Nine model years is an awfully long time for a vehicle to stay on the market without a complete redesign, especially one that isn’t a niche model. Nevertheless, that hasn’t stopped manufacturers from stretching out model cycles, and the Volvo XC60 is getting a second facelift for its ninth model year on the market. In this case, however, an extra-long shelf life isn’t a bad thing. After all, change isn’t always synonymous with improvement.
On the face of things, the updated Volvo XC60 cribs a whole lot from the updated XC90. No surprise there, as Volvo’s built a rather consistent image. As such, you can spot the incoming model by its funky grille of perpendicular slats, new wheel designs, and its ever-so-slightly darkened taillights. Three new colors are also on tap: Forest Lake, Aurora Silver, and Mulberry Red, but that’s about it externally.
See what I mean by subtlety?
It’s a similar deal on the inside, with Volvo only changing what it needed to change. The updated XC60 gets a larger 11.2-inch touchscreen for the infotainment, revised metal speaker grilles for the optional Bowers & Wilkins sound system, updated cup holders, and a revised wireless phone charger – but the real magnificence comes in the form of new upholstery choices.
Fancy skipping genuine leather? Well, Volvo’s in tune with the times, offering two textiles that aren’t the hide of a beast. One’s called quilted Nordico, a blended textile made from recycled bottles, organic material, and recycled corks, and it gives the impression of being a new-age feel-good thing. If that doesn’t float your boat, another interior option sounds even more enticing: Volvo plans to offer the updated XC60 with navy blue herringbone-woven cloth that looks richer than rich. It looks wealth.
That’s all welcome stuff, which is important, because everything we like about the XC60 stays more or less the same. It still gets delightful knurled metallic knobs, flowing wood trim, an available crystal shifter, and enough real buttons to offer reasonably intuitive usability. The seats are still divine, outward visibility will still be good, and there should still be an inherent rightness to the XC60, possibly improved by the promise of additional noise reduction measures.
In a way, the Volvo XC60 has carved out an important niche by staying more or less the same. The new BMW X3 feels noticeably cheaper than the old one, the new Mercedes-Benz GLC offers an overload of in-car tech, the Lexus NX is a bit too heavy on shiny black plastic, and the new Audi Q5 is basically a branch of Best Buy on four wheels. The XC60? It’s a real luxury crossover. It’s comfortable, feels incredibly well screwed together, keeps its tech from being too intrusive, and is made largely of lovely stuff. The middle child of Volvo’s fuel-burning crossover lineup is easy to drive, easy to park, and easy to get on with.
So, if you’ve grown disenchanted with what the big three German luxury automakers are offering and the Genesis GV70 doesn’t do it for you, why not try something Swedish? It might not be cutting edge, but given how the latest wave of luxury crossovers is going, slightly older bones could be much nicer to live with.
Top graphic image: Volvo
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I love the look of these, and the interior looks beautiful as well.
I test drove one with mom last year, it looked really nice, but she ended up with a same year/mileage Acura MDX for the same price.
We like the look of the Volvo better, but I found the interior of the Volvo to have some quirks. The screen seemed less than intuitive, my 67 y/o mom was less than excited about that, and I felt that some of the interior features felt cheap. The sliding door on the console cubby felt like it would definitely break, and the ignition knob on the console felt both chintzy and overly complicated. Her and I both drive 2010-era cars, and we were like how do you shut this thing off? No need to reinvent the wheel; a simple pushbutton like everyone else has would be sufficient.
She decided on the Acura because there were more physical controls and it had a 3rd row.
My ex and I had an ’18 MDX. There was no Volvo dealership within 90 miles of where we lived, so that never a reasonable option. The Acura was pretty good. It was surprising to look down and see you were doing 80+. Just so quiet and smooth. The 3rd row was a cruel joke for adults that we used exactly once. And then apologized.
It’s taken a while, but now I like the looks of this generation of Volvos. I had a Saab 9000T for a couple of years and nothing broke, so I’m not opposed to “Swedish” cars. I can imagine things getting expensive when something does. But that’s pretty much anything now.
Are they made in Sweden, Belgium, North Carolina or China, these days? All of the above when referring generically to Volvos. From a quick search, it looks like XC60s got made in Torlanda.
I have the very first year of this model — a 2018 that I ordered sight unseen before they were released in the fall of 2017. First car I ever leased, because I assumed that with a Swedish car – one of the first ones off the boat – I would never want to own it out of warranty.
Then the lease expired in the middle of Covid and the street value of the car was $10k (!!) more than the lease residual and there were no replacement cars of any brand to be found anywhere, so I bought out the lease. Knock on wood, but 7 years and almost 70k into ownership and it hasn’t had a single unscheduled dealership visit. YMMV.
Today the car still looks beautiful, and my wife loves it and won’t part with it. With a somewhat wooden ride, overboosted steering, and non-linear turbo acceleration I think it’s about as fun to drive as a toaster oven. But it’s fast and quiet, the steering wheel heater will sear your fingertips, the front thrones are chefs kiss, and it still draws compliments from people who ride in it. Hard to complain.
Volvo cabins have been pleasant spaces to spend time for quite a while. I’ll have to test drive a VC60 to get what you mean about a “somewhat wooden ride” but on colder days, I miss a heated steering wheel. And fast and quiet, co-existing, are REALLY nice attributes. As mentioned in another comment, the 2018 MDX was very good in that regard.
A friend had a V70 Cross Country, and it was very nice to be in.
I don’t know which one holds up better over the years. I’d bet “Japanese,” but it’s probably pretty close. When I lived in Ohio (back in the 90s) with salt on the roads in winter, five-year-old Hondas and Volvos both looked like rust buckets from Hell.
Volvo vs Japanese: I have a (also very reliable) Mazda cx-9 of the same year and mileage and plan to drive the wheels off both cars, so check back in with me in about 10 years and I’ll let you know!
It’s a deal. Assuming I’m still alive on this mortal coil. At the rate I’m putting miles on my Honda, it’s a good bet that it will outlive me.
I am seriously looking into an AWD XC60 or XC90 later this year. No frecking way am I buying new. The price is too high and depreciation is steep. I’m aiming for 2 or 3 year old, possibly CPO. I am worried about the longer term reliability/quality. I’m fairly handy for basic automotive repairs, but if it requires expensive specialty tools or multiple days, I let the professionals do the work. I grew up with regularly failing older domestics, so I have some tolerance, but at least with them, they didn’t require luxury brand shop rate repairs.
You forgot BRING MONEY. My wife and I bought a new Volvo right after we got married. Loved that little tank – comfortable, sure-footed….when it wasn’t in the shop. After 4 years and 60k miles we ditched it; despite regular dealer maintenance it needed a new ABS brain, an A/C compressor and dryer, and the taillights kept going out sporadically. We went running back to Toyota products. These are lease only vehicles.
I shopped this car hard two years ago. I wanted to want it. I liked the sleek, understated styling, and the interior materials were handsome. I disliked the big touchscreen, with only about five physical controls on the dash. Very distracting to use while driving, because I had to refocus and read labels. Frankly, that was the most engaging thing about driving the XC60. I’d never experienced such a combination of utter silence and isolation from the road; is that what a luxury car does? And the steering was distant and lifeless, with little self-centering. These are pet peeves that would bother me every day. And then there’s the country of origin…
In the end, I bought a much older Mercedes GLK. It’s like a Jeep in comparison, with wind noise and the growl of a big V-6. It has too many dash buttons, but that’s ok. I can drive it all day with the dash screen OFF.
Kiddingly, but you sound like Goldilocks. Not enough dash buttons. Too many dash buttons. Hopefully you find the right amount some day.
Sometimes I wish my car had a volume knob, but I’ve learned to use the controls in the (reasonably informative) steering wheel and the only time I have to use it is to crank up a favorite song or crank down something less pleasant to listen to. The speed sensitive adaptation works pretty well otherwise.
Definitely different kinds of vehicles, but my ’17 Accord doesn’t have a lot of wind noise, and its medium sized V-6 makes some entertaining noise the few times I get it above 5000 RPM.
TBH, the last time I nailed the accelerator pedal was merging up a onramp in Oregon onto a freeway, and it was pretty incredible how much particulate matter came out of the pipes. My car has lived a gentle life other than all the jerks banging it with door dings or outright rub bumpers on doors and fenders.
Maybe I should have bought the I-4 version, but it came with a CVT and who wants that?
Still, a very fun and nice car to drive. And at my age and mileage on the car, perhaps one I will never need to replace.
But another article on this site (about a grandmother’s Buick} did inspire me to take my car to a track day and/or autocross event. I’m no F1 or NASCAR driver. But it might be fun to learn what my car is capable of or/and also scare myself a bit. I have scraped some motorcycle footpegs in my day. So far, I have not scraped any door handles.
Looks like a really nice place to spend time. More makers should take lessons from the Swedes on interior styling.
I loved my 2011 XC60…unfortunately my wife totaled it. But that’s another story. That said, I love the current ones, except their long term reliability has been rather iffy, sadly. And as other people have noted: pricing is too high–thanks to Geely.
I always thought Volvo really nailed the styling of the SPA cars out of the gate which has helped them stay fresh after all these years. Also, in this commentor’s humble opinion, the big three Germans have lost the plot on styling and made it pretty easy to look somewhere else.
100%. These SPA cars are coming up on 10 years old now and the design language STILL looks better than anything the Germans are making.
A coworker has one in bursting blue, and it’s a genuinely nice car. I’m not real big into the Geely era of Volvo, but they did manage to make it look good, and make it extremely comfortable.
Bursting Blue was a great color. Sad they’ve retired or mostly retired it.
That’s a shame as Volvo is one of those brands that otherwise seem to have made color illegal. This goes for Mazda as well (except for Soul Red of course).
There was a guy down the road with an older V60. It’s still such a pretty car.
But the roofline tapers down far more than you expect, limiting what you think should fit in there.
the only complaint my mother has with her XC60 is that the screen is a little small and the (now old) Volvo Sensus Touch UI is a little confusing. They’ve refined this to perfection.
Almost all the new Volvo stuff looks good. But the prices are a bit out of hand. They maybe a premium brand but not a luxury brand. Geely handles them as their luxury brand and I guess in that sense it is but it’s hard to change 60 years of marketplace history. You can see the price delta best in China geelys home market it’s about $20k more get a Volvo branded version another geely sub brand.
I agree, the prices are certainly shocking. I purchased a used 2017 XC90 T8 Inscription, has the Bowers & Wilkins sound system, crystal shift knob, etc. etc.
The original owner paid for extended warranty and service, and when I looked at that document, it said the purchase price was $95K! In 2017! After the extended warranty and service purchase, it was well over $100K.
Nicest vehicle I ever owned, and I am enjoying the comfort, but I would not be purchasing one new.
Definitely and I think because of those high prices they are deprecating more. Soon it will be land Rover territory. I know people that only bought Volvos new ones every few years and they haven’t been doing that lately. I suspect they will either buy a cpo or change brand loyalty.
This. I think they’re really cashing in on the T8s. I’m shopping for an S60 as a potential new daily and was looking at a local dealership recently. EVERYONE there was looking at the T8 models, and didn’t seem to bat an eye at the sticker prices.
As a S60 T8 Recharge owner, I encourage the purchase. No one is batting an eye, because they’ve been killed off. I got mine a year ago off a lease return for a significant savings and with under 6K miles.
Not sure how old a one you’re looking at but there was some real bad oil burning issues up till around 2016 ?
It really pays to research them heavily as certain years are more prone to some issues.
We’ve got a 18 s60 bought from a dealer that was a lease return and we love it.
We have put 70,000 miles on it in 3 years with brakes, tires ,oil changes,transmission fluid change ,air filters and spark plugs.Knock on wood no other issues.We will keep it till something major dies that’s worth more than the car is worth which causes us to part it out.
Looking SPA, so 2019ish up.
I love the new grille design (also on the XC90), but I wish they came up with it earlier since they’re moving to grille-less electric designs.
It looks good but there’s no way those slats are perpendicular.
New Volvos are as comfy as they are pretty.