Volvo V60 review

This is Volvo’s smallest estate, which was launched back in 2018 alongside its S60 saloon sibling and has plodded along in the grand traditions of many Volvo estates before it. It’s been a traumatic few years for the car though – poor sales (everyone wants an SUV these days) meant that it was taken off sale in the UK in 2023, but it was quietly brought back in 2024 with just the estate option.

The V60 showcases the best of modern Volvo though – it was one of the first cars developed fully under Geely’s ownership of the brand, and while it subtly moved upmarket you could see that the Chinese outfit got Volvo in a way that previous owner Ford never really did. 

Suddenly Volvos were spacious, soothing and wafty again, and cool in that slightly alternative way that shows you’re just that little bit more discerning than someone who defaults to one of the more obvious German choices like the Audi A5, BMW 3 Series or the Mercedes C-Class estates.

It looks good, no?

Volvos have a certain timeless charm to their styling which does set them apart from more fashionable rivals that date quickly. Which is good, because this car’s been on sale for ages. You’d only really know by scrutinising the tech, which is holding its own in terms of usability but lacks some of the bells and whistles that might attract buyers elsewhere. 

We like the minimalist interior, though, the V60 is a soothing place to be and the dashboard has a solid chunk feel to it. The car isn’t immune to the irritations of modern touchscreens though, with the aircon controls squirrelled away where they’ve got no business being. Still, if the screen distracts you, the car will do its best to stop you crashing by deploying its vast range of active safety interventions.

Does it drive well?

It's more dynamic to drive than the ginormous V90, though not night-and-day different. Volvo’s vibe is more about a relaxing drive than a sporting one, which is to be applauded in an age where everyone’s desperate to claim a dynamism to their car that evaporates upon driving. 

The V60 rewards a laidback approach and will reward you by serving you up at your destination that bit fresher. The suspension is pliant, but unlike the V90 resists roll a lot better. There’s not a great deal of feel to the steering, but the V60 points well enough into a corner. You can select steering strengths in one of the touchscreen submenus and we’d opt for the heavier setting just to add a bit of gravitas to proceedings.

What engines can I have?

There are three powertrain options available for the V60, all of them based on Volvo’s trusty 2.0-litre 4cyl petrol. You get the base B4 model that has mild hybrid assistance (fancy stop start and a bit of coasting on the motorway) and two PHEV variants (T6 and T8) in different states of tune that are good for around 45 miles of real world EV range.

All of the powertrains feel a bit hesitant off the line, as if the car needs a moment to think about what it’s doing, which does mean planning your getaways well at junctions. If you don’t have home charging capability or the tax perks of a company car scheme we’d say that the PHEVs don’t do enough to justify the big premium over the base petrol, which is a flexible engine and makes the car a capable cruiser. Mid-40s mpg is achievable over mixed roads, which is fairly respectable.

And it’s practical too? 

You’d expect nothing less of a Volvo estate, but driving one makes you wonder why people have flocked in such huge numbers to taller but ultimately less practical SUVs. The boot is both cavernous and practical, with lots of neat little touches like a built-in divider that stops your shopping flying around.

There’s plenty of room in the back, too, which is great for families and giving tall people lifts. The raised floor in the middle of the car impacts practicality somewhat, but who wants to sit in the middle anyway.

The V60 might not be as fresh a piece of design or packaging as something like the XC40 or the company’s swanky electric offerings, but a good sized family estate remains an absolute bread and butter car for Volvo and it gives you just what you’d expect. 

That means a lovely looking cabin, an obsessive approach to keeping everyone safe, lots of practicality and a thoroughly relaxed approach to long journeys. For a family estate, those human-centric values are pretty compelling.