Figured it would be worthwhile to check in with other longer-term owners (although anyone may chime in) to see what the verdict is. What have been your likes and dislikes with your S60/V60 and overall were you pleased with your ownership experience?
I suspect that polling an enthusiast board will skew toward the positive side, but we’ll see. This is not scientific, it’s purely for entertainment purposes!
I’ll start:
2015.5 V60 T5 (drive-E) platinum, power blue, beechwood interior, 18″ Mirzam wheels
Likes:
–It’s a really handsome car. I love the power blue with the beechwood interior. I like the simple design of the interior, and the build materials are top-notch — almost no nasty hard plastic to be found. It’s also unique — I can go weeks without seeing another one.
–It’s really comfortable — in front at least. Probably the most comfortable front seats I’ve ever encountered. In the first week I owned it, I drove 500+ miles to open my summer home for the season. Unlike my old Subaru Legacy GT wagon, which required me to stop and stretch my back every few hours, had I been able to drive nine hours without peeing I could have made it without stopping.
–highway gas mileage — I’ve hit 36mpg on the highway, which I find pretty impressive. On that first trip to my summer home, I made the 500+ trip on one tank (albeit barely).
–it has the full suite of safety features available at the time, which was very important since it would be the family car transporting my daughter, who was nine when we bought it, and is now 17 and learning to drive in it.
–It’s a very manageable size, so it’s easy to park and maneuver through urban traffic.
–the engine is plenty peppy. It’s not going to snap anybody’s head back through ferocious acceleration, but it can definitely move quickly when needed.
–Lots of easy-to-find buttons on the dashboard, instead of needing to delve deeply into a touchscreen to find functions
–edit: someone mentioned the adaptive cruise control, which I forgot to mention. After having it, I’ll never have a car without it ever again!
Dislikes:
–The engine:
–excessive NVH. This is really my main dislike of this car. I find the engine loud and course, particularly under acceleration. It doesn’t sound like an engine that belongs in a near-luxury car (my mother has a 2017 XC90 and I feel the same way about it in that application, although the noise is suppressed much more effectively). Every time I drive my wife’s Ford Focus ST, with its turbo four and a little more power than the drive-E engine, I’m reminded that turbo fours can be smooth and enjoyable to drive.
–While it gets great highway mileage, the around town mileage is in the low-20s, generally about 3-4 mpg less than I had expected.
–I had the detonation problem in the first 30k miles, which required new spark plugs and a recommendation I stick to premium gas. One of the selling points for me had been a reasonably powerful engine with good gas mileage that could take regular gas. Since premium costs a lot more than regular around here, a rough conservative calculation shows about $1,500 in extra fuel costs over the last five years.
–it was an oil burner. By 89K miles, it was burning a quart every 500 miles. I had the ring replacement done with goodwill from Volvo, but was still out of pocket more than $2,000.
–The ride. Even without the sport suspension, I’ve always found the ride to be way to firm, bordering on harsh. I was amazed at the contrast between the V60 and my new X5 — parts of the road I had learned to steer around in the V60 because of harsh impacts I now drive right over with only a distant thud.
–while I said I liked its overall size, the back seat and the cargo area are a little tight. Had Volvo offered an Inscription version for the V60, with its extra three inches of legroom, I would have ordered it. I use a Thule top box when necessary.
–the Sensus infotainment was dated when it was introduced
Notes:
–I voted “liked it but didn’t love it.” When I was in the market, there were very few sport wagons available. Subaru discontinued the Legacy Wagon and offered only the Outback, which didn’t appeal to me. The BMW 3 series wagon and the Audi A4 Allroad were each $10k more similarly equipped. Buick’s Regal wagon hadn’t been introduced. Volkswagen’s Jetta Wagon was in the last year of a long design cycle, and while the new generation was on sale in Europe it hadn’t reached our shores. Honestly, had it been available I likely would have bought that instead of the V60. Overall, I’m satisfied, but I don’t love it the way I loved my old Subaru Legacy GT wagon.