V90 Cross Country Pro D4 ....thoughts?
 

Hi everyone,

Well, it's been a while and all manner of things have happened since I was last here. Finally decided to place a factory order for a MB E Class estate 4wd. That was in Feb '19 and with no idea of when they will build it we have finally cancelled it. We have turned our attention back to the Volvo and are on the teetering edge of buying a nearly new V90 CC Pro. It comes with Xenium, BLIS and Smartphone. It's on 19" wheels and regular springs and the ride is OK.

If there is anyone online with any experience of this or a similar spec car could they spill the beans on the pros and cons? I may have left this post a bit late as we may jump today and make an offer.

Many thanks as always.
Paul

We plan to have a dealer fitted electric tow bar fitted (gulp), as well as Polestar to just improve the pick-up of the engine a bit.

As long as you are happy with the limited cargo area space due to the tailgate slope and it fits your needs you should be very happy with the V90CC.

Hi nu11eaf,

Yes, we are aware that the bootspace is down on the E and the A6 but it is still enough for us. I guess that there will be times when that sloping tailgate is an issue but it'll happen so rarely that I can overlook it. The fact that it's 4wd and with a bit of raised clearance is good and it comes with so many standard features. My wife has an SUV and really doesn't want another one and so this is a great middle ground. The All-Terrain and All-Road are stupid money and thus discounted instantly.
We also really like the fact that is just so safe. I'm sure that as time passes we may turn off some of the 'assists' but it's a better starting point than an Audi which comes with nothing and it seems that no-one, and I mean no-one, puts them on as an extra.

Now on my 2nd V90CC Pro and very happy with both; only changed to get Petrol.
Seems like you’ve answered your own questions - and I would agree with your assessment!
Raised ride height, space, 4WD, safety etc, all very much in its favour and yes, the sloping tailgate worried me initially (especially after a succession of XC70s), but in practice it’s only a slight issue when really fully loaded, which is not that often.
Both of mine have come with 4C but those I’ve driven with the standard set-up have been fine on 19”.
My only slight reservation would be that I found the D4 somewhat under-powered, hence a D5 which I had Polestarred.
Obviously personal preference but my advice would be to add Polestar to a D4 without hesitation - and assuming you’re buying from a main dealer, try haggling for Polestar in the price, or at least get it at a decent discount - I’ve added it to five cars now and never paid full price!
Looks like you’ve found a decent spec car but if you’re expecting a Pro model, I would urge you to make sure it really is a Pro, because there have been quite a few on Autotrader (and even Volvo Selekt) that claim to be but are most definitely not.
19” wheels were also an option for the non-Pro model and I believe even front fogs could be added initially, so beware...
A quick visual Pro give-away is tailored dash & door tops.
Otherwise, I’d say go for it, you’ll love it!

I changed to the V90 CC Pro T5 on 1 April after three XC60’s (D4’s).

I have been impressed with the space inside the car and the long distance cruising of the car following a return trip to Devon (600 miles) in May and a return trip to the Loire Valley last week (930 miles), and the fuel economy on these trips, 35mpg on the Devon trip and 36mpg on the France trip.

I only went for petrol this time, after 32 years of diesel powered cars, because of my low annual mileage (around 6,000).

The one thing I have noticed is the size of the door mirrors - they are bigger than those on the standard V90 and it does seem to make the car feel wide, especially on narrow country lanes or village roads.

I would certainly recommend the V90 CC Pro.

Hi volvocat,
Thanks for your thoughts. It definitely is a Pro with the features that you mention. It's a nice touch. I've still got the old brochure to refer to and compare.
I agree that the D4 does feel a little underpowered and a bit noisy, especially after driving an A6 Avant 40 the day before, but this is to be wife's car and she was very happy with it. The Polestar will give a little boost that will only make things better. I'm due to call the dealer later so shall discuss prices then so hopefully he is in a good mood. The list price for the D4 seems to be £750 all in. Does the little blue boot badge come with the ECU tweak? :D

Hi Suffolkboy,

Thanks for posting. Those mpg figures are better than I expected, I'm hoping for about 40-42mpg from this diesel. Yes, they are big aren't they and I joked yesterday with the salesman about how much they cost to replace.

I wish I could shop around for the D5 or a petrol but there aren't that many out there and the D4 is very common.
It all seems to be words of encouragement so far which is good. It does have it's minuses but they are few and easily outweighed by the pluses.

Glad you’ve confirmed it as a proper Pro - not essential features but makes a difference to value/resale and adds to the luxury/comfort feel of the car - plus I hate the idea that someone might think they’re getting something they are not!

Definitely try haggling to have Polestar added as part of the deal, but be aware there are offers open to anyone from time to time, so if they won’t throw it in for free, ideally you want it sub-£500 - even less if poss.
The best I managed was £150, worst was £550 when there were no official offers going.
Yes, it includes the little badge, but it’s white now, apparently blue is so last year!

If you’re happy with the spec and price and the lower-powered D4 is enough (hopefully with a Polestar tweak!), then this is the car for you.
But if a smoother, more responsive engine is a requirement, it would be worth shopping around for a petrol.
Sure, they’re scarcer but more are gradually appearing on the used market so it might be worth biding your time, especially if residuals matter to you - diesel values are dropping much faster than petrols.
I was really happy with my high-spec D5 Pro, although a T6 was always my ultimate goal but didn’t think I’d find one with the right kit, as most I’d seen had few options added - and there are precious few around anyway.
I even considered a couple of nice T5s but the trade-ins offered were abysmal.
Then, the right T6 suddenly appeared, with a sensible trade-in, so it was a no-brainer even though it cost me to ‘upgrade’, but at least I now have the right car for me and it should depreciate slower than a diesel.

I was going to ask about the prices you had achieved for Polestar so thanks. I don't mind paying a bit but as it's a software fiddle it doesn't really have much of a cost to them. So white is the new blue? I never knew.

They have my offer, which is a bit cheeky, and the ball is in their court. I await their response with curiosity but they are obviously playing the 'let him sweat over the weekend and see if he increases his offer' game. I'm not panicking as there will be plenty of cars coming to the market soon with '69 on the horizon and his '19 will drop overnight.

So far I have had my D4 V90 CC Pro for only 3 weeks and am very impressed. My previous car was a D4 XC60 R-Design Lux nav, and I just like the blend of power and torque of the D4, I think it's more than adequate for todays roads. Planning to have Polestar fitted next week, not for the performance gains but reading all the reviews I think it will just make it a more complete package. So far I have only covered 400ish miles, mainly short journeys on A+B roads with some city driving thrown in for good measure, and the car is showing 37.6 mpg, not sure how accurate the computer is but it is early days yet.

There is more tech on board than you can shake the proverbial stick at. Being 'old school' I like to 'hand drive' my cars so at the moment I am in the process of turning things on and off to see what suits, good fun though trying out the various technologies. One thing that really impressed is the shadow technology lights, only used them once up to now but they were a revelation. Currently going through the owners handbook in bite sized chunks to try and get a grasp of all the available features and how to use them.

Although I enjoyed my time with the XC60 which was a very capable car and did everything asked of it I am not a SUV person. One of the reasons I chose the CC is it fits the bill on all counts, raised ride height, AWD which will be a bonus crossing fields when I indulge my passion for fishing and photography, more interior space, I don't foresee the sloping tailgate being a problem, just need to be more careful when loading up above window level. All this wrapped up in a good looking estate body, whats not to like? A couple of plus points for me is easy in/out compared to the normal V90 estate which seem to me to be very low, and I can clean the roof, although 6ft. the XC required steps, now I can dispense with those, bonus.

I can't really think of any crucial cons. My previous XC60 R-Design had the sports suspension on 20" wheels and I never considered it harsh or crashy, by comparison the CC on 19" wheels and the standard touring set up is very soft by comparison, but in a good way, just glides over speed bumps and road imperfections, more of a 'wafter'.

If you do go for a Cross Country I think you will be impressed, to my mind the build quality and interior are up there with the 'big boys'.

Mike