I've owned Volvos continually since I bought a new 164 back in '73 (not a typo :-), followed by a '75 and then a string of 240's up to my present pair of '93s. Along the way, I've also bought a couple of toys, an '85 Dodge GLH Turbo and a '76-1/2 Honda Accord. And I've bought a used M-B 300E for my wife and 190E2.3 for my daughter, and an '84 grey market Gelaendewagen for towing our boats; but eventually, we all settled on just Volvos (daughter bought herself a new '07 S60 2.5T).

Now, without the GWagen anymore, we need to buy a new tow vehicle for our upcoming retirement's boat and camper, so naturally I considered the XC90. Its advertised 5,000 lb towing weight was adequate for our modest selections. And on a vacation a few months ago to California, we rented one (for about 800 miles of driving) and really liked it.

That tow rating, however, appears to be a lie (for all practical purposes). I happened to access an owners manual (which is usually not seen by a purchaser until after they take their new car home), and on page 153 of the 2010 model year's owners manual, it clearly shows in a table that the towing limit for two passengers is 5,000 lbs, but if there are more than two people on-board, it drops drastically: with a third person, it is 4,500; with a fourth, it is only 3,700 lbs; and with a fifth person it is 2,900 lbs. This is from 500 to 800 lbs less towing capacity per person!

And this would mean that, for example, we couldn't take our daughter and son-in-law boating with us unless they drove separately in their own car. I resent having this caveat hidden from prospective buyers until after they take home their car. As a result, I'm considering another brand for my SUV. One possibility is the upcoming Jeep Grand Cherokee for 2011.

Has anyone ever encountered such hidden information in buying another brand vehicle?

All towing capacities for all car/trucks get decreased as the load in the car increases. Remember that there is a definite limit on tounge weight also. I would never pull something that weighs more than the car for any length of time. Especially on Interstates.

Pulling 5,000lbs behind a loaded XC90 would not be a problem if you are going 60mph or less and only for an hour or two, like getting to a lake or campground. For pulling a large camper across this country, I suggest an F150 with a large cab and short box.

Klaus
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Two good Volvos, a 220 and a V70R

Hi Klaus.

Thanks for answering.

re: "...All towing capacities for all car/trucks get decreased as the load in the car increases...."

I know about that, but taking 500 to 800 lbs off of the trailer's allowed weight for carrying each 150 lb passenger seems a little ridiculous.

And I'm bothered that I (and how many others) may have bought the SUV without being informed that the SUV can't tow nearly as much as advertised because I'm carrying two extra family members -- the owners manual is routinely not available to prospective buyers, and the brochures only list 5,000 lbs without any indication that it might be so severely reduced.

re: "...For pulling a large camper across this country, I suggest an F150 with a large cab and short box...."

Fortunately, we're considering at most a 4,100 lb boat (incl. trailer, fully loaded) and we've picked out a 3,000 lb camper model -- both very modest sizes. The boat would be short distances, 50 miles or so at most, and usually a small fraction of that; the only long-distance tow would be for the much lighter-weight camper.

I'm thinking now, having dropped the XC90 from my list, about the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee -- it can be equipped for 7,200 lbs in 4x4, more than enough margin (unless they also pull a fast one with the tow weights like Volvo); and with the V-8 for climbing high altitudes where you lose a lot of hp (no turbo to compensate), because despite the camper's small size we'll be touring up and down the Sierras and Rocky Mts [we're moving to Seattle to be closer to our daughter and her new husband.] What caught my attention is that it's the sister design of the new MB M-class, from when MB partnered with Chrysler, so it should be a well-thought out design.

Anyway, you seem to be familiar with trucks, too, so have you ever encountered such an extreme, limiting provision (150 lb passenger = 500-800 lb trailer weight) in other makes of trucks?

Thanks again.
Ken

The new 'trucks', Jeep included have a tail wagging option with the tow package which the Volvo does not have. There are also extra tranny coolers.

Your trailer needs to have electric brakes, regardless.

If I remember correctly, the average weight for a person used to be 176lbs, the 2 kid seats in the back are rated at 150lbs combined weight. But reducing the towing for a single up front passenger just doesn't make sense to me. Loading the reat with 150lbs of bagage does make sense.

I would never put more than a class II hitch on any passenger car. My MB GL has a tow rating of 7,000lbs and class IV hitch, but it is required to get an optional brake compensating kit when towing at the upper limits.

If you get a Jeep, make sure that it can easily handle 5000lbs, you do want that kind of cushion.

Klaus
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Two good Volvos, a 220 and a V70R

I was surprised to see you say the XC90 has a tow rating of 5000lbs.

That would mean a class III hitch :
http://hitches4less.com/trailer-hitch-classes.html

After some digging I verified what you said WRT tow capacity on the online owner's manual on Volvo's US website. The AWD version is rated for up to 5k lbs and the FWD version is rated up to 4000lbs.
https://www.customers.volvocars.com/owners/docs/2010/2010_XC90/2010XC90OwnersManual.pdf

You'll notice also that they decrease the recommended towing capacity pretty steadily for the AWD model, all the way down to "towing not recommended" for when you have all 7 seats full of people. In the same chart, the recommended max towing capacity for the FWD version stays at 4k lbs until you get more than 4 passengers, and then it only drops by 300lbs.

Also I noticed that on the 'tech specs' page on volvocars.com the max towing capacity is listed as 3300lbs (class II hitch) for even the AWD version.
http://www.volvocars.com/us/all-cars/volvo-xc90/details/pages/technical-spec.aspx


Meanwhile on the UK website the max towing load is listed at only 750kgs (~1600lbs).
http://www.volvocars.com/uk/all-cars/volvo-xc90/details/pages/technical-spec.aspx

According to the UK owner's manual, the max 'unbraked' weight is 750kgs, while the max tow weight is 2250kgs (5000lbs) - this time with no special chart to describe decreasing tow capacity as passengers increase.


Going back to the US specs, the S80 (same car as XC90, different body and suspension) only lists 3300lbs max tow capacity. Again, class II hitch restrictions.

If I had to make a guess I would say this rapid decrease in recommended tow capacity in the US (maybe this also exists in other markets, but I didn't see it in the UK owner's manual) has to do with the car's GVWR in the US. I don't know much about the regulations, but I suspect there's some predetermined weight assigned to passengers which has some safety margin built in - like an average of 250lbs/person or something like that. So when you get lots of people that adds up ( 7 pass * 150lbs = 1050lbs. 7 pass * 250lbs = 1750lbs!!)

The AWD version weighs more to begin with, what with all the AWD running gear and the large engine plus all the interior options they package-in in the US to force the margins up... I think they just ran out of room on the GVWR and had to recommend less tow capacity - otherwise why wouldn't the FWD version decrease at the same rate with extra passengers.

For instance, they only give 180lbs extra GVWR for the V8 AWD car over the 6cyl FWD version. When you compare to the 6cyl AWD version it's only 165lbs extra. That's not much extra margin considering they give 250lbs extra curb weight for the AWD version...

Then again maybe not - after all they /only/ give 250lbs extra curb weight on the AWD version, so that doesn't seem like enough to throw their GVWR off with 500lbs of tongue weight....

I'm stumped.

Thanks for the fun puzzle though :)

IMHO your are probably fine towing at 5000lbs for shorter distances with a class III hitch and electric trailer brakes. (DO NOT TOW MORE THAN YOUR HITCH IS RATED FOR EVER EVER EVER.)

If you were ever in an accident though, I don't think your insurance company would look favourably upon greater-than-GVWR travelling, even for short distances.

Really if you want to tow more than class II wieghts (3500lbs+) you will need a heavier vehicle with appropriate tow rating. An Explorer would probably be my choice :)

Regardless, don't forget that if you'll be towing anything for long distances you'll need an aux transmission cooler, or you'll cook your transmission. There's just no extra cooling/lubricating capacity in modern transmissions.

--
1998 V70 AWD->FWD Turbo 200k+

Yes, it is puzzling to figure this out. I'm going to the company Open House in Rockleigh in October, and I'm planning to ask a company rep, in-person there, about this.

In Europe, towing limits are very different from here in the USA. Brake requirements, tongue weights, all play a role. I remember (checking this a few years ago) that the USA-market MB M-class had a limit of 5,000 lbs, and yet in the European market it was 7,700 lbs. Hard to figure, except for taking into consideration road (and TUV) regulations.

But I'm still irked about there not being enough pre-purchase acknowledgment of these drastic weight limits (considering the reasonable expectation of someone wanting to carry family members). I think that this is serious advertising deception.

And yes, I'm well aware of auxiliary transmission oil coolers. In fact, I've put one of these expensive Volvo accessories in all three of my 240's (currently an '84 and two '93s), simply because I just want the transmissions to run cooler and last longer (I also use synthetic fluid for the same reason). And the XC90's owners manual (2010 model year) also recommends both an auxiliary cooler and automatic self-leveling system (pg 154, column one, 5th bullet).

Nice corresponding with you. Best regards.