
[emoji16]



Anyways. Have barely put 100 miles on since buying so still sorting out how she drives.

This weekend I pulled the hood insulation and engine cover and splash guard below, gave the motor a healthy but careful cleaning (and the whole car). I wanna get to a baseline to make sure I can notice any new concerns.



May paint or treat the underside and leave it plain, I dunno.

Got her a full synthetic oil change, castrol 5/30. See the oil is actually pretty cheap on Amazon, probably stock up soon. 8.5 qts per change is respectable!

Air filter was definitely due, and did 2x fluid drain/fills and next time will plan on 3-4. Found this video which was pretty great for helping me know what to expect (still should have ordered double the fluid and finished it, oh well)


Thinking the roof rails should be black, not silver, would fit better.



Otherwise, put the ipd skid plate on and called it good, will do wipers and cabin air filter tomorrow, and the haldex & angle gear fluids will be next to look into.

 
#29 ·
Washington State plates and "Seattle" location means you are under way! Congrats, sir!

Now photos of this vehicle at the base of Mt. Hood, please. [emoji8]
WA plates but can't get a license, fun stuff.

Rainer is in the background here, but can't see it:



Future great pics to follow, just need things to calm down!
 
#30 ·
When you buy a copy of Beat Happening’s “Black Candy” on vinyl at the Business in Anacortes and then take a ferry to Friday Harbor for ice cream, I will accept you as a local. Until then, you are nothing to me, beard or not! 😂
 
#31 ·
When you buy a copy of Beat Happening's "Black Candy" on vinyl at the Business in Anacortes and then take a ferry to Friday Harbor for ice cream, I will accept you as a local. Until then, you are nothing to me, beard or not! [emoji23]
Lol, we had to cancel our stay on orcas Island next month (for a trail race) due to the lockdown, ferry rides may be postponed this year.
My other giant trail race on the 4th of July weekend is also in risk of postponement, if so wifey and I may go celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary over in Leavenworth where we got married.

I sold/donated a ton of vinyl and a turntable when we left Wisconsin, no more of that! (but I'll check out black candy)
 
#32 ·
That iPD skid plate!! :heart:

Yes, volvosweden makes great videos! Should have mentioned that earlier. The location of the cabin air filter drove me wild. I took the whole glovebox out of the car, then finally googled it. I actually think that's a smarter place for it anyway, and no tools required!

I've got over 200k on mine and checked the angle gear fluid at 150k or so and it was bright red. Imagine the rear diff is the same. Don't know if the first owner had it changed but probably didn't. No problems at all, been 100% solid!

As far as the roof rails, I feel the same way! My car is black and the only chrome parts on it are the roof rack and window trim. Can't imagine getting them wrapped in black would cost that much. Something else you might want to do is get tint to match on the front windows. I always thought the car looked goofy with tint in back but not the front. It really transformed the look. Idk if the police would harass you though. I live in Tennessee and everybody has 25% tint because it helps the car not be so hot in the summer; police here let it slide.
 
#33 ·
Some helpful vids. Some were done on a V60 but it's very close on the XC60 (I have both a 15V60 and 13XC60).







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#34 · (Edited)
I was all excited about pulling the roof rails to paint them proper, until I learned they're mounted from the inside of the car, meh. I wrapped the roof of my S60 in black vinyl and it worked well enough, these rails are a lot smaller, maybe that'll be a good task for a bored weekend. My window trim is black so it's literally just these silver rails.

I also tinted the front windows on my S60, I liked it but also honestly had a hard time seeing in dark areas at night, so I probably won't do that again, at least not for a while. As is I have to get used to a different size/shape when it comes to maneuvering through the world (although, way tighter turning radius than a P2 :) )

I suspect I'll order enough fluid to do a full full swap of transmission fluid for my next oil change, but the other fluids are lower on my list of importance, but, all in time.

The nit picky side of me will be slowly looking into this one error code, all seat controls seem to work so unsure what's causing the error, we'll see.

**edit, pics are grainy - fault code "PSM-B1C0224 Memory Store Switch - General Signal Failure - Signal Stuck High" As far as I can tell no diagnosis except to replace, so, yeah...





Gotta get through my "new employee" evaluation at work and have the world start to recover so I can feel confident in my job security (lucky as is to be working) before I start to buy more stuff, but I had the IPD skid plate on my S60 and definitely felt it worth the investment, plus, drain holes so you don't have to pull it each time.

 
#35 ·
Had a burned out license plate light, so gambled with a cheap e-bay purchase, for the price of 2 nice LED's, I got a whole batch to retrofit the interior as well.

Few points I learned for this car in particular.
-First, the the overhead lights (4 x front only) have a twist base that seems to be permanently part of the bulb, I managed to make some work with the push in led's, but ended up buying some bases to make it a proper solution.
-Also, the nature of the LED's tend to make them glow a little when you turn the car off until the car shuts down the power, which I'm used to when retrofitting. What I didn't expect was them to glow when you're driving, a little ambiance :) Doesn't bother me, may manually turn them off when I'm driving at night, but not a big deal. Once the ignition is off, they go dark after a minute or so.












Otherwise, after a month living here I finally made my way back into the mountains, in a way. Tried to make it to the end of the road that they shut for winter, turns out still snow and mud, so I got to test out the skid plate and scratch the paint a little... Definitely could use a more aggressive tread pattern & depth, but got a handful of looks from some jeep/toyota owners.





Since I bought out of necessity and have been in lock down, haven't really put many miles on the car, so putting a few hundred on this weekend felt good, and I needed to get out. On the interstate, car rides really well. Accelerates hard and while cruising at 70 mph was averaging 25-27 (per the dash, long term data will eventually be gathered)

Previous owner must have used the rear wiper a bunch, arm was a little loose and rear glass is ugly, I'm tempted to pull it completely and plug the hole, anyone know if it'd throw any codes? Is the rear wiper smart & tied into the computers? Or just a dumb plugged in thing.

Anyhoot, that's it for the moment, just waiting for things in life to calm down so I can get more miles in, loving it so far though!

 
#38 ·
Wipers are not on can bus. Should be able to unplug no problem.

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#36 ·
If you live in the PNW you'll be wanting the rear wiper frequently based on living in Portland for over 30 years.
 
#37 ·
Meh, I mean, once you back up, how necessary is it really?

West coast native, did wiper mods on hatchbacks before without an issue, and lived in the Midwest for 6 years, never routinely used the rear wiper when I had one, except once in a while to knock off some snow accumulation when I was lazy
 
#39 · (Edited)
Killing me to sit back and be patient , but, such is the time.

All of my trail ultra marathons this year have been canceled, so I'm going to have a little more free time to explore this summer hopefully. That being said, I may be sorting out some car camping soon once Trailheads open up, we'll see.

After 2 attempts, found a cell phone holder I am ok with. I hate vent mount or vent blocking holders, so I went hunting.

First was a magnetic mount, fine, but in order to keep wireless charging I had to mount the plate low, which was too unstable. Second attempt seemed hopeful, people compared it to Pro Clip, a simple clamping holder (which coincidentally also fit the ball mount from the previous attempt)





Found a way to route a charging cable from the rear center console outlet under the stack, pretty happy about that. Now I don't have one sticking up from the cup holder area.





I'm currently eyeballing some used fender flares, erst brand, Volvo specific so they're not universal, I am tempted to grab them and rhino line them (along with all of my existing plastic cladding), but, it's not cheap, but they're used so it'd be cheaper :)



Otherwise, got my prancing moose put on as well as a Swedish flag or two.





Current wish list is looking like:
Lift kit
Wheel spacers
Fender flares
Aux lights
Roof rack
Tow bar
 
#40 ·
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