XC60 (D4) 181 R Design Lux, Nav thoughts

[Crockers]

Just a thought....wouldn't the saving by having 18" wheels ooset the extra tax for having the auto?

[jukkha156]

Crockers, thats a very good point, auto could now be an option.

Inego, yeah looks like the inbuilt booster seats has to be a must have option.

Watchboy, I had never considered the V70 but of course i am aware it is a very, very practical vehicle. I think though it is probably above budget in terms of business rental anyway and i guess it's more to do with wanting to drive something a bit higher up for a change instead of my usual route of saloons. I also love the look of the new facelifted XC60 and the fresh look.

Like you say though, it is a very tough one and i have to make some compromise. It's not 'all' about the kids but i do want to make it easier for them and us in a nice environment. (Our current 3 series is just too small).

[Harvey1512]

My two are just reaching the teen stage but one thing about kids is that you always need good boot space. Not just size but access. For that alone I would not touch a saloon car whilst you have kids, young ones in particular. (I say this as someone who looked at an E class recently as the deals on them are tremendous and found it to be very special but just impractical in saloon form)

For the age of yours you will also be using booster seats for the next three years. A higher riding car makes helping kids in and out soooooo much easier as you are not bending down. Your back may be fine now but a few years of arching and lifting..........

In your shoes I would only be looking at an XC60 or equivalent. Look at a Q5, Honda CRV etc. I am not blindly saying Volvo, although the XC60 is a lovely car and they are pushing them at the moment, but that style of car for a young family really will make life easier. Drive one and you will see it is not a compromise either.

[Flux]

Originally Posted by watchboy

........................The rear seats are raised in the XC60 which I personally think provides greater leg room for back seat passengers, especially if they are sat behind me!

It's a tough one really, the V70 is a great overall package but isn't everyones cup of tea and is a substantial beast especially length wise which means you always seem to overhang car parking spaces.

The XC60 is a slightly, and I do mean slightly more compact vehicle except for its height. The interior of both cars is great but the XC60 feels like a newer and fresher environment.

Ride wise the V70 used to be very, very smooth but didn't handle as well as the XC60 in R-Design spec. You have to compromise somewhere unfortunately but the XC60 feels more connected and I'd happily take that over the V70 for the greater majority of journeys.

Regarding the larger wheels I wouldn't think they do R-Design spec vehicles any favours other than improve the aesthetic appearance slightly.

Good luck whatever you decide

Paul

Thanks for this input Paul.

I am shortly to trade up from a V70 to XC60. To me the V70 has been a great car with bags of room in the back. Am slighly worried the XC60 won't be as roomy in the boot (which it obviously won't) although kids are out of prams and also no need to lug around travel cot (and sadly no dog any more). Having said that, these items will be replaced by bikes etc etc and will now have to consider bike rack with towbar as no vehicle (even my V70) would be able to fit three bikes in the back and all the other stuff.

Will be a little sad to see the V70 go but believe the XC60 will be a better vehicle all round and suit the needs of my family (plus the luxury of a newer car and spec and great reviews).

For me the V70 has been a very reliable vehicle and pleasant to drive and hope the XC60 just takes it all to another level entirely.

[wimorrison]

Originally Posted by Flux

Thanks for this input Paul.

I am shortly to trade up from a V70 to XC60. To me the V70 has been a great car with bags of room in the back. Am slighly worried the XC60 won't be as roomy in the boot (which it obviously won't) although kids are out of prams and also no need to lug around travel cot (and sadly no dog any more). Having said that, these items will be replaced by bikes etc etc and will now have to consider bike rack with towbar as no vehicle (even my V70) would be able to fit three bikes in the back and all the other stuff.

Will be a little sad to see the V70 go but believe the XC60 will be a better vehicle all round and suit the needs of my family (plus the luxury of a newer car and spec and great reviews).

For me the V70 has been a very reliable vehicle and pleasant to drive and hope the XC60 just takes it all to another level entirely.

I have to say that I still miss the space that I had in the v70 - the XC60 has a lot, but not when compared to the v70 as I have just found out having dragged 4 adults plus luggage around for the past 5 days.

[watchboy]

Originally Posted by wimorrison

I have to say that I still miss the space that I had in the v70 - the XC60 has a lot, but not when compared to the v70 as I have just found out having dragged 4 adults plus luggage around for the past 5 days.

Agreed, the cavernous boot space in the V70 takes some beating! I remember well the various test drives when I was looking at the V70, A6 and Skoda Superb. The magazines would have you believe that the Superb has a boot the size of a football stadium.

What the magazines and reviewers don't mention is that Volvo calculate or publish the load space volume slightly differently than their competitors.

We have 3 boxer dogs and a large boot is an absolute must. I remember looking at the Superb and thinking to myself that whilst it was a long / deep space there were 2 major things that many reviews had neglected to mention, it was narrow and the tailgate design (a sweeping curved shape) meant that the distance from the back seats to the middle of the tailgate window was tight.

The A6 in fairness had an enormous boot and was easily as big as the V70's but I just didn't take to the Audi at all, not sure why but the ride wasn't great and I wasn't sure about the image.

When I went to test the V70 the stand out design feature was that the tailgate was pretty much at right angle to the roof and the width of the load aperture was much wider than the Skoda's and comparable if not better than the A6's.

It was the width and depth of the V70's boot combined with that silky smooth ride and 5 cylinder engine that won me over. Never did I have any issues with a lack of space!

We once went to Ikea for assorted wardrobes and many, many other items that I won't bore you with and with the front passenger seat folded flat it took everything we had bought. An Ikea employee was giving us a hand as we had 2 of the big trolleys that were piled high, he didn't think it would all go in but it did!! He was pretty gob smacked...... as was the cars suspension, it was a relatively short but sedate drive home that evening.

The XC60 isn't exactly tight on space, I have now twice collected items from Currys, a washing machine and a tumble drier and other than removing the retractable cargo cover and popping it in the rear seat foot-well, I haven't had to lower the seat backs or remove any packaging. Literally just lift in and away you go :-)

We have a roof box for UK holidays so never had any major problems with storage issues on holiday.

Paul

[ChrisL]

I have a 2 year old and a baby on the way, the main thing that made me look at the XC was the height, getting the 2 year old in and out of the car seat in a 3 series was becoming a pain. I appreciate the a6 and e class are higher than the 3 series but they won't compare to the volvo. I also would discount the saloon, the height in the boot is far too limiting for kids IMO. I took all the car seats and pram with me when testing the volvo just to make sure it all fits

[inego]

Originally Posted by Flux

Having said that, these items will be replaced by bikes etc etc and will now have to consider bike rack with towbar as no vehicle (even my V70) would be able to fit three bikes in the back and all the other stuff.

I discovered last night that, if I take the front wheels off and lie them on top of each other, two adult bikes and two passengers can comfortably fit inside the XC60 with 60% of the back seat down. Unfortunately we'll usually have 4 bikes, so an external rack is a must - I have brackets for 3 bikes on the roof, but it's just too high to be comfortable, and I wouldn't be able to use the roof box.

I agree that wagons are ideal for kids of all ages, and have gone Golf (pre-kids), Outback, Octavia Scout for my previous 3 cars. But with my 11yo almost wearing my shoes (and I'm 6'3"), legroom is becoming the bigger issue than luggage.

[andymcp]

Originally Posted by inego

Unfortunately we'll usually have 4 bikes, so an external rack is a must - I have brackets for 3 bikes on the roof, but it's just too high to be comfortable, and I wouldn't be able to use the roof box.

We started with roof bike brackets on our last SUV, but it became less and less manageable as kids grew and bikes got heavier (and greater in number).

Went with a Thule towbar mounted bike rack which was a revelation. Not cheap (circa £500) but could carry 4, and loading/unloading was a breeze - less than 5 minutes for all bikes to be loaded, locked and good to go. Also freed up the boot (can still access it as the whole rack tilts out the way, even with 50kg of bikes loaded) to chuck in muddy gear so the seats were left mostly intact. On larger family holidays we could load bikes, roofbox, plus a bootload of gear and still leave all the seating room free so nobody was cramped. For the brief period when all 3 kids were on bikes before the first left home, we just added one of the roofbar brackets next to the roofbox, and off we went. One attraction in the XC60 which we considered before opting for the V60 was that it was marginally lower than the Freelander and the door positioning in relation to the roofrack mounting points was better for getting to/from roof-mounted bikes (yes, we took a bike bracket to an XC60-owning friend's house to try it all out!).

[inego]

Sorry to take this OT, but did you get a hitch mount or towball mount? Hitch is cheaper, but the biggest difference appears to be the inbuilt lights on the towball. Also, with smaller bikes, I'm not sure that the bracket on the hitch mount fits easily through the frame - will need to test.