Turbocharging

Based on the results of eight months of operation of the Volvo XC90 SUV, it turned out that this car is more suitable for the Swedish winter than for the Russian one. But I was never disappointed in its other performance characteristics.
Not only did my car, which was not even six months old at that time, remember such cold winters in Moscow, but neither did I myself. To be honest, I hardly used my new Volvo in cold weather - more test cars (and even wrote about it in Dengi magazine) or at every opportunity I went on a business trip to warm countries.
However, several frosty days still found me driving my own car. During one of them, a very unpleasant event happened. When I was leaving the parking lot, there was a strong click under the hood, the engine thrust seemed to have failed, and a yellow exclamation mark in a triangle and the inscription “Error #145” lit up on the dashboard.
By that time, the car had not even covered 2 thousand km, so I was seriously worried. Having turned off the engine, I began to look for this very error in the instructions. However, this particular number was not on the list. But I found a business card of the seller from the Major salon with his mobile phone. After calling, I explained the essence of the problem and asked how fatal the error was and whether it was worth calling a tow truck.
After several switches and transfers from specialist to specialist, it turned out that the car was signaling to me that the turbine control unit sensor was broken. This was error #145. That is, you can travel by car, but not very fast. But it wouldn’t have worked quickly - the engine seemed to have lost two-thirds of its vitality (which did not stop it from consuming gasoline in the same volumes).
Volvo service accepted this breakdown from me without expressing the slightest doubt that it was covered by the warranty. “Maybe it’s frost, maybe not,” the master answered the question about its possible causes. I had to wait almost four hours for repairs, but during this time the car was also washed. With the new sensor under the hood, I managed to drive no more than 100 m. It broke down as soon as I left the service area on the Moscow Ring Road. It happened the same way as the previous time: a click under the hood, a loss of power and a familiar inscription on the information board.
Seeing me again, the master became sad. Repeated diagnostics took about an hour, as a result of which I received a still broken car with a recommendation to drive it for a week until the spare parts were delivered. In my experience, a week is a good time. I remember that the valve stem seals for the Nissan Almera engine (bought, by the way, from the same dealer as Volvo) took almost a month to reach me.
A week later, I again received a free car wash from the service, and at the same time I ordered window tinting - why would a car sit in a repair bay all day in vain? By the way, a foreman from another shift told me (of course, completely unofficially) that the cause of the breakdown was frost. According to him, in winter, to maintain the health of the turbine, the car should not be turned off after finishing driving for at least five minutes.
However, I did not find such advice in the instruction manual. The turbine control unit was also re-repaired under warranty and to date I have no complaints about it.
Perhaps the breakdown of the sensor is the most striking event that happened to the car during its entire operation. Other observations include a sharp reduction in fuel consumption (almost a liter per 100 km) after replacing winter tires with summer tires. At the same time, the dynamics of the car, in my opinion, have remained virtually unchanged.
In addition, I managed to resolve the problem with the bank that gave me a loan to buy a car. Having studied the agreement, I came to the conclusion that the bank should not have charged me a fee for converting funds from dollars (loan currency) into rubles (currency of payment to the dealer). However, he took it (see “Money” dated December 19, 2005). It took almost two months of correspondence and a personal meeting with bank representatives for them to admit that I was right. Thus, the cost of the car decreased by almost $50, or 0.104% of its cost. A small thing, but still nice.
ALEXEY KHARNAS

Volvo XC90 operating cost

Fuel consumption for the entire mileage	929/16.6
(total/average per 100 km, l)
Fuel type and its total	Gasoline A-95,
price	RUB 16,908
Windshield washer	360 rub.
Washing costs	2/490 rub.
(quantity/total cost)*
Parking costs	8.8 thousand rubles.
Winter tires	24 thousand rubles.
Accessories	900 rub.
Tinted glass	5.8 thousand rubles.
Tire service	8 thousand rubles.
Loan payments**	RUB 197,200
Total	RUB 262,458

*Two more washes were done free of charge at the Volvo service.
**Loan payments are made in dollars, recalculation is made at the average exchange rate.
Volvo XC90 2.5
Year of manufacture 2005
Mileage 5.6 thousand km
Service life Eight months
Operating costs RUB 65,258.
Time spent on the service Two days

Magazine "Kommersant Money" No. 20 dated May 22, 2006, p. 92

Turbocharging – Money – Kommersant