Costs & verdict
Everyday costs, plus how reliable and safe it is
The Volvo V90 Cross Country is a more expensive cash buy, by quite a margin as it happens, than the standard V90 or an equivalent BMW 5 Series Touring and Mercedes E-Class Estate. Then again, if you want off-road looks, it's similar money to the Audi A6 Allroad.
We'd still stick with the cheapest version, though, the B5 (P) petrol, which can average 30-35mpg. If you're intending to do lots of miles, the diesel is more economical, though – expect to average another 10mpg or so.
Volvo is renowned for its safety record and the V90 Cross Country has autonomous emergency braking (AEB) that recognises pedestrians, cyclists, large animals and, of course, cars. You also get traffic sign recognition, blind spot assistance and lane-keeping assistance.
The standard V90, which is virtually identical to the Cross Country, gets Euro NCAP’s full five-star crash safety rating. If you look at its individual category results, you’ll see it does a better job of protecting adults’ chests when they’re sat in the front seats than the Audi A6 Avant and Mercedes E-Class Estate.
Volvo finished 16th in the What Car? Reliability survey (out of 31). That’s well below BMW but above Audi and Mercedes. All V90 Cross Country's come with a three-year/60,000-mile warranty as standard, which is not overly generous.
