B5p 2.0 Cross Country AWD

Refined build, smooth drive

Smooth, quiet engine with plenty of pace for overtakes and hills. Very pleasant to drive at a cruise but has enough oomph to make it fun when needs be.

Cabin quality is excellent with solid build and nice finishing touches, excellent noise-dampening and visibility. Gadgets and touchscreens etc take a little getting used to, but intuitive once there, good AndroidAuto and Apple integration.

Adaptive cruise control is very good and holds a lane nicely - just keep it for open and quiet roads as it can be a little 'Volvo Safety Sensitive' on busier motorways or with multiple slip on/off roads.

Tonnes of room in boot, ample leg room front and rear, comfortable seats. Fold-away towbar comes in handy.

Off-road / soft-roading capable, plenty of grip. Love the look of the car - modern but timeless.

Would say the auto gearbox can be slightly clunky at very low/motorway crawl speeds and newer models no way of turning off start-stop apart from switching gearbox to 'manual mode'. Dont think the mild hybrid system adds much in terms of economy and maybe only a slight boost when accelerating - probably an unnecessary engineering addition and complexity to the car.

Average 34mpg (B5 petrol)

Luxury car tax in first few years of ownership makes it a little expensive to run, usual Volvo maintenance costs. No issues so far. Planning to keep long-term, will see if maintenance and Petrol/Hybrid complexities allow.

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