12 months of Ownership - MY19 XC60 T5 - Comments

[simonjedrake]

Firstly, I cannot believe that I have owned this car for 12 months, only realised last week with its 1st annual service (with zero problems to fix as well)

So how has my 1st 12 months gone?

Lets start with data.
Mileage - 8,400
MPG - Cumulative average 28.02 with a few peaks of c33 on long motorways trips at average of c 70mph. Last week on a 890 mile Scottish touring trip I managed a cum average of 30.52.
I would estimate that c 33% has been in Dynamic mode with the rest on Comfort mode - i don't do that Eco stuff!
I have no issues with this values as my last 2 XC60's (both Polestared D5's) averaged 30.72 mpg/54,000 miles & 32.22 mpg/35,000 miles, so in comparison with same driving style I am OK with the T5's mpg data.

Problems during 1st 12 months.
This car had most option boxes ticked = potentially a lot of tech to go wrong!
But the only problem was earlier in the year when the internal modem decided to fail to connect to the outside world - this was a known problem on the VCM module and was soon replaced.
Last week's 1st service service was straight forward with zero issues to report from both sides.

Performance.
The car has not let me down at any time, always performed as asked when required.
I must admit that during my Scottish tour last week immediately after it's 1st service I felt as if a few HP's had been released somewhere with a few tweaks somewhere - not that the car needed any more, but it just felt a bit more throaty if that makes sense.

Would I order the same model/options again?
Easy answer - Yes.
But having ordered my last 4 models in 477 - Electric Silver - I understand that Volvo HO have decided we have to have one of 'sexless' 50 shades of grey and have ditched this standout colour for what ever unknown reason .......?
If when I buy my next XC60 it is available with the T6 powertrain (like in almost all the rest of the world), then I would seriously consider that option.
Are there any options I ordered that I would not order again? Yes, just the Park Assist as having use it once a long time ago I soon realised the novelty value of that option.

Any suggestions to Volvo for improvements/changes?
Thought long & hard about this and I only have one key suggestion that relates to the 360 camera.

Have you ever tried to activate it when decesending down a circular ramp in a multi-storey car park when the front parking sensors are going off.....???
The normal way of swiping the SENUS screen to reveal the 360 camera option does not work as the Parking Sensor screen will override it - so the only way is to engage Reverse Gear to bring up the rear camera screen from which you can then activate the 360 camera BEFORE re-engaging forward drive with full camera view operating. BUT by then that poor driver behind you has beeped his horn a few times wondering why on earth you want to "Reverse" up the circular ramp........
So my solution posted on an earlier thread would be provide the driver with a single user-programmable button to the left of the large Volume Rotary knob below the SENUS screen thereby maintaning Volvo's nice almost buttonless dashboard layout. A Poll suggested that over 75% of owners would programme this button for the 360 camera just to prevent the above type of scenario and make the 360 camera much more user accessible.

Another small minor tweak would be with Pilot Assist to make the car steer a more centre of the lane position rather than take a slight left position within the lane.

Conculsion
As a perfectionist and Virgo by birth-sign I would say the above comments reflect it all.
Roll on MY22......!!!

[James77]

Interesting review.

I'm 9 months an 4.5k miles in, average 27.4mpg vast majority local driving. I don't have as many options ticked as you but I don't find myself wanting for anything either.

Few things miff me, 40/40/20 rear seat and I'm a diesel man at heart but I do believe petrol suits my style of driving.

What do you use the tow bar for, bike rack, caravan or Jet Ski perhaps!? And how does that affect the consumption?

I'm on my third Volvo, will I get another?.....Dealership is a pain to get to being few and far between and nice new Audi showroom has gone up a few miles away in direct competition to Barons BMW so I suspect I'll go German again next time for convenience if nothing else!

[simonjedrake]

Originally Posted by James77

Interesting review.

Few things miff me, 40/40/20 rear seat and I'm a diesel man at heart but I do believe petrol suits my style of driving.

What do you use the tow bar for, bike rack, caravan or Jet Ski perhaps!? And how does that affect the consumption?

Like you I always have been a diesel man in the past purely from the economics but now in retirement my annual mileage has halved I can have fun with the instant acceleration from petrol again......I still remember the sheer torque from my very 1st Volvo - the amazing 850 T5 in its early generations.

Good spot - I use the tow bar only for a bike rack so zero noticeable impact on mpg.
I am not so sure that the T5 would make a good caravan tower with the D5 powertrain being a better alternative.

[familymangreg]

Originally Posted by simonjedrake

Have you ever tried to activate it when decesending down a circular ramp in a multi-storey car park when the front parking sensors are going off.....???
The normal way of swiping the SENUS screen to reveal the 360 camera option does not work as the Parking Sensor screen will override it - so the only way is to engage Reverse Gear to bring up the rear camera screen from which you can then activate the 360 camera BEFORE re-engaging forward drive with full camera view operating. BUT by then that poor driver behind you has beeped his horn a few times wondering why on earth you want to "Reverse" up the circular ramp........
So my solution posted on an earlier thread would be provide the driver with a single user-programmable button to the left of the large Volume Rotary knob below the SENUS screen thereby maintaning Volvo's nice almost buttonless dashboard layout. A Poll suggested that over 75% of owners would programme this button for the 360 camera just to prevent the above type of scenario and make the 360 camera much more user accessible.

Absolutely agree on this one, my wife and I both have it as one of the number 1 everyday frustrations with the car. It could be easily solved with a simple software update which adds a camera button to the parking sensor screen. There could even be a configuration option which allows you to default the 360 camera for the parking sensor screen.

The camera is activated by default in the X5 and it works great. I think its with the new X5's that you can also set geo locations for the camera to come on automatically. So for example if you have to edge out of a narrow drive as we do, the car can be set to always put the wide angle front camera on when you do that manoeuvre in that specific location, brilliant!

The Volvo camera has always felt a bit too inaccessible.

:wq

[simonjedrake]

Originally Posted by familymangreg

Absolutely agree on this one...........The Volvo camera has always felt a bit too inaccessible.
:wq

So true - what should be an amazing 360 camera system let down by a very simple operating design mode oversight......that should be so simple to correct!

[PhilipT5]

Great review Simon. I'll be picking my T5 on Saturday morning, so hopefully my next year will be a similar experience.

How have you found the HK sound? I had a BOSE system in my last car which was very good. Just a shame it doesn't have a CD player, I know it's a bit old school now but it's so much easier than trying to set up hundreds of playlists!

[Robbiefen100]

Collected my T5 Inscription last week, gone from a D4 2016 model to an amazing evolution in technology, comfort and driving pleasure. Thought I may miss my last XC60 as it served me perfectly for 4 years without a glitch, but so much to play with now, a huge step forward.

Early days for me but pleased to read the experiences above - I’ll add any questions, mpg or issues to the forum separately.

Right now I absolutely love this new car. Only complaints from family are why there isn’t massaging seats in the rear!

[simonjedrake]

Originally Posted by PhilipT5

Great review Simon. I'll be picking my T5 on Saturday morning, so hopefully my next year will be a similar experience.

How have you found the HK sound? I had a BOSE system in my last car which was very good. Just a shame it doesn't have a CD player, I know it's a bit old school now but it's so much easier than trying to set up hundreds of playlists!

The HK sound system is brilliant with the sub-woofer being a key component.
IMHO the BOSE system at an additional £2,500 cannot be justified purely on sound elements only - as after all the XC60 is a metal box on wheels that’s travels on potholed roads that introduce constant noise/vibrations into the metal box not forgetting that big noisy metal internal combustion engine in the front......
Whilst I love my music and have a full SONUS system at home, I would not even pay £2,500 for a home sound system........so there you go .......

[PhilipT5]

Does your T5 have the chrome window trim and mirrors or black? I saw a R-Deisgn demo this week and noticed it had a black trim, don't recall any packs so guessing it may have been changed.

[gaby]

Originally Posted by simonjedrake

Have you ever tried to activate it when decesending down a circular ramp in a multi-storey car park when the front parking sensors are going off.....???

Do you mean you want to activate the 360° camera while already descending?