MR_Y
Well-known member
After 3 years, 70,000km+ of driving, some dings and scratches along the way, many trips from GP to rural KZN, beating a few German sedans (320i, C200, etc) on the highway, going on light-to-medium bundu bashing (including driving on a stony, dry river bed), it is time to part ways.
This is an excellent family car. Be it long distance or urban commute. The 5 cylinder diesel motor is bulletproof and has proven its long term reliability for Volvo for over 20 years in many models, including in its marine (Volvo Penta) application.
The rest of the car is solid, packed with great luxury features and feels like it is built to last. "Over engineered" is the term that comes to mind. Everything in the car feels solid and expensive to touch and use. Think of old Mercs pre 2000.
Given the need for more rear space (the V60 is more sportwagon than station wagon and rear space for adults and growing kids is not its strong point), I had to move to an SUV. If I didn't need more space, I would have kept the car for another few years at least.
While Volvo do have the newish XC60 D5, and it is indeed spacious, it lacks the mid range grunt of the old 5 cylinder and feels more like an appliance to drive. The new XC60's Aisin 8-speed gearbox is also pretty slow and does not pair all that well with the new 2.0 diesel engines. A plug in hybrid XC60 T8 (with M3 rivalling acceleration) would be the ultimate family car, however that is priced way over R1m.
Anyway, the car has been sold to Tom Campher Volvo. I lost 17% (about R50k) on the price paid back in 2019, which is not bad given the amount of satisfaction and driving pleasure attained in the last 3 years.
Will I return to Volvo? Well I still have my Polestar which I intend keeping it for a while. Maybe there is an XC60 T8 Polestar in my longer term future...
For now, the G01 X3 20d meets the requirements for wife and family. Not as characterful as the old V60 CC, but definitely more spacious and miles ahead of the new XC60 D5
This is an excellent family car. Be it long distance or urban commute. The 5 cylinder diesel motor is bulletproof and has proven its long term reliability for Volvo for over 20 years in many models, including in its marine (Volvo Penta) application.
The rest of the car is solid, packed with great luxury features and feels like it is built to last. "Over engineered" is the term that comes to mind. Everything in the car feels solid and expensive to touch and use. Think of old Mercs pre 2000.
Given the need for more rear space (the V60 is more sportwagon than station wagon and rear space for adults and growing kids is not its strong point), I had to move to an SUV. If I didn't need more space, I would have kept the car for another few years at least.
While Volvo do have the newish XC60 D5, and it is indeed spacious, it lacks the mid range grunt of the old 5 cylinder and feels more like an appliance to drive. The new XC60's Aisin 8-speed gearbox is also pretty slow and does not pair all that well with the new 2.0 diesel engines. A plug in hybrid XC60 T8 (with M3 rivalling acceleration) would be the ultimate family car, however that is priced way over R1m.
Anyway, the car has been sold to Tom Campher Volvo. I lost 17% (about R50k) on the price paid back in 2019, which is not bad given the amount of satisfaction and driving pleasure attained in the last 3 years.
Will I return to Volvo? Well I still have my Polestar which I intend keeping it for a while. Maybe there is an XC60 T8 Polestar in my longer term future...
For now, the G01 X3 20d meets the requirements for wife and family. Not as characterful as the old V60 CC, but definitely more spacious and miles ahead of the new XC60 D5
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