Volvo XC60 2025 review | A safe and comfortable premium SUV

What is the Volvo XC60?

The XC60 is Volvo’s best-selling model worldwide and it neatly sums up how the company has repositioned itself over the past decade. Once known primarily for sensible but slightly worthy estate cars, Volvo is now firmly established as a premium, SUV-led brand, able to compete with the likes of Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

The second-generation XC60 has been on sale since 2017, but a comprehensive update for 2025 keeps it feeling fresh. Exterior changes are subtle, with revised styling and new alloy wheel designs, but the biggest improvements can be found inside. A new, larger touchscreen brings Volvo’s latest infotainment to the XC60, making the system faster, clearer and easier to use than before. Improved sound insulation and new materials also help to reinforce the car’s premium feel.

Inside, the XC60 continues to impress with a clean, minimalist cabin that favours high-quality materials over flashy design. Soft-touch surfaces, real metal trim and oh-so-Scandinavian upholstery choices give it an air of understated luxury. Indeed, it feels every bit as premium as key rivals such as the Audi Q5, BMW X3, Lexus NX and Mercedes-Benz GLC.

How practical is it?

There’s no seven-seat option for the XC60, so it can't quite match the Land Rover Discovery Sport for practicality. Nor do the rear seats slide or tumble like they do in some family-focused SUVs. That said, the XC60 is still a perfectly practical vehicle for most households.

Passenger space is generous, with ample legroom and headroom for adults in the rear, and the cabin is just about wide enough for three to sit abreast in comfort. Large doors make getting in and out easy, and there is a good spread of in-car storage for phones, bottles and the frozen meatballs you’ve grabbed from a well-known furniture store.

That said, the boot is capacious rather than class-leading. The standard XC60 offers 483 litres of luggage capacity, which drops slightly to 468 litres in the plug-in hybrid version (due to the location of its battery pack). Rivals such as the Audi Q5 offer more boot space.

Practical touches include a standard-fit electric tailgate, which opens to reveal a wide and square load area, while the rear of the car can be lowered by 40mm if the XC60 in question is fitted with air suspension. The rear seats fold flat in a 60:40 split, and there’s a ski hatch for longer loads without sacrificing the outer rear seats. Fold everything down and luggage capacity expands to 1,410 litres in the standard model, or 1,395 litres in the plug-in hybrid.

What's it like to drive?

The Volvo XC60 has never pretended to be a sporty SUV, and that’s fine. Its suspension is tuned for comfort, while the steering is relaxed rather than engaging. You’re always aware this is a large car, but it’s easy to place on the road and thread through congested streets.

Where the XC60 really excels is ride comfort. It’s one of the smoothest cars in its class, especially on motorways where it settles into a smooth cruise and irons out the worst creases in the road. Wind- and tyre noise are kept impressively low, making the XC60 a particularly good long-distance companion for the driver and passengers alike. Optional air suspension on Ultra models enhances this still further, especially at higher speeds.

Around town, the XC60 is equally agreeable, especially on the smaller alloy wheels. Opt for the larger 21- or 22-inch rims and you might want air suspension, but the ride still isn't a deal-breaker. While not the most agile SUV on a country lane, the Volvo always feels composed and assured, which is always more important in a family SUV.

Today’s XC60 engine line-up has been simplified considerably. Diesel engines have been dropped altogether, and every version now uses a 2.0-litre petrol engine with some degree of electrification. The entry point is the B5 mild-hybrid, which produces 247bhp and offers strong performance, along with smooth power delivery and respectable fuel economy for a car of this size.

Above that sit the T6 and T8 plug-in hybrids. The T6 combines petrol and electric power for a total of 346bhp, while the range-topping T8 delivers a hefty 451bhp and has all-wheel drive as standard. The T8 is genuinely quick, hitting 62mph in 4.9 seconds, although power is delivered in a smooth and measured way, rather than the dramatic shove you might get from a notionally sportier SUV.

For used buyers, it’s worth noting that earlier versions of the XC60 were offered with a wider range of engines, including D4 and D5 diesels, as well as T5 petrol variants. Volvo’s engine naming convention also went through several baffling changes, with Twin Engine, Recharge and later B and T badging, which can make older models tricky to decode. Today’s line-up is much easier to understand and all versions are fitted with an automatic transmission.

Technology, equipment & infotainment

The XC60's dashboard is dominated by a vast, portrait-oriented central display that controls most of the car’s functions and infotainment system. It isn’t as intuitive as the best touchscreen systems, but once you get used to finding your way around, it’s pretty easy to operate, and responds smoothly.

Models built from late 2021 onwards use a Google-based infotainment system, which is significantly slicker than the older Sensus system. Having to take your eyes off the road to adjust the climate control is still more distracting than using physical buttons, although most owners adapt quickly.

During a 2025 facelift, the 9.0-inch central touchscreen was replaced by a new 11.2-inch display. It has a crisper, more pixel-rich screen and faster software, although it still isn’t class-leading for ease of use. The new software was later applied to 2021-onwards XC60s via an over-the-air update.

In terms of trim levels, the XC60 has been offered with plenty over the years once you factor in trim structure changes, special editions and the like. We counted 19 separate versions at our last tot-up. None of them are poorly equipped, so judge any used car you find on its own merits, then decide for yourself whether it has enough luxury gear for you. Currently, the available trim levels are Core, Plus, Plus Black Edition, Plus Pro, Plus Pro Black Edition, Ultra and Ultra Black Edition. Again, none of these scrimp on equipment, so just choose according to your taste and budget.

Volvo XC60 running costs

If fuel economy is a primary concern for your used XC60 and you don’t have somewhere to plug in one of the PHEV models, choose the D4 FWD version. This is the most economical XC60 of all, and you can reckon on seeing fuel economy figures of 40-45mpg in real-world driving, possibly even more with a light right foot.

The plug-in hybrid (PHEV) versions post much higher official fuel economy figures, but these are to be taken with a colossal pinch of salt as, in the real world, fuel consumption varies wildly depending on the state of the battery’s charge, not to mention the type of driving you are doing.

The all-electric range and official combined fuel consumption figures have changed a bit over time due to updates, too. Early PHEVs would do around 30 miles in EV mode, but a bigger battery was introduced in 2021 that upped that range to around 50 miles. In terms of fuel economy, the T6 posts a figure of 313.4mpg, while the T8 posts 282.1mpg. However, as we've discussed, that's borderline fantasy territory. For best effect, do as much of your driving as you can on electric power, because as soon as the petrol engine kicks in, your car will become very thirsty indeed.

If you are considering the B5 mild hybrid as a new car, this has an official economy figure of up to 37.6mpg. Expect to see somewhere in the region of 35mpg in reality. If you’re considering a used XC60 with a more affordable engine option, you should achieve a similar real-world return from the now-defunct B5 FWD, while choosing the also-now-defunct B6 will drop that down by a few miles per gallon.

Servicing costs should be roughly on a par with those of an Audi Q5, and less than a BMW X3 or Mercedes-Benz GLC. Like the German manufacturers, Volvo can offer you a service plan to spread the cost of your car’s servicing over the course of a year, resulting in more affordable monthly payments.

Insurance costs are typical for a premium mid-size SUV, although plug-in hybrid versions tend to attract higher premiums. It’s also worth noting that every new XC60 is subject to the ‘expensive car’ road tax (VED) supplement. With list prices starting well above £40,000, and some models knocking on the door of £80,000, buyers must pay an additional £425 per year for five years from the second year of registration.

Volvo XC60 reliability

Volvo’s warranty is the least impressive of any premium car maker. The XC60 is warranted for three years or 60,000 miles, whichever comes up first, whereas other premium manufacturers tend to warrant their cars for the same time period, but with no mileage cap. Lexus, meanwhile, leads the class in this regard by offering cover that potentially lasts up to 10 years or 100,000 miles, provided you get your car serviced to schedule at a main dealer during that period.

Unfortunately, Volvo only finished 21st out of 30 manufacturers in the 2025 What Car? Reliability Survey, dropping from 12th place a year earlier. On the plus side, this version of the XC60 came second out of 15 cars included in the Large SUVs category of the survey, with a fantastic score of 96.5%. Even more impressive was the fact it finished above all but one (the Mercedes-Benz GLC) of its premium rivals. Those scores relate only to petrol and plug-in hybrid models, though, as the diesel was ranked separately. It finished ninth out of 15 large SUVs.