[jpnwdc]

I am close to pulling the trigger on a new XC60 Inscription. There are a lot available in the DC area and wondering if really need to spend extra money on some of the options I see.

For example, there is now an option for a "Air Quality with Advanced Air Cleaner". Doesn't the XC60 already have a cabin filter? Not sure I see the reason for this.

Also - Park Assist Pilot? I have the auto parking feature on my Q5 and I've used it maybe two times.


Appreciate any thoughts/info - especially the air cleaner. (There are some XC60s without these two features and just curious if they are really necessary or advised.)

 

[DFrantz]

I'm of the firm belief that Park Assist Pilot exists only because other companies have it. I know I get some customers who actually get excited about having it, but I don't know if it actually gets used after purchase. I think it's silly and clumsy.

The Air Quality is sorta nice though, especially if you have allergies. It's quite a bit better than just a cabin filter, being able to take out 95% of pollen and junk from the air. Given the small cost, I'd get that personally. But I wouldn't pass on a car if it was missing and everything else was right and I didn't have time for a factory order.

 

[ebernstein]

I have a 2021 XC60 Inscription with both the air cleaner and the park assist pilot. I mostly got them because they were included on the car I liked on the lot and weren't a big price increase.

My personal opinion is you can likely live without both (they're also cheap enough that I bet if you didn't care and the car came with them, you could probably get the dealership to throw them in).

I've so far used the park assist once on the test drive and once in real life - both were mostly to try it out and entirely unnecessary uses. I tell myself that when covid-stuff settles down and I make more trips to places I need to parallel park again, I will find it useful... but who knows. My current covid-lifestyle leaves that feature pretty unused.

Similar thoughts on the air cleaner. You can start if from you phone, but it almost never works for me (I have a ticket filed with Volvo for that). The little graph in the car is neat (what they use in the feature images), but uses the app space and always tells me my air is fine, so I almost never use it. All in all, I'd never notice if the feature wasn't there.

Depending on whether you are considering the advanced package though, I will say I absolutely love the heads up display. I find I almost never glance at my driver display anymore which is both convenient and arguably safer.

 

[stocis]

both of them are not necessary, however the advanced air filter is quite interesting considering the days we're living in.
if you ask me, the price is reasonable for what it does.

 

[jpnwdc]

I have a 2021 XC60 Inscription with both the air cleaner and the park assist pilot. I mostly got them because they were included on the car I liked on the lot and weren't a big price increase.

My personal opinion is you can likely live without both (they're also cheap enough that I bet if you didn't care and the car came with them, you could probably get the dealership to throw them in).

I've so far used the park assist once on the test drive and once in real life - both were mostly to try it out and entirely unnecessary uses. I tell myself that when covid-stuff settles down and I make more trips to places I need to parallel park again, I will find it useful... but who knows. My current covid-lifestyle leaves that feature pretty unused.

Similar thoughts on the air cleaner. You can start if from you phone, but it almost never works for me (I have a ticket filed with Volvo for that). The little graph in the car is neat (what they use in the feature images), but uses the app space and always tells me my air is fine, so I almost never use it. All in all, I'd never notice if the feature wasn't there.

Depending on whether you are considering the advanced package though, I will say I absolutely love the heads up display. I find I almost never glance at my driver display anymore which is both convenient and arguably safer.

Yes the Advanced Package is a requirement. How do you like the vehicle so far? Likes/dislikes?

 

[ebernstein]

Yes the Advanced Package is a requirement. How do you like the vehicle so far? Likes/dislikes?

I absolutely love the car!

There are a ton of nice touches I really like. In no particular order a few of the things that I find really delightful:
* The seats are the most comfortable seats I've ever had in a car.
* The auto-high beams are a feature I didn't think would be all that interesting that I absolutely love. I live by dark curvy roads that I'd never use high beams for when it was manual - having them automatically flip on/off is great!
* The HUD went way beyond my expectations. I never need to glance away and check my speed - and seeing the turn-by-turn when using nav there is awesome!
* The 360 camera is amazing! But... (see dislikes)
* Turning radius is surprisingly awesome. Has come in handy quite a few times.
* To be completely superficial - I really think it's one of the nicest looking SUVs on the road.

A few of the things that aren't that great:
* There's a lot of storage room, but not a lot of organization options. Wish it had more hidden places to store things out of the way like under the cargo area, or beneath the center console like some other SUVs have.
* The HUD does an amazing job with sensus nav turn-by-turn, but I really wish it did that with Android Auto because I like Google's nav better.
* The 360 view (as above) is wonderful, but it doesn't come on automatically. In fact the parking sensor screen shows with no camera view and makes it difficult to switch to the camera view... why? I really hope they fix this in a sw update.
* Still mad they dropped the headlight washers in the US 2021 model (I didn't notice that before buying).

About what I expected
* Pilot Assist is pretty much what I expected. It's not Telsas by any measure, but it makes long boring drives much easier than just adaptive cruise. It'd be nice if it auto adjusted speed based on speed limit signs, but not such luck. I hear in europe it slows down preemptively for turns, but not in the US yet.
* The giant center console is intuitive and easy to use. I do wish some things like the 360 view were just a physical button I could press, but overall, I like the center display.
* The drivers display is easy to see and adapts nicely with nav. The HUD means I don't use it as much as I used to, but it's nice. I feel like they could do better with customization there though.

Still waiting to try it out in snow (a big reason for my purchase), but I've got some time before that hits.

Overall, I'm really happy with my purchase. I look forward to driving it and find it super comfortable (really the most important things).

 

[FusionRedXC60]

The advanced air cleaner probably is useful when air is smoky from wild fire in west coast.
East coast usually is fine but it is nice to have, and cost is low. Wish it is N95 filter though.

Some cars get equipped with N95 filter in China early this year. I guess it makes more sense to have N95 here now.

 

[xgman]

I've had auto park in cars for the last 10 years and haven't used it once. I use the auto steer daily and love it, but I doubt I would ever use the auto park feature in nay car. I just don't trust it and it takes too long compared to what I can do myself.

 

[jpnwdc]

I absolutely love the car!

There are a ton of nice touches I really like. In no particular order a few of the things that I find really delightful:
* The seats are the most comfortable seats I've ever had in a car.
* The auto-high beams are a feature I didn't think would be all that interesting that I absolutely love. I live by dark curvy roads that I'd never use high beams for when it was manual - having them automatically flip on/off is great!
* The HUD went way beyond my expectations. I never need to glance away and check my speed - and seeing the turn-by-turn when using nav there is awesome!
* The 360 camera is amazing! But... (see dislikes)
* Turning radius is surprisingly awesome. Has come in handy quite a few times.
* To be completely superficial - I really think it's one of the nicest looking SUVs on the road.

A few of the things that aren't that great:
* There's a lot of storage room, but not a lot of organization options. Wish it had more hidden places to store things out of the way like under the cargo area, or beneath the center console like some other SUVs have.
* The HUD does an amazing job with sensus nav turn-by-turn, but I really wish it did that with Android Auto because I like Google's nav better.
* The 360 view (as above) is wonderful, but it doesn't come on automatically. In fact the parking sensor screen shows with no camera view and makes it difficult to switch to the camera view... why? I really hope they fix this in a sw update.
* Still mad they dropped the headlight washers in the US 2021 model (I didn't notice that before buying).

About what I expected
* Pilot Assist is pretty much what I expected. It's not Telsas by any measure, but it makes long boring drives much easier than just adaptive cruise. It'd be nice if it auto adjusted speed based on speed limit signs, but not such luck. I hear in europe it slows down preemptively for turns, but not in the US yet.
* The giant center console is intuitive and easy to use. I do wish some things like the 360 view were just a physical button I could press, but overall, I like the center display.
* The drivers display is easy to see and adapts nicely with nav. The HUD means I don't use it as much as I used to, but it's nice. I feel like they could do better with customization there though.

Still waiting to try it out in snow (a big reason for my purchase), but I've got some time before that hits.

Overall, I'm really happy with my purchase. I look forward to driving it and find it super comfortable (really the most important things).

Thanks for your very thorough feedback. What vehicle did you come from? The only thing giving me a little concern is the ride over broken pavement. It doesn't appear to be as good as the Audi. You are right on the looks though - easily the best looking out there!

 

[BigBang]

Thanks for your very thorough feedback. What vehicle did you come from? The only thing giving me a little concern is the ride over broken pavement. It doesn't appear to be as good as the Audi. You are right on the looks though - easily the best looking out there!

In terms of driving characteristics, Volvo is not even close to Audi. I have an Audi Q5 S-line M2018 and a Volvo XC60 R-Design M2018
XC60 has the worst gearbox in class (X3 ,Q5, GLC )

 

[jpnwdc]

In terms of driving characteristics, Volvo is not even close to Audi. I have an Audi Q5 S-line M2018 and a Volvo XC60 R-Design M2018
XC60 has the worst gearbox in class (X3 ,Q5, GLC )

I have a 2019 Q5 with warm weather package/sport seats. By far the worst seats in its class in my opinion. Wish I had known better.

 

[BigBang]

I have a 2019 Q5 with warm weather package/sport seats. By far the worst seats in its class in my opinion. Wish I had known better.

Audi has always had harder seats, but it's not clear to me why they don't offer the same options in the US market as in the EU

This is S-line seat:

 

[desol8tor]

* There's a lot of storage room, but not a lot of organization options. Wish it had more hidden places to store things out of the way like under the cargo area, or beneath the center console like some other SUVs have.

I just got a T5 Inscription two weeks ago. This might actually be my biggest gripe (which is good, since overall it's a nit) ... I came from a VW Golf MK7 and the Volvo has significantly less space near the center console, and is additionally missing two completely separate storage compartments that were present on the VW which is a significantly smaller car.

Otherwise over the moon about it!

 

[jpnwdc]

Audi has always had harder seats, but it's not clear to me why they don't offer the same options in the US market as in the EU

This is S-line seat:

In the US we don't have that quilted leather in the Q5. Just in the SQ5.

How do you like your XC60?

 

[VolvoFaRmeR]

If you have the Polestar software the transmission actually becomes pretty good and is class-appropriate in its performance. Not sure how you have concluded the driving characteristics are not close to an Audi. Drive both brands weekly, both have pros and cons, but the Volvo would be my choice over the Audi for driving.

 

[BigBang]

In the US we don't have that quilted leather in the Q5. Just in the SQ5.

How do you like your XC60?

Unfortunately my experience with Volvo is horrible. This is my first and last Volvo in my life. There is no perfect car, there are problems with all cars, but what I experienced with Volvo is unforgivable
There is there still a lot of complaints but these are some
https://forums.swedespeed.com/showthread.php?584369-Reduced-perfomance
https://forums.swedespeed.com/showthread.php?584885-Another-problem
https://forums.swedespeed.com/showthread.php?618653-Potential-problem-with-sunroof

Volvo has a nice interior and good seats and that's it
https://forums.swedespeed.com/showthread.php?579575-Volvo-XC60-T5-R-Design-vs-Audi-Q5-2-0TFSI-S-line

Of course it is your decision what you want and what you like. Good luck with your choice
When I sell the XC60, the next car I will buy is the X3

 

[Walkabout]

I test drove the Audi Q5 extensively. I thought it handled better than the Volvo and had a nicer ride. I don't begin to understand the transmission issue though. My T6 is smooth as silk.

The Q5 had the worst seats of any vehicle I test drove though. I liked how firm they were but still insanely unconfortable.

Its also a bland looking vehicle inside and out.

The total package does not complete.

 

[cowfootball]

+1. I cross shopped the X3 and the Q5. The Q5 didn't compete for me -- the X3 did but I didn't want to deal with owning a BMW and it was when they were charging an annual subscription for CarPlay which was enough to immediately walk away for me. I'm glad to see that's reversed though and the X3 is a fine vehicle.

 

[Walkabout]

I loved the X3. Again though, the seats couldn't compare.

Everybody has their critical issue and after years of back issues, I need a car that I can drive for hours without aches and pain.

 

[jpnwdc]

I loved the X3. Again though, the seats couldn't compare.

Everybody has their critical issue and after years of back issues, I need a car that I can drive for hours without aches and pain.

Before I got the Q5, I cross shopped the X3 and GLC. The X3 was the most fun to drive. But the leather seats were like sitting on plywood. That was a deal killer. The GLC has great seats (the MB Tex is unusually comfortable). However it was the mushiest and least sporty of the three. I drove the GLC recently and it is comfortable but really lazy is the best way to describe it.

I drove the XC60 T5 with Polestar already installed from the factory. It is definitely more lively with the Polestar upgrade but not sure a requirement.