Volvo S90 Review (2016-present)
Volvo S90 cars for sale
4.0
Expert review
Pros
Ploughs a different furrow from BMW and Mercedes
Minimalist interior is restrained and elegant
Comfortable to drive and be driven in
Cons
Not the sportiest of cars
Plug-in hybrid the only option from 2020 onwards
Infotainment system is a bit fiddly
The CarGurus verdict
Launching a car that is going to compete with the BMW 5 Series, Audi A6 and Mercedes-Benz E-Class for the hard-earned cash of car buyers is always going to be a tough ask, but Volvo’s approach with the S90 is to compete without competing.
The S90 is not a car that is dynamically rewarding, like the 5 Series. And it doesn’t have powerful engines under the bonnet, like some A6s. The approach that Volvo has taken is to compete with a car that is elegant to look at – compared to the conservative designs emerging from Germany – has a beautifully appointed interior with the latest technology and provides a driving experience that combines comfort, refinement and the ultimate in safety.
Is the S90 saloon the best car in its class? No, it's not. But if you want a car that does something completely different to its rivals, while at the same time establishing an identity all of its own, the S90 could be just what you’re looking for.
What is the Volvo S90?
Volvo is a car manufacturer that has always ploughed its own furrow, setting its own priorities and following them, even when its rivals focused elsewhere.
After being bought by Chinese conglomerate Geely in 2011, Volvo has invested a huge amount of money in developing cars for the next stage of automotive evolution, preparing for an electrified (and autonomous) future.
The XC90 SUV was the first fruit of that investment, soon followed by the S90 large saloon, which arrived in showrooms in 2016.
How practical is it?
The S90’s interior is as spacious as rivals such as the Mercedes E-Class, with lots of room up front (the driving position is exemplary) and just as much in the rear.
Legroom is plentiful and, while the roofline does chisel away a few centimetres away from the potential headroom, most adults will have no issues with sitting in the back for long journeys.
At 500 litres, boot space is decent without being exemplary: the E-Class and 5 Series have more, but plug-in hybrid versions of the S90 have bigger boots than comparable 5 Series models.
What's it like to drive?
It’s on the road that the differences between the S90 and its German rivals – and, indeed the Jaguar XF, too – are most obvious. Where the 5 Series is dynamic and sporty, the S90 is more sedate and happy to make progress without any drama. Where the E-Class cossets with its ride, the S90’s engineering focuses on being comfortable and refined. The S90 isn’t set up to be as engaging as a 5 Series (there are no manual gearbox options with the S90, merely an eight-speed automatic), so its handling isn’t going to be similar. However, it drives consistently and coherently, the body is well-controlled and the steering is accurate.
In terms of its ride quality, it’s perhaps on the firm side of comfortable, but it still covers long distances with dollops of compliance, so you get out of the car feeling as fresh as when you got in.
And the experience of being in the S90 for long drives also shows just how refined and quiet it is while cruising, with barely any wind, road or engine noise intruding into the cabin.
Technology, equipment & infotainment
Inside, there’s an uncluttered dashboard, dominated by a portrait-oriented nine-inch touchscreen. Indeed the reliance on the touchscreen for controlling almost all of the car’s functions has led to just a single row of buttons below it: if that isn’t a triumph of minimalism, we don’t know what is. The cabin materials are all of the highest quality and the seats continue Volvo’s reputation for making some of the best, most supportive chairs around.
Volvo has kept things as minimalist in the number of trims as the design of its cars, so the S90 was launched with just three: Momentum, Inscription and R-Design. Momentum, despite being the ‘entry-level’ (if you describe a car that was £32K new as an entry-level car) trim, was kitted out with LED headlights, heated leather seats, satnav, Bluetooth, DAB radio, powered bootlid, keyless start and rear parking sensors.
Inscription adds some extra interior lighting, Nappa leather seats, a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, electric front seats and 18-inch alloys. R-Design, which injects a sportier edge to the range, comes with styling features such as a unique grille and piano black trim on the front and rear of the cars’ exterior, alloy wheels, plus interior styling cues including trim, pedals, mats, sports seats and special steering wheel. The suspension set-up has also been tweaked for R-Design cars. From 2020, Volvo rationalised the trims to just two: R-Design and Inscription.
Volvo S90 running costs
The S90 was launched with 2.0-litre diesel engines only, with a pair of 2.0-litre petrol engines quickly added, before a plug-in petrol/electric hybrid was added to the range.
The 2.0-litre, four-cylinder diesel engines were designated D4 and D5: the engines were fundamentally the same, but were just tuned to have different power outputs. The lower-powered D4 returned an official WLTP test figure of 50.4mpg, while the more powerful D5 managed 43.5mpg. Despite the WLTP tests being more representative of real-world driving than the previous NEDC testing regime, both figures are likely to be lower in the real world.
If you don’t cover huge annual mileages, but still have a hankering for an S90, the 2.0-lite petrol engines, called T4 and T5 and only available with front-wheel drive, both have a fuel consumption figure of 37.7mpg.
In theory, the most efficient S90 is the T8 plug-in hybrid that combines the 2.0-litre petrol engine with an electric motor. Testing has suggested that the official average fuel economy figure is 141.2mpg. However, unless you spend most of your time solely using the electric motor (the car has a 37-mile electric-only range), you’re unlikely to get close to this official number.
In terms of car tax, picking up a used S90 registered before 1 April 2017 will get you low road tax bills, while cars registered after that date, and which cost more than £40,000 when new, will attract an extra VED tax supplement for another five years. Post-2017 cars will be liable for the current flat-rate tax of £150 a year, with a luxury car supplement of £325 a year. The T8 plug-in, with its 46g/km CO2 emissions figures is tax-free in the first year, but it’s more than £40K, so it costs £325 for the following five years, in addition to the £140 annual payment.
Insurance for this well-equipped premium car isn’t going to be cheap, with different versions of the S90 falling into groups 27 to 42. However, this is competitive with its rivals, with the most basic 5 Series starting at group 34.
Servicing intervals are 12 months, with visits alternating between minor and major services. Volvo offers a monthly scheme that allows you to spread the bill on an interest-free basis. There are also service plans for used cars that offer a fixed price for parts, labour and oil for up to six years, with an interest-free monthly payment plan also available.
Volvo S90 reliability
There isn’t much feedback on the S90’s reliability, as it tends not to sell in high enough volumes to qualify for customer satisfaction surveys. However, it showed a creditable fourth in one poll, with the Volvo brand just outside the top 10 on the table of most reliable manufacturers.
Worryingly, though, the S90 has been subject to a few recalls. For example, around 70,000 Volvos in the UK fitted with a 2.0-litre diesel engine were being recalled over potential engine fires. The autonomous emergency braking system has also been subject to a recall over a software issue, while a problem was also found with the vehicle connectivity module (VCM) that sends location information to the emergency services after a collision. There have also been two recalls for airbags that might not deploy correctly during a collision, a recall over front seatbelt buckles that could result in the buckle and seatbelt bracket separating during a collision and another for the incorrect assembly of driver and front passenger seats rails.
All these recalls should have been dealt with by the previous owners of used S90s, by taking them into dealers to remedy for free. However, it's worth checking if the car you’re thinking of buying has been affected by any of these potential issues. If they haven’t, you can take the car to a Volvo dealer to fix.
Volvo’s three-year/60,000-mile warranty is pretty standard for the segment, but BMW has dispensed with a mileage limit.
- The S90 is an elegant-looking car, beautifully designed and a clear representation of the Swedish brand’s pivot to embracing its own interpretation of Scandi design, with its minimalist expressions. There are lovely flowing lines, but the body panels are generally unencumbered by lots of character lines, which enhances the air of sophistication and self-confident styling.
- The Sensus infotainment system in the S90 is a shot across the bows of its premium rivals in the display wars that are now going on in car interiors. A portrait-oriented nine-inch touchscreen, it has an easy-to-understand interface, with the screen split into tabs that expand when you touch them, to choose a radio station or media source, or programme a destination into the satnav. The system also takes over the heating and cooling duties for the cabin, which might be a function too far for an infotainment system, but does work okay in this instance.
- The Swedish marque has a well-deserved reputation for safety, having invented the likes of the three-point seatbelt, the rear-facing child seat and side-impact protection systems. It therefore comes as no surprise that the S90 is one of the safest cars on the road, with a five-star Euro NCAP crash testing rating and a 95% adult occupant protection score. As well as crash protection features such as airbags, there are also numerous collision prevention (known as active safety) devices, including a large animal detection system, which warns the driver when deer are approaching from the side of a dark road, and Pilot Assist, a semi-autonomous driving aid, using existing technology such as adaptive cruise control, which can take care of acceleration, braking and keeping the car in its lane, all at speeds of up to 80mph.
- If a diesel is the flavour of S90 that you want – perhaps long-distance motorway drives are common occurrence – the better of the two options is the D5 PowerPulse, which is only available with all-wheel drive (AWD). The 231bhp output provides a steady surge of power, responding to demands for increased acceleration with no lag. The 7.0-second 0-62mph time is also pretty impressive for a large diesel saloon.
- If petrol is your thing, the T5 engine that pumps out 246bhp is the better bet, as the extra power (compared to the 187bhp T4) is smoothly delivered and can prove pretty punchy. A 0-62mph time of 6.8 seconds is also good for such a big car that hasn’t been built to be performance-oriented.
- The eco option, when it comes to the S90 range, is the T8 TwinEngine plug-in hybrid, which became the only available S90 in mid-2020, when Volvo dispensed with its petrol and diesel variants. The official fuel economy figure is impressive (but a little misleading, when considered in the light of real-world driving), as is the 5.1-second 0-62mph sprint.
