written by KMPRM on 06/09/2012
I brought a 3 year old 40000 mile Volvo XC90 in 2009. Having owned the vehicle for 3 years and travelled 1000's of miles across Europe I've recently had to spend my 1st pennies on maintenance (apart from annual servicing at approx £200 from local garage) The car has been 100% reliable. You can pack your family, cases, camping equipment;into the back and still have room for the dog, it really is a big car. Off road its pretty good too. I go fishing in some pretty remote areas of Europe where the terrain can be extreme and although I don't over chance my luck; I've never got stuck. Fuel economy is fair at around 28mpg, road tax a bit trumpy at £460.
It's probably more a passengers car than a drivers car as driving isn't exciting although the SElux model I have is very comfortable. On the negatives although it has 7 seats the back seats are not practical other than for small children and the engine is probably a bit underpowered. Overall I've been impressed and would only swap for the more costly Discovery.