Swapped XC90 for 2018 XC60 with all bells & whistles

[SwissXC90]

So my car is currently immobile and sitting at Volvo for 2 weeks (long story coming soon...)

They dropped off a free courtesy car today to have for a week or so until my car is mobile again.

A 2018 XC60, with headsup display, air suspension, heated cooled vented massaging seats, heated rear seats, the big iPad center screen, android auto and Apple CarPlay ,adaptive cruise control, pilot assist, speed limitier, sign recognition, 360° camera, the whole internet-in-the-car thing, bluetooth everything, apps galore, OnCall, and all the extras you could possibly think of.

Took it for a fun drive tonight and tried PilotAssist in the dark on rural roads.
Scary, but it worked!
And the speed limtier slows you down if you go to fast, that's cool

Man what a difference a decade in design brings.

I want to keep it !!

[JADXC]

Sounds good,

But in the old XC90 there are no fatalities recorded, in the new XC60 there are .

[XJSDriver]

interesting about fatalities.

I drove a new passat recently (work's pool car) and the brake assist was a nightmare; at times if you come up to a car, particularly at a roundabout and you can see the car about to move you naturally get close to get out too, but brake assist decides differently and slams on the brakes - terrifying!! So glad no one was close behind otherwise I would have been in an accident.
A colleague had similar experience when reversing out of his drive, car slammed on the brakes as it thought it was going to hit something - but 'something' was no where to be seen!

I am keeping my Xc90 for as long as I can!

[Tannaton]

Originally Posted by JADXC

Sounds good,

But in the old XC90 there are no fatalities recorded, in the new XC60 there are .

Quite true but that might be down to the fact there are nearly twice as many XC60's around than XC90 (in the UK) and the XC60 user base is a slightly different demographic than the XC90.

Up until 10 months ago I had a 2016(17MY) XC60 company car and a 2003 XC90 on my drive. Loved both, but even though the XC60 was new and more modern I never felt disappointed getting into the XC90 every now and then.

[Moose Test]

I am mildly concerned that I would actually consider trading my left testicle for a new XC60 T8 in Inscription Pro trim level.

[SwissXC90]

Found more bells and whistles today after a weekend in the mountains:

Heated steering wheel - hadn't noticed that before

Massaging passenger seat as well as driver's seat. My passenger and I loved the back massage on the 2hr drive home following a day in the snow!!

The sound system is the Bowers and Wilkins system, great sound

The Nokian Winter tyres were great in the snow.

Sport Mode is really good for uphill on the mountain roads, and the air suspension was nice and firm. We laughed as the car increases the ride height in off-road mode.

I updated all the apps, and tried a few out.
The Wiki app had us in hysterics as the text-to-speech algorithm tried to pronouce Swiss names in English. But a lot of fun getting it to read aloud articles about our destination.

Sent our location via Glympse to our friends who were also driving up, they found that useful.

Maps were due for an update but as I was eating into my own private data allowance for a loaner vehicle, I left the maps as-is.

360 degree camera is brilliant for parking, but I often switch to rear or front view to get a better look and feel for what I am reversing into or nosing into.

Downsides:

Cream coloured leather - looks nice but impracticle.
The driver's seat was already staining blue from jeans after 6 months / 20,000 kms. And the steering wheel had some grubby marks on it.
And the door panels were starting to get a bit discoloured.
So if you order a light coloured interior, you need to treat it with kid gloves, keep it clean, treat the leather often, and NEVER wear blue jeans.
Much better: get dark leather interior, like my XC90. After 10 years it still looks great!

Voice control: hit and miss. Might improve with training (both driver and vehicle)

Apps: the big display can only show 4 items: Navigation, Audio, Phone and one App.
So you can only load one extra app: either Wiki or Weather or Glympse or Driver monitoring, but never more than one. That's a shame. I think it could fit 5 or 6 on the display.

Text to speech: When turning onto the 1L motorway, the nav said to turn on to the 1-litre. It interpreted 1L as 1 litre. Funny.
And it doesn't say "Aye-One" for the A1 motorway. It says "Ahh-One". This is a weakness of the text-to-speech system that I am sure could be improved with software improvements.

Instrument cluster:
The nav display is great, but it would be good to also show audio track info with nav display. I think there's enough room.
and the difference in displays between driving modes is absolutely minimal. They should apply more differentiation.

But all in all the MY2019 XC60 is an awesome car.
the SPA platform offers so much versatility, and the continual improvements through software updates is a dream come true for owners and for the vehicle dealers. So easy to fix problems, so easy to roll out new features.

But at something like 80,000 CHF = 60,000 GBP, quite expensive!

[Tannaton]

Originally Posted by Moose Test

I am mildly concerned that I would actually consider trading my left testicle for a new XC60 T8 in Inscription Pro trim level.

Any deposit derived from your love spuds is likely to lead to trouble...

[AidanC]

My XC90 was at the Volvo dealer twice last year for an annual service and then the timing belt. The first time I had a new XC90 as a courtesy car and for the second visit I had a new V90. Funnily enough, I was a bit disappointed with the new XC90 - I thought that it lacked personality and I think that it looks a bit brash. I really liked the V90 - its a really impressive car and such a good drive. Neither car will fit in a standard parking space length-wise so probably hard to live with on a day to day basis.

I'm very interested to hear what's happened to your XC90 and why its taking so long to fix. My own looks to have some issues developing so I'm thinking long and hard about our future together.

[SwissXC90]

Originally Posted by AidanC

I'm very interested to hear what's happened to your XC90 and why its taking so long to fix. My own looks to have some issues developing so I'm thinking long and hard about our future together.

It's an interesting story, and one that all will benefit from when I post it.
To keep you interested: the car was actually running fine when it went in (well, apart from binding left rear brakes and a transmission that may have a dodgy torque converter but that is not really the story)

I'm just waiting for the outcome before I post it.
Dealer might return the car this week (although I'm happy to keep the XC60 longer).

So keep watching for a new thread from me - it's a story with a lesson.
For owners and mechanics and dealers.

[okedave]

Originally Posted by AidanC

My XC90 was at the Volvo dealer twice last year for an annual service and then the timing belt. The first time I had a new XC90 as a courtesy car and for the second visit I had a new V90. Funnily enough, I was a bit disappointed with the new XC90 - I thought that it lacked personality and I think that it looks a bit brash.

Ive had two on loan while mines been in for wrk, a T8 R-Design, and a D5, the T8 felt very exclusive, and I loved all the 'toys' such as reactive cruise control and 360 degree camera, but felt like you that it lacked personality and was rather dull to drive. The 1st Gen one that I have puts a smile on my face when I climb into it :-)