Banish thoughts of Margo and Jerry and revel instead in the undeniable allure of the modern Volvo estate. These days, both this Volvo V60 and the larger Volvo Volvo V90 add more than a touch of glamour to many a Home Counties school run.
Now, good looks aren’t everything. Volvo knows this, and that’s why you can only get the second-gen V60 with sensibly sized 2.0-litre petrol and diesel engines. The range initially kicked off in 2018 with a 148bhp version, badged as the D3, and a more powerful 187bhp unit, designated D4. For petrol fans, there’s a 247bhp T5 and plug-in hybrid T8 models in 385bhp standard and 399bhp Polestar Engineered forms. All diesel models can be had with either a six-speed manual or an eight-speed automatic. Petrols are auto only.
In late 2020, all the pure-petrol and diesel engines were dropped and replaced by petrol and diesel hybrids, which were badged with a B.
Click here to buy your next used V60 from Autocar
Trim-wise, even the entry-level Momentum model gets many luxuries, such as sat-nav, LED lights, a powered tailgate and a 12.3in digital instrument display. Momentum Pro adds leather trim, heated front seats, adaptive LED headlights and a head-up display. R-Design is sporty, because it has lowered suspension, larger (18in) alloy wheels and gloss black exterior pieces. Inscription trim comes with wood inlays inside and plenty of chrome outside, while Pro adds 19in alloys and ventilated seats with nappa leather.
The plug-in hybrid T8 Polestar Engineered version has 19in alloys, an upgraded Harman Kardon sound system and a set of Ohlins adjustable dampers and a bespoke suspension tune.
With many illustrious rivals in the mix, the V60 needs to be decent to drive. Thankfully, it is. So long as you stick to the standard suspension set-up and either 17in or 18in alloys, it strikes a great balance between ride comfort and precise handling. Larger 19in wheels are best paired with the sportier suspension of R-Design models, because the adaptive dampers fitted to some V60s can’t cope with vertical movements very well.
Join the debate
Add your comment
Adding reliability ranking to all used car articles is a very good practice.
I keep looking at D4 V60s but just Googling VEA EGR brings up pages full of people with EGR failures on the 2.0 diesel across the whole Volvo range and it appears that Volvo don't really have a fix for it. I also know a couple of people who had V60s for company cars and they both had EGR failures on new cars.
I guess there are probably enough people without it that it might not be an issue but it's certainly enough to put me off them