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Volvo Xc90 variants
Total price
Monthly payment

Finance representative example (PCP)

Total cash price £19,499. Borrowing £17,549 with a £1,950 deposit at a representative APR of 11.9%.

48 monthly payments
£301.61
Fixed interest rate
11.9%
Total amount payable
£25,835.07
Cost of credit
£6,336.07
Optional final payment
£9,408.00
Purchase fee
£10.00
Annual mileage limit
6000 miles

Volvo XC90 buying guide

What Volvo XC90 trim levels are there?

Pre-2022 Volvo XC90s come in Momentum, R-Design and Inscription trim levels. All include a powered boot lid, adaptive cruise control, automatic LED headlights, parking assistance, digital dials, leather seats (heated in the front) and a host of active safety and driver assistance features – this is a Volvo, after all.

R-Design adds a sporty body kit like BMW’s M Sport trim, along with sports seats and extra interior illumination, while R-Design Pro also gets bigger alloy wheels, a heated steering wheel, a head-up display and upgraded headlights.

Inscription has most of the kit R-Design gets but with a luxury flavour, boasting Nappa leather seats with ventilation and a crystal gear lever. Massaging front seats and a Harman Kardon stereo come with the Inscription Pro spec.

Volvo XC90 interior and technology

The Volvo XC90’s interior is calm and considered, and looks especially relaxed with light-coloured upholstery. The design is pretty similar to cheaper Volvo models – you get a nine-inch portrait touchscreen in an otherwise fairly minimalist centre console, but the material quality takes an extra step up.

With the sheer amount of driver assistance tech, piloting the XC90 is easy and fuss-free – coupled with the plush materials and ride quality, you’ll feel refreshed after a long drive.

Volvo XC90 boot space and dimensions

There’s no getting away from the XC90’s size and, at just under five metres long, it won’t fit into some tight parking spaces. But that means you get plenty of interior space. All XC90s come with three rows of seats, and even the third row is spacious enough for adults. Impressively, you still get a family-hatchback-sized boot with all seats up – drop the rearmost seats and that swells to a whopping 680-litre space.

Volvo XC90 engine range explained

Volvo XC90 2.0 B5P petrol

A 2.0-litre petrol engine might sound a little small for a luxurious SUV, but it’s smooth and powerful – there’s 250hp on tap and it feels pretty brisk. Fuel economy isn’t too bad considering the power and size, but it might sting a little for high-mileage drivers.

Volvo XC90 2.0 B6P petrol

The B6P engine packs an extra 50hp and reduces the acceleration time by about 1.5 seconds, which makes it a bit quicker off the line but doesn’t drastically change its character. Expect fuel economy of up to 30mpg.

Volvo XC90 2.0 B5D diesel

Diesel makes a lot of sense in the XC90 – it has the most torque of any XC90, making it slightly easier to pull a heavy trailer or get up a steep hill when fully loaded. The 235hp B5D engine manages up to 42mpg, so drivers with a medium-to-high annual mileage will notice the benefits of its better fuel consumption.

Volvo XC90 Recharge T8 plug-in hybrid

Promising up to 100mpg and 26 miles of electric range, the XC90 T8 PHEV is the one to go for if you’re going to be doing a lot of driving around town. However, even then it’s very hard to get close to Volvo’s estimates. Handily, the plug-in hybrid still has seven seats, which isn’t the case in the Audi Q7 and BMW X5.

Volvo XC90 FAQs

As one of Volvo’s flagship models, the XC90 is stuffed with tech – and there’s a possibility that some of this could misbehave as the car gets older. Generally, the XC90 and other Volvo models have a good reputation for reliability but, for total peace of mind, consider taking out an extended warranty.

Every XC90 sold in the UK is four-wheel drive, so all XC90s have the all-weather grip that you’d expect from a car built to cope with fierce Swedish winters. You’ll find that most large SUVs come with four-wheel drive as standard now.

The Volvo XC90 was crash-tested by Euro NCAP in 2015 and received a glowing five-star score, notably achieving 97% for adult protection – better than any other car tested that year. But Euro NCAP makes its crash tests harder every year, so the XC90’s 2015 rating has now expired. We’d expect the XC90 to achieve a similarly high safety score if it was retested now, as it’s still one of the safest cars on the road.

Yes, all Volvo XC90s have seven seats, including the plug-in hybrid versions. Unlike many seven-seaters, there’s just enough room in the back seats for adults.

Running a big, premium SUV will never be cheap, and the XC90’s cost and complexity means that maintenance may be more expensive than SUVs from non-premium brands. A Volvo dealer will be able to advise you on cost and whether you can pay in monthly instalments.

XC90s are very good cars if you want a luxurious high-riding SUV with plenty of space. Whether you’re buying an XC90 as a family bus or as transport for pampered pooches, there are plenty of practical touches that make life easier. Its soothing driving experience will relax you even if the kids are squabbling, and its all-terrain capability means that the Volvo can keep going even if the asphalt runs out.

With an off-road mode to pump up the ground clearance, plus all-wheel drive and hill descent assist that can creep down steep slopes, the Volvo XC90 is very capable off-road. The off-road mode works below 25mph.

Data suggests that the Volvo XC90 will hold on to roughly 54% of its value after three years and 36,000 miles, which is good if not absolutely class leading.

Yes, the second and third rows of seats both fold flat. For those times where you need huge carrying capacity, the XC90 is absolutely phenomenal. Its 1,856-litre capacity can rival some vans for space.

There’s room in most of the XC90’s seats for a child seat, but only the outer middle seats have Isofix points – so you can have two Isofix car seats and others that are secured by the car’s seatbelts.

Yes, it does have a spare tyre and jack, unless you go for the plug-in hybrid – the spare wheel well is taken up by the battery pack so you get a tyre repair kit instead.