Volvo V60 - impressions after 5,000 miles
Aug 9, 2016 23:15:44 GMT
Post by Avant on Aug 9, 2016 23:15:44 GMT
I keep thinking that in semi-retirement my annual mileage will go down from 20,000 a year - but here we are again: on 6 August, three months to the day from delivery, the odometer went over 5,000. Anyway, a good time to post some impressions.
As I've said before, after three Octavia vRS estates I'd have happily had a fourth, but for the firm bolsters on the seats which made it difficult for SWMBO to get in and out. I suppose there was also a thought that - as I'll probably keep this one for more than the usual 3 years or so - a Volvo might age better than a VW Group product.
A BMW X1 would have suited, but my usual method of getting a quote from a broker and seeing if the local dealer can match it didn't work, as BMW (at least at the beginning of this year) weren't talking to brokers. The result was that an X1 was going to be £140 a month more on a PCP contract than the V60. Part of this was because so much equipmemt is an optional extra on BMWs, and discounts aren't given on extras.
So even if it wasn't my first choice, I've generally been happy with the V60. It's the D4 (190 bhp turbodiesel) with torque converter automatic, in quite a fetching shade of light blue.
Good things:
- It's safe and solid, and seems built to last.
- Reasonably quiet diesel engine which is loosening up nicely with pulling away from rest getting gradually livelier.
- Very smooth gearchanges, and an easy shift of the selector to the left bringing in sport mode and a useful immediate downchange. It's particularly useful when going up a hill slowly (as you often have to in rural Dorset); when left to itself the transmission is in a higher ratio than I'd have chosen on a manual gearbox.
- Volvo have some of the best seats in the business, and these are excellent, and adjustable in all possible ways, with standard lumbar support adjustment (scandalously an extra on the BMW).
- A lot of ink is spilt by road testers saying how small the load area is, and how it isn't a proper Volvo estate - but if they actually tried using it they'd find it's perfectly adequate for most normal needs (and there are bigger Volvos available if not). The length with the rear seats down is fine, and the V60 can do two things that the Octavia couldn't: there's a 40/20/40 split of the backrest, and the front seat backrest will fold forward. They should stop measuring load area in litres - I've never been able to fathom why they do that.
The fuel tank is of course measured in litres, and 67 litres is terrific, giving a 700-mile range. Eat your heart out, Nissan Leaf.
Not-so-good things:
- Volvo should take a lesson from BMW in how to set up an 'infotainment' (horrible word) system: the Volvo system is counter-intuitive. At least it's not a touchscreen, which would be worse, but I'd much rather have a rotary controller like the iDrive or the Audi system.
- Turning circle nothing to write home about, but maybe I was spoilt by the Octavia's.
- The space-saver spare wheel takes up the whole of the under-floor compartment, but at least it was available as an option.
- I don't like the electronic parking brake, which is for some reason down by my right knee, and is also counter-intuitive in being push forward for on, pull back for off. Give me a proper handbrake any day.
- Checking the engine oil level requires a fiddly exercise with the trip computer: there's no dipstick, which is just plain stupid.
- The 'manual' is online only, and hopeless at explaining anything.
But overall the pluses well outweigh the minuses. I may never be quite as fond of the V60 as I was of the three Octavias, but it's growing on me.
As I've said before, after three Octavia vRS estates I'd have happily had a fourth, but for the firm bolsters on the seats which made it difficult for SWMBO to get in and out. I suppose there was also a thought that - as I'll probably keep this one for more than the usual 3 years or so - a Volvo might age better than a VW Group product.
A BMW X1 would have suited, but my usual method of getting a quote from a broker and seeing if the local dealer can match it didn't work, as BMW (at least at the beginning of this year) weren't talking to brokers. The result was that an X1 was going to be £140 a month more on a PCP contract than the V60. Part of this was because so much equipmemt is an optional extra on BMWs, and discounts aren't given on extras.
So even if it wasn't my first choice, I've generally been happy with the V60. It's the D4 (190 bhp turbodiesel) with torque converter automatic, in quite a fetching shade of light blue.
Good things:
- It's safe and solid, and seems built to last.
- Reasonably quiet diesel engine which is loosening up nicely with pulling away from rest getting gradually livelier.
- Very smooth gearchanges, and an easy shift of the selector to the left bringing in sport mode and a useful immediate downchange. It's particularly useful when going up a hill slowly (as you often have to in rural Dorset); when left to itself the transmission is in a higher ratio than I'd have chosen on a manual gearbox.
- Volvo have some of the best seats in the business, and these are excellent, and adjustable in all possible ways, with standard lumbar support adjustment (scandalously an extra on the BMW).
- A lot of ink is spilt by road testers saying how small the load area is, and how it isn't a proper Volvo estate - but if they actually tried using it they'd find it's perfectly adequate for most normal needs (and there are bigger Volvos available if not). The length with the rear seats down is fine, and the V60 can do two things that the Octavia couldn't: there's a 40/20/40 split of the backrest, and the front seat backrest will fold forward. They should stop measuring load area in litres - I've never been able to fathom why they do that.
The fuel tank is of course measured in litres, and 67 litres is terrific, giving a 700-mile range. Eat your heart out, Nissan Leaf.
Not-so-good things:
- Volvo should take a lesson from BMW in how to set up an 'infotainment' (horrible word) system: the Volvo system is counter-intuitive. At least it's not a touchscreen, which would be worse, but I'd much rather have a rotary controller like the iDrive or the Audi system.
- Turning circle nothing to write home about, but maybe I was spoilt by the Octavia's.
- The space-saver spare wheel takes up the whole of the under-floor compartment, but at least it was available as an option.
- I don't like the electronic parking brake, which is for some reason down by my right knee, and is also counter-intuitive in being push forward for on, pull back for off. Give me a proper handbrake any day.
- Checking the engine oil level requires a fiddly exercise with the trip computer: there's no dipstick, which is just plain stupid.
- The 'manual' is online only, and hopeless at explaining anything.
But overall the pluses well outweigh the minuses. I may never be quite as fond of the V60 as I was of the three Octavias, but it's growing on me.
