Costs & verdict
Everyday costs, plus how reliable and safe it is
If you tend to keep a beady eye on costs, the V60 is worthy of your attention. Generally, like for like it’s no pricier to buy in cash than its chief rivals from Audi, BMW and Mercedes, but you could save money and still get practicality if you buy the Skoda Superb Estate or the Volkswagen Passat Estate. If you're buying on finance, the V60 is usually competitive for both PCP and leasing.
The V60 is also predicted to hold on to a solid chunk of its value when it comes to reselling in three years. There's little to split it on depreciation with the Audi A4 Avant and Mercedes C-Class Estate, but the BMW 3 Series Touring is expected to be slightly better.
Stick to entry-level Momentum Plus trim for the best value. This has more than enough gubbins to keep the gadget lovers entertained, such as the 9.0in touchscreen with sat-nav, a 10-speaker stereo, LED headlights and parking sensors front and rear. You also get the electric tailgate we wrote about as well as dual-zone climate control, cruise control, 18in alloy wheel and heated front seats.
R-Design is also tempting, which bags you the nappa leather seats with cloth inserts, keyless entry, privacy glass and a gesture-controlled tailgate (just swipe your foot under the rear bumper and the tailgate opens). This is the entry-level trim on the Recharge T6 model, which comes with a Type 2 charging cable (to plug into public chargers) and standard. Its maximum charging rate is 3.7kW and at that rate, the battery is charged from empty in three hours.
The V60 is one of the safest estate cars on the market and gets an excellent five-star rating from Euro NCAP. It's as good at protecting adults and children in a crash as the 3 Series Touring. The A4 Avant has a noticeably worse adult occupancy rating than both. The standard safety kit for the V60 includes automatic emergency braking (AEB) that will detect cars, pedestrians, cyclists and large animals, traffic sign recognition, oncoming lane mitigation (to help avoid a head-on collision) and lane-keeping assistance.
The Driver Assist pack includes blind-spot warning and Pilot Assist (adaptive cruise control that also includes steering control). It is worth considering but rather pricey.
