Used Volvo XC60 long-term test review

• 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 11,145 Official economy 62.8mpg Test economy 39.6mpg Emissions 117g/km CO2 0-62mph 8.1sec Top speed 130mph Power 187bhp Insurance group 28E

26 April 2018 – bulging boots

The XC60 is settling into life at What Car? HQ well. It's a sign of a good long-term car here that people want to borrow it, and the XC60's keys have been missing from my desk on a fairly regular basis since its arrival. Our senior reviewer Alan Taylor-Jones has been the most recent to swipe it, and here's his report.

Priorities change an awful lot in your thirties. Where a week off a few short years ago would have seen my wife and I flying off to somewhere interesting for the weekend, these days you’ll probably find us undertaking some sort of DIY project.

So with a bank holiday looming and four days booked off, I needed something capacious, comfortable and fairly frugal. Thankfully, Mark Pearson came to my rescue, offering his XC60 long-termer for the duration of my ‘holiday’. Seeing as we’d used editor Steve Huntingford’s S90 while we were successfully putting up the garden fence, I figured a Volvo would be a good omen.

So what did I have in store for the XC60? Maybe a few bits of flatpack or a selection of pretty plants? Nope, we had a patio to lay. That meant the poor Volvo was instead filled with 300kg of sand and paving slabs. Gulp.

As you can see from the pictures, it coped surprisingly well. Although it was sitting down a little on its rear springs, it looked like it could take plenty more weight. It was a doddle to load, too; there’s no load lip to speak of, a flat load area once the seats are down and no wheel arch intrusion either.

But while it scored highly as a practical carry-all, I wasn’t totally blown away by the XC60. For starters, the infotainment screen is far too small and the mess of buttons on the centre console not only look hideously dated, they’re a pain to use even after nearly a thousand miles in which to get acquainted with them.

But my biggest issue is with the driving position. I’m not a very tall chap, so generally need to have my seat pretty far forward – something that’s fine on almost all new cars. Sadly, the XC60’s steering wheel doesn’t adjust far enough towards the dash if I push the clutch all the way to the floor. Even worse, the gearlever is too far back to be truly comfortable. If I were in the market for an XC60, I’d definitely be looking for an auto.

Next: more from our long-term Volvo XC60 >