New owner advice

[Tommycharade]

Hi All,

Thinking of purchasing a new xc90 T8. Looking at the ultimate for the air suspension.

I have a 1 year old and 2 year old. It’ll mostly be driven by my partner.

It’s a toss up between the Volvo and the Mercedes gle. I’m just trying to understand if there are any issues or frustrations with the xc90. Or anything I should be aware of before purchasing.

Thanks in advance.

[CocoPops]

I've had a T8 Ultimate since March, done 4,000 miles so far, no issues.
I had a 2019 B5 Diesel before, again no issues.

[Kugaman1]

Ive got a 2020 xc60 with the air suspension, its excellent, such a smooth ride and fantastic when towing!

[sandys]

GLE is a really good bit of kit, much longer PHEV range, fast DC charging, higher level of tech, basically better than the Volvo almost everywhere....except looks (obviously that one is subjective) and out right performance, not that most people need that.

[Danny 1957]

The boot from the tail gate to the back of the seat (assuming seats 6&7 are folded in both cases) is a little shorter in distance than in the new GLE than the XC90. The new Range Rover is even shorter!
I have disabled equipment so that distance was important to me.

[Greenback78]

I drive both before purchasing and it’s really down to a preference on looks and style of interface. The light interior and minimalist style of the XC90 sold it for me vs the dominant screens and darker Merc. I have the air suspension and it’s great (just don’t get big rims - the ride is even more plush on my winter 19” rims).

[Tommycharade]

Firstly, thanks for the advice. Particularly the boot size. You’re right, the gle was rather small. As the driver I felt well catered for, it was a real cockpit feel with all the controls and screens. The HEads up display was something else, it was like a wide screen tv on the road when the sat nav was on showing the full map. I sort of have that niggling feeling that it’s not quite as practical as I want and I’m driving the xc90 tomorrow. Interested to see how the infotainment holds up and whether I feel like I’m in an 8 year old model.

[Ulrikas PA]

Friends of ours have just picked up their new T8 (used to have a B5) in the champagne colour and blonde interior which really suits it (probably called silver dawn or something).

They used to have the biggest dog in the world ever, and as above the XC90 boot was the best. No reliability issues before over 3 years. They are very impressed with the battery aspect on the new one.

[sk546]

Originally Posted by Tommycharade

Firstly, thanks for the advice. Particularly the boot size. You’re right, the gle was rather small. As the driver I felt well catered for, it was a real cockpit feel with all the controls and screens. The HEads up display was something else, it was like a wide screen tv on the road when the sat nav was on showing the full map. I sort of have that niggling feeling that it’s not quite as practical as I want and I’m driving the xc90 tomorrow. Interested to see how the infotainment holds up and whether I feel like I’m in an 8 year old model.

The newer AAOS infotainment system (with Google maps as the navigation system) looks and feels alot more modern than the original Sensus system of the earlier cars but it still dosent feel as modern as the best offerings from the German brands.
I test drove a BMW X5 45e and found the infotainment system and the straight 6 petrol engine much nicer than what Volvo offer, however, the car itself was far too big (I have the XC60 so not a small car anyway) and to get it to handle and drive as I wanted (rear wheel steer, adaptive air suspension, supersport seats etc), the list price was pretty much £90k, £25K more than the XC60 Recharge Polestar Engineered I ended up with and the Polestar Engineered can still run rings around the X5.

Enjoy your test drive in the XC90 and I think afterwards, you will know what the right choice will be.

[rhd443]

Originally Posted by Tommycharade

Hi All,

Thinking of purchasing a new xc90 T8. Looking at the ultimate for the air suspension.

I have a 1 year old and 2 year old. It’ll mostly be driven by my partner.

It’s a toss up between the Volvo and the Mercedes gle. I’m just trying to understand if there are any issues or frustrations with the xc90. Or anything I should be aware of before purchasing.

Thanks in advance.

Volvo very less likely to get stolen or have the wife jumped at the supermarket for the keys than the Merc or the BMW alternatives.