Volvo XC60 Problems

The X3 would be fine but you should also - perhaps surprisingly - consider a Volvo XC60 which I rate as slightly better than the BMW as a secondhand choice.

Model years are complicated and differ from brand to brand, as they are usually tagged to spring in the home country of the company. Greg Bosnich of Volvo says: “Anything from April is model 2016 until April 2017”. But remember, the car will be judged at second-hand time on the actual date it was built, not any MY designation by the maker.

I'm a fan of the XC60, which still gets The Tick, but you should also consider the Skoda wagon lineup and test drive both the Octavia and Superb as they are from the Volkswagen family but better value.

First, the XC60 is a very good car. Second, a diesel engine only makes economic sense if you travel more than 30,000km a year, but it would give you better torque for those boat runs.

The CX-5 is best in class but the Volvo is a class above, in the prestige category. Both get The Tick from me, but if price is not a problem I'd go for the XC60.

Definitely go for the Volvo. Apart from the safety gear, it's well built, well equipped and drives well.

It’s common to have to replace discs and pads much earlier than it once was, particularly on European cars. If you think about it, the braking performance on cars today is much, much higher than it was on cars even a decade ago, and that performance comes from the size of the brakes and the materials used in the pads and discs. Discs are usually changed because they have worn down to a thickness that affects their performance. Instead of replacement they can sometimes be machined to extend their life. They’re not necessarily changed at the same time, but if they are close to being worn out and in need of replacement it might be more cost-effective to do it with the pads rather than have to come back later for the replacement.