Testing a D5 AWD Inscription this week

[Philip Fisher]

Originally Posted by Kev78

I'd just wouldn't pay £62k for a 2litre diesel. It's a total rip off.

Not convinced by volvos new engines or chassis plans. Seems the approach of a budget car maker not a premium one.

Worst thing about the new D5 is the cheap sound it makes. It doesn't come close to Bmw's 35d engine.

2 litre diesels belong in hatchbacks.

The fwd d4 XC90 is a travesty.

But, and this is an important point, many people don't pay £62k for the car. If they get a company car then the list price is just one of about 4 factors which determine, in relation to each other, the cost of ownership. So if the 2l engine drops the CO2 significantly, then, such is the way that the tax system works, it can make the overall cost drop considerably too.

So I will be moving from a D5 XC70 Diesel to a 2 litre petrol hybrid. The list price jumps from 44k for the D5 to 70k for the T8, but the total cost (of lease, tax, NI everything) drops by £400 a month for year 1 and 2 and £200 per month in year 3. So a T8 is cheaper than my XC70 which I regard as a bargain.

So, as you can see, whether it is 50k, 60k or 70k or even 80k for a T8 is largely irrelevant.

[Kev78]

Originally Posted by Philip Fisher

But, and this is an important point, many people don't pay £62k for the car. If they get a company car then the list price is just one of about 4 factors which determine, in relation to each other, the cost of ownership. So if the 2l engine drops the CO2 significantly, then, such is the way that the tax system works, it can make the overall cost drop considerably too.

So I will be moving from a D5 XC70 Diesel to a 2 litre petrol hybrid. The list price jumps from 44k for the D5 to 70k for the T8, but the total cost (of lease, tax, NI everything) drops by £400 a month for year 1 and 2 and £200 per month in year 3. So a T8 is cheaper than my XC70 which I regard as a bargain.

So, as you can see, whether it is 50k, 60k or 70k or even 80k for a T8 is largely irrelevant.

I have a company car myself but not everyone does.

My point isn't down to cost. It is that I think the D5 for £62k (not the t8) sounds cheap and pales in comparison to it's german rivals.

I would also argue many company car drivers at that paygrade put power and refinement before saving a few pennies.

These 4 cylinder engines sound cheap in a luxury suv.

The D5 also struggles despite the 230bhp. It's all delivered at low revs like all small capacity turbo engines.

[Schnorbitz]

I'm not sure if you've driven a new XC90 or not Kev but in my opinion the engine has a wide power band (for a turbo diesel), which must be related to the twin turbo set up presumably. I had a 4 cyl diesel BMW 3 series a couple of years ago and that engine didn't have nearly as broad a usable power band or the mechanical smoothness when revved to the red line.

The 5 cyl 215hp engine in my previous XC60 did sound better when at full chat but in my opinion can't hold a candle to the new engine in other respects.

[Dutchbird]

Reading the above entries ,we must be one of the few fools ,who paid the full price for a D5 Inscription , it has most of the options ticked and was just short of the 60K.

We have been rather dissapointed with the whole buying and owning experience of our now fourth new Volvo in the last three years.

The problems we have had are various and diverse such as;

The leather dashboard is made of an inferior leather and is damaged. According to Volvo UK this was due to "human error" at the factory. We are still awaiting a replacement dashboard.

All four wheels needed rebalancing within days as they were out beween 10 and 50 grams, another "human error".

Unknown to us ,the rear parking sensors did not work ,needless to say we reversed into an other car at night . We had to replace both the top and bottom bumper of our car at great expense ,the other car was a Disco and only had paint damage.

The dealer managed during the PDI to damage paintwork at the rear end of the car which was caused by rubbing too vigerious to remove some marks. We had this corrected ourselves by an excellent car detailer.

Had various false warning and faults indications appear and dissapear on the centre screen .This very of putting when driving there are too many gimmicks used too impress.

Needless to say we have parted company with this car dealer, we now have one who takes the time and is customer focused.

During the three month inspection they noticed the following;

The rear air suspension protective bellows were detached and were not correctly fitted , needed to be refitted with new cable ties.

The rear parking sensors connectors were also not fitted correctly and gave a wrong VIDA reading.

Both these items were not noticed during the PDI by our first dealer , is it not part of the PDI to do a functionality test on the car.

Whilst the car was at the Volvo hospital ,we decided to get the Polestar upgrade fitted , this has made a great difference especially when overtaking .

Overall the car is not a bad car but it has too many needless small faults which all put together in the end ,begs the question, "is the car worth the money we paid for it " and to be honest it is unfortunatly not the case!

We had hoped for more from this car but we are sadly dissapointed.

[AB-UK]

I am sorry to hear of your disappointment Dutchbird.

I'm hoping that by the time we get around to buying the new XC90 (I have owned two older versions - 2003 and a 2010) Volvo will have worked on all of the faults which owners of the first batch have experienced.
You have been used as a guinea pig by Volvo it seems.

Perhaps now that your new dealer is on the case you will not have to put up with many more niggles.

[Philip Fisher]

Originally Posted by Kev78

I have a company car myself but not everyone does.

My point isn't down to cost. It is that I think the D5 for £62k (not the t8) sounds cheap and pales in comparison to it's german rivals.

I would also argue many company car drivers at that paygrade put power and refinement before saving a few pennies.

These 4 cylinder engines sound cheap in a luxury suv.

The D5 also struggles despite the 230bhp. It's all delivered at low revs like all small capacity turbo engines.

You described 62k for a 2l diesel as a "total rip off" which made me think that you were very much making a point about cost. My point was that list price isn't everything, especially for anyone who has a company car, or who leases a car.

But anyway, all other things being equal we would all rather a large capacity engine with loads of torque and a lovely burbly noise. Unfortunately all other things aren't equal. We have co2 emissions targets from the EU which mean that manufacturers have to reduce the co2 average from their range. The previous target was 130g, I think the new one is 95g by 2020 but I might be wrong.

Volvo has made the call that the only way to do this is to "not count cylinders" and to get more power out of smaller engines. This is their new platform and their new engine methodology. They believe that this is the future. I guess in 5 years time we will all be able to judge whether it as a correct call or not.

A lot of the rest of the market is moving in the same direction V12's and V8's have become less prevalent and engines are getting smaller at more or the same power, but no one (in the premium class at least) has gone as far as Volvo. What we do know is that VAG has also now been found to have cheated the co2 tests, so perhaps all these 3.0d straight sixes with reasonable co2 levels are actually too good to be true. I would not be at all surprised if BMW were up to the same shenanigans as VW, but the truth will eventually out.

So, as I said, in five years time we will either accept small capacity engines as normal and Volvo will be in a good strategic position and will be capitalising on being "first mover" or we will have co2 target complying large capacity engines available and Volvo will be seen to have made a mistake and be punished by the market.

Only time will tell, but in the meantime I plan to enjoy my cheap T8 (once it arrives obviously)...

[AndrewMG]

My review for anyone that's interested https://www.tartantarmac.com/weekend...volvo-xc90-d5/

[I-S]

By the time you match the spec, the BMW X5 is basically the same price in xDrive 25d form.

Which, oddly enough, is a 2.0 4-cyl diesel engine of 231bhp.

[basoom]

Thanks AndrewMG for your report
You make no mention of road noise and I would be nice to read your view on the matter..

[Philip Fisher]

Originally Posted by AndrewMG

My review for anyone that's interested https://www.tartantarmac.com/weekend...volvo-xc90-d5/

Any car that gets a score of 5 Tunnocks tea cakes is a car for me!