I took my girlfriend’s Dad, who owns a Saab and loves gadgets, out in the sophisticated and stylish Volvo S60.
I invited him to talk to the Sat Nav, and programme a route. The Sat Nav couldn’t understand his gentle Northern tones. (It only understands me if I shout). But it is still better than the Mercedes Sat Nav, so we won’t mark it down for that.
I backed out onto the road, and as the parking sensors bleeped, took my cue to start chatting him through all the gadgets. Now that Volvo’s don’t look like tanks, they are desperate to stress that they are still leaders in road safety. Their ‘Intelligent Driver Information System’ is a big part of this. It flashes little orange lights if it thinks something is in your blind spot. If you approach a stationery object too quickly it flashes a red light on the windscreen and sets off a Claxton. Like when a submarine dives in the movies.
Or if you cross a white line without indicating, which I do a lot, it bleeps at you. The trouble is, they are only any use to stupid drivers, if you ask me. A car drifted out into my lane on the motorway, but it didn’t trigger an alarm. The blind spot indicator never told me anything I didn’t already know; it was just distracting. And I don’t think Volvo tested any of these gadgets in London, where every tight lane filter, cyclist or last minute hop over a junction before the lights change seem to set an alarm off.
Sensing that these safety gadgets, far from making things more relaxed, created quite a bit of tension, I shut up and let the smooth, quiet ride and luxury leather seats do their work.
If you take the time to go through the menus and turn the myriad alerts off, the S60 is a very tranquil place to be. Lot’s of light leather trim, all beautifully styled and put together. Seats that are every bit as good as those in a Saab, the read outs telling you – satisfyingly- that the average MPG is still around 50, despite a fast journey up the motorway the day before.
I really admire that Volvo has chosen to try and compete with premium brands through distinctive, subtle design, rather than dark heavy plastics that Honda and Vauxhall use to try and remind you of Audis and BMWs. On every objective measure they are there – boot space, economy, cabin room, refinement.
But somehow, something is missing. There is no X-Factor. At the end of the ride, we got out and he said, “I don’t think I would buy one.”
What’s the market like?
The Previous shape S60 was overlooked and values dropped like a stone. The new S60 is showing early signs that it will be more resilient on the used market, with one year old vehicles only losing beans really.
A £27,000 Premium SE, for example, after a year and 12,000 miles is £23,000. I’d take a £4,000 saving, but like the rest of the S60, the saving isn’t exciting.
What else does this budget buy?
Looking at one to
two year old, 4-door, large family cars, for between £18,000 and £28,000 leaves you spoilt for choice. At the top end, there’s a Lexus, Jaguar, Audi, BMW, Saab and the Volvo. At the other end, there’s Vauxhall’s Insignia, Volkswagen’s Passat and Honda’s Accord.
The Volvo mixes it with the premium brands, but is not sufficiently less money to automatically make up for the lack of prestige. And it is slightly too much more money compared to the Vauxhalls and Hondas for it to be a no-brainer at that end of the spectrum.
But it’s hard to write it off – especially if you don’t want to drive an Audi or BMW. For this money I would probably take a Passat CC. But until I drive the new Saab 9-5, which might change things, the Volvo comes a very close second.
Summary
A stylish, comfortable Executive saloon that deserves to be taken seriously alongside BMWs and Audis. But an absence of ‘X-Factor’ lets it down a tiny bit.