Used Volvo XC60 long-term test review
Does buying a nearly new example of the old Volvo XC60 make more sense than spending more on the new model, and how does its 10-year-old design stand up now? We've got six months to find out...
- The car 2017 Volvo XC60 D4 SE Nav
- Run by Mark Pearson, used cars deputy editor
- Why it’s here To find out if a recently replaced one-year-old used SUV, with a design that's now a few years old, can make a sound alternative to the new model
- Needs to Cope with a variety of uses, including daily commuting, motorway journeys, school runs and family life, as well as proving itself against its younger, fresher rivals
Price when new £32,865 Value on arrival £24,500 Value now £24,500 Miles on arrival 8620 Mileage now 15,095 Official economy 62.8mpg Test economy 39.6mpg CO2 emissions 117g/km 0-62mph 8.1sec Top speed 130mph Power 187bhp Insurance group 28E
1 August 2018 – the racer's choice
Our Volvo has been borrowed by many of the What Car? team and is now a well-travelled car. We've almost doubled its mileage in the five months we’ve had it, quartering the country on trips as far as Wales in one direction and Scotland in another. Such popularity is hardly surprising, because the XC60 is a great long-distance cruiser and extremely practical.
The last of our number to borrow it was reviewer Neil Winn, who used it to attend a race meeting in which he was competing. Here are his thoughts on our XC60.
If Hollywood has taught us anything, it’s that fighter pilots like to spend their down time thrashing around in sports cars or on superbikes. Fictional naval aviator Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell had his Kawasaki GPZ 900R, Apollo astronaut Alan Shepard had a 1957 Corvette, and Chuck Yeager even inspired Ford to introduce a souped-up Ford Mustang called the Mach 1.
The reality, however, is a lot more grounded. American website Autoweek recently interviewed a few members of the USAF Thunderbirds (the American Air Force’s display team) and two out of the six own a Volvo. “It has a five-star safety rating according to the National Highway Safety Administration, so it’s a very safe car to get me from point A to point B,” Major Whit Collins pointed out.
It would seem that all members of the team got their kicks in the air and therefore wanted little drama on the ground, something that I can relate to.
Over the past couple of months, I’ve been racing in the fiercely competitive Caterham 310R championship and have been using our long-term XC60 to get from event to event. Admittedly, it’s one of the more boring cars in the paddock, but that doesn’t bother me one bit.
You see, a race weekend is a real emotional rollercoaster. There are crashes, close calls and celebrations – each peak and trough taking a bit out of you. Which is why the Volvo has proved to be the ideal companion. After a long, hard day behind the wheel of the 310R (a hardcore version of the Caterham Seven sports car), it always comes as a massive relief to throw my gear in the XC60’s huge boot, climb into the comfortable driver’s seat and cruise home, knowing that a tank of diesel will last for a good 600 miles. Put simply, I wouldn’t want to attend a race weekend without it.
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