V90 CC - Diesel or Petrol

[ciaranthemurph]

Having recently moved to the countryside amongst farms etc, we are thinking of changing the wife's Leon ST for a V90 CC.

Having looked at a couple, it seems like you will get a newer T5 (petrol) for the same money as an older D4/5 (diesel).

We won't be doing huge mileage in the car, I'm thinking about 10-15k per year, so I was wondering if the petrol would be adequate for our needs. Has anyone got any real world experience with the T5 engine in one of these and is it ruinously expensive?

I was attracted to the diesel as it would be the more 'appropriate engine' for this type of car, but I suppose that the turbocharged T5 would be reasonably OK, if anyone can shed any light on this, it would be much appreciated. I do plan to do some towing, but only a small agricultural trailer for logs/fire wood, no caravans etc.

Also, is the 'facelift' (or at least interior/dash rethink) around 2018 worth holding out for? Ideally I'd like CarPlay in the car that we buy, but I've seem some reports of other having this retrofitted to older cars, so is this able to be done on all V90's (2017 onwards)?

Any help much appreciated!

[RicksAlfas]

I think Carplay can be added after 2018. If you get the reg of a car you are interested in a dealer should be able to tell you.
It only works when the phone is plugged in to the USB.

I have a B5 (the current version of the T5) in a V60CC and it does low 30s mpg. This is all urban in a hilly area.

I would keep an eye out for the V60CC as well. It's passenger space is very similar to a V90, only the luggage area is smaller. But it's a slimmer car which is handier for country lanes.

[Mammasaid]

There were a lot of V90CCs on cheap lease in 2019, they have the upgraded interior. You'll get around 25mpg on short journeys, up to 35 on longer ones.

They'll probably have no options, but that doesn't mean much as they're very well equipped as standard, however a tow bar will cost around £1k to fit, it'll pull a 1800kg trailer or 2400kg with the upgraded cooler.

This was mine, I'd have another.

[Riff Raff]

RicksAlfas said:

I think Carplay can be added after 2018. If you get the reg of a car you are interested in a dealer should be able to tell you.
It only works when the phone is plugged in to the USB.

I have a B5 (the current version of the T5) in a V60CC and it does low 30s mpg. This is all urban in a hilly area.

I would keep an eye out for the V60CC as well. It's passenger space is very similar to a V90, only the luggage area is smaller. But it's a slimmer car which is handier for country lanes.

I have a 2022 B5 V60 Cross Country too. I get low twenties driving around locally, but I can get closer to 40mpg on the motorway, driving with a soft right foot. The cabin is a good place to be for long trips. It doesn’t have Apple Car Play, but that can be added by a dealer for £300. The boot area is a bit smaller than the V90, but you can fit in a couple of Labradors with room left over for a Spaniel. Add some decent all season tyres to it and I suspect it would keep going in some pretty extreme conditions.

[RicksAlfas]

Riff Raff said:

I have a 2022 B5 V60 Cross Country too. I get low twenties driving around locally, but I can get closer to 40mpg on the motorway, driving with a soft right foot. The cabin is a good place to be for long trips. It doesn’t have Apple Car Play, but that can be added by a dealer for £300. The boot area is a bit smaller than the V90, but you can fit in a couple of Labradors with room left over for a Spaniel. Add some decent all season tyres to it and I suspect it would keep going in some pretty extreme conditions.

That's interesting. My mpg doesn't budge whatever I do with it! Motorway, urban, whatever. 30-32.
The dealer fitted Carplay to mine as part of my deal as it wasn't on the car to start with.
I've fitted Cross Climate 2s but not had any snow with it yet. It should be a good winter car though with heated everything and remote start.

[ciaranthemurph]

Thanks all for the feedback. I think a petrol will suit us fine, especially with a majority of the trips being less than 20 miles to shops/school etc.

With regards to CarPlay, am I reading correctly that it is only able to be fitted to the post 2018 cars? What is the interface between a phone and the in car entertainment like on the earlier cars?

[Mammasaid]

I didn't have CarPlay/Android Auto on mine, however it was fine to use the on board sat nav (which gets free updates) and there was a dedicated Spotify app (there may have been an Apple Music one as well) as well as DAB, etc.

[norchi]

Not to forget that both of these engines, the designs of which were bought in without any traditional Volvo engineering input from an Austrian subcontractor, have caused this brand and its customers inordinate problems....still not all resolved after many years.

Might be well worth looking into another make as Volvo branded vehicles do not use any other engine... not to make too much heavy weather, but they are made or part assembled in China with much chinese content.....

[Mammasaid]

Please explain, I've got personal knowledge of at least 10 recent (post 2018) Volvos, none of which have required anything beyond routine servicing.

The Volvo forums also aren't littered with tales of woe, beyond the early D5 boost hose issues.

[tonyvid]

RicksAlfas said:

I would keep an eye out for the V60CC as well. It's passenger space is very similar to a V90, only the luggage area is smaller. But it's a slimmer car which is handier for country lanes.

This is a good point - I had a V90CC in Northern Sweden for a couple of weeks and loved it(on full snow tyres it would go anywhere), thought about having one here until I had a courtesy car while my V60 was being serviced and found it simply hugely wide in comparison. It takes up a LOT of road and I wouldn't really want to be threading one up narrow lanes all the time. The newer V60CCs are really nice.

[RicksAlfas]

norchi said:

Not to forget that both of these engines, the designs of which were bought in without any traditional Volvo engineering input from an Austrian subcontractor, have caused this brand and its customers inordinate problems....still not all resolved after many years.

Might be well worth looking into another make as Volvo branded vehicles do not use any other engine... not to make too much heavy weather, but they are made or part assembled in China with much chinese content.....

What a strange post. Like most manufacturers Volvo has factories in numerous countries, but given we are talking about UK market V90CCs, they are made in Sweden.