Shopping & aesthetics
I wanted nothing to do with the car market, but we had to replace our totaled primary vehicle in short order. I originally sought a V90, and I told my long tale of woe in that forum. I’m not a “things work out for a reason” guy, but this turned out well.
I had to source the vehicle from a dealer 1,000 miles away—and I live on the east coast USA. Transaction with shipping went well enough, but I had to follow up on details and still had to remedy errors.
One knock on the previous generation V60 was the cramped rear seating. We have two young teen kids. Size is fine for the primary car. With that fixed, there wasn’t much compromise to step down from the V90. No heated rear seats option, not a dealbreaker. Welcome gains in efficiency of the smaller platform, along with keeping 10 grand in my pocket.
I do see one V90 around town. It is a beauty—definitely catches my eye. But when I walk back to our V60 in a parking lot, it stands out from the sea of crossovers every time. The Birch color is uninspiring on paper, but really glows with that understated class you want from Volvo.
Warranty
I added the 10-year Volvo CPO warranty extension. The dealer nearly matched the most aggressive online dealer price, so I just paid the extra to bundle in the same transaction. I’m generally skeptical of warranties given cash reserves on hand, but 10% of the purchase price seems pretty reasonable to cover the likelihood of at least $3,500 or so in covered repairs for an extra seven years, especially with high mileage. The main problem is that you’re beholden to dealer service to avoid risk of shirking claims, but maybe you get some goodwill for being a warranty customer.
Performance
My biggest concern was that the 19” wheels would ride hard. It came with Yokohama Avid Ascend grand touring tires, which are not best in class. Rides plenty smooth. Potholes are nasty, but they’re potholes. Kudos to the suspension.
Turbo lag is real. It hesitates off the line, and you have to compensate for that. The egress from my neighborhood is precarious, so I live that every day. Sometimes I work the throttle and brake at the same time to spool it up a little before letting it go.
The braking is grabby at initiation. I see my passengers lurch forward a bit. My wife doesn’t report the problem, but I have a really hard time initiating a brake without a detectable little jerk. It’s fine once initiated.
System settings are as fiddly as reviewed. Hard to find what you need when you need it. Partly why I’ve never used the park assist. Too fiddly. iPhone integration is pretty solid, though.
Could use a third split folding seat rather than that cutesy porthole. Some of the interior plastic caps have fallen off. Again, not dealbreakers.
I don’t ask much in terms of sport handling. Corners better than my old V70. No trouble with assertive merging and passing. Engine is plenty powerful. Maybe I’m partial to the grunt of a smaller turbo vs. the refinement of a bigger, normally-aspirated engine.
Otherwise content with the serenity it delivers. Road and engine noise may be more intrusive than luxury class, but it’s not objectionable. And price reflects that.
Best part is, my wife likes it. Classy, comfy, and assured. Her appreciation of the V60, that is.
Accessories
The obfuscated U.S. towing spec is annoying. Yes, it will tow Class II, well within the higher European spec, and you can get aftermarket towing kit. But official Volvo U.S. accessories do not include V60 towing, just the Xs.
I only asked my local dealer service rep casually whether they would perform the towing programming for the trailer wiring. He said not if they don’t install the hitch themselves. I’d like a hitch, but don’t want the aggravation of cajoling the dealer to override the official catalog or tempt fate with voiding the warranty with aftermarket options—however unwarranted that really is.
I just got load bars and a roof box. Opted for the Volvo box, and bought the Thule parts a la carte from different vendors on Amazon. The parts were probably B-stock, but the packaging for small fittings was still sealed. Saved a couple hundred bucks this way compared with a Thule bundle from one vendor.
I didn’t want the Volvo bars with the rounded edges—I needed the extra bar length (car width) to accommodate a small rowboat. There’s some high pitch noise with the bare bars, but not with the box, and its noise isn’t objectionable.
Box is plenty big to haul stuff, should easily accommodate 120 lb of gear (to net out at the 165 lb max load up there). First application is for skis—figured I’d just get the box for my trouble rather than a ski rack.
For posterity, here’s my parts list for the roof assembly:
Thule
- Wingbar Evo 118
- Evo Flush Rail Foot Pack
- Roof Rack System Fit Kit 6010 (this is specific to the V60 rails)
Volvo
- Travel 500 Roof Box 32296427
Apparently Thule is the Volvo Travel 500 OEM, equivalent to Thule Motion 3. I was able to get it cheapest from the dealer, who charged a nominal handling fee and installed it for me when I picked it up.
Minor thing, but I sprung for the ProClip custom console phone holder. It’s a tight fit with the charging cable plug in, but better than dangling off a vent. I can’t do without accessing the phone directly, even with reliable CarPlay.
Conclusion
Highly recommend the V60 if you can find one. Worth seeking out if you don’t want a jacked up and cladded XC. Easier to reach the roof box. Better fuel economy. Looks better. Throw on a set of chains if you need to get through serious snow in a pinch, or get winter tires if you need them.
I still assert Vs are only less popular than Xs because dealers won’t stock them, not because they won’t sell.