Volvo V90 Cross Country Review & Prices

The Volvo V90 Cross Country is actually about as much SUV as anyone actually needs. It’s technically not an SUV at all, but with an extra 65mm of ride height and four-wheel drive it has the mechanical bits of a proper 4x4 beneath a relatively low-slung estate body. It’s kind of like shopping at M&S for a suit, and then pairing it with hiking boots from Millets.

The V90 Cross Country looks subtly different to a regular V90 estate thanks to black plastic cladding panels around the wheel arches and along the lower parts of the body, offering at least some protection from jutting rocks and scraping briars. There’s also a special black-and-chrome grille, skid plates, and — inside — special leather seats and walnut dashboard panels.

It’s no Land Rover, but the V90 Cross Country does come with an automatic off-road mode, which continually monitors what you’re doing and sets up the traction control, hill descent control, and four-wheel drive to give you the best chance of making it through and over any obstacles. It’s actually surprisingly capable in the rough — more so than one might expect.

On tarmac, the extra ride height doesn’t make the V90 Cross Country wallow and roll, or at least not too much, and so it drives rather like any other V90 model, which is a good thing. The extra suspension length does mean a little more isolation from bumps and thumps, which is especially good if you live ‘down the country’ and need something to cope with poorly maintained roads. The bigger door mirrors help, too.

The interior looks a little aged compared to more modern Volvos, but the big portrait-style touchscreen is easier to use than some of the newer stuff, and the classic Volvo plus points of comfy seats, lots of space, and a big boot are all present and correct.

That big boot perhaps isn’t as big as it might be — the likes of the Skoda Superb Estate put it to shame for outright loading capacity — and the V90 Cross Country certainly isn’t cheap. That said, it’s a more appealing alternative to a big, blocky SUV, without sacrificing the sort of rough-road and open-field abilities that so appeal to those who own expensive wellies.

In some ways, the Volvo V90 Cross Country feels like something of an expensive throwback to a time when car makers weren’t sure if people really wanted SUVs or not. It’s something of a compromise between a traditional estate and a 4x4, but not in an unpleasant sense. That said, unless you’re a regular user of rocky goat-tracks or farming lanes, it’s probably a compromise too far and you’d be better off all-round with the standard V90 estate.

Check out our latest Volvo V90 Cross Country lease deals to get a great price, or browse used V90 Cross Country models from our network of trusted dealers. You can also take a look at other used Volvos for sale, and when the time comes to sell your current car, Carwow can help there, too.

The Volvo V90 Cross Country is somewhat out on a limb where pricing is concerned, now that obvious alternatives — the Audi A6 Avant Allroad and the Mercedes-Benz E-Class All-Terrain — are no longer on sale. With prices starting well north of £55,000 the Volvo V90 Cross Country is an expensive thing, especially compared to the four-wheel drive version of the new Skoda Superb Estate (which doesn’t have the extra ride height) and Subaru’s properly rugged (but thirsty and not very luxurious) Outback.

The Volvo V90 Cross Country strikes a good compromise between having the extra ride height and comfort of an SUV but without the physical bulk.

In town

Volvos, in general, tend to have broad turning circles, but the V90 Cross Country’s is a whopper, taking 12 metres to turn 360 degrees. It’s a very long car, this, and that can make it feel awkward to use in tight urban spaces, especially when trying to parallel park. On the upside, the long glass area means that there’s good all-round visibility, and the parking camera and sensors do at least help when the spaces get really tight.

Plus, the extra ride height is a positive boon when tackling lofty speed bumps, and the V90 Cross Country’s lack of intimidating body height means that it’s less likely to attract any anti-SUV attention when it’s parked up.

Speaking of parking, the lack of body height makes for fewer deep-breath moments when navigating a low-roofed multi-storey car park, but this is a wide car, so caution is needed when trying to squeeze between tall kerbs. Those plastic panels will protect the bodywork, but not the alloy wheels…

On the motorway

Counter-intuitively, given its off-roading pretensions, the V90 Cross Country is at its absolute best on motorways, where that long-travel suspension just soaks up any road surface imperfections. It has a properly squishy ride, which means that it would take a water-bed to out-comfort a V90 Cross Country on a long run.

Added to that, the Cross Country has good sound suppression so wind and tyre noise are kept to a minimum (which is not the case in competitive models such as the Skoda Superb and Subaru Outback).

The diesel engine options can get rather clattery at low speeds and when accelerating hard, such as up a motorway on-ramp, but otherwise they’re fairly refined, although obviously a petrol-powered model would be quieter still.

On a twisty road

Here’s where the V90 Cross Country’s compromises start to show. Try to get enthusiastic on a twisty road, and there’s copious body roll as you try to tackle a quick S-bend. It’s a shame, as the standard V90 estate has surprisingly sharp steering and good chassis manners, but obviously there has to be some price to pay for the Cross Country’s extra ride height and longer springs. The trick is to slow down a touch, at which point the V90 Cross Country starts to feel rather better balanced.

Turn off the twisty roads and onto a mucky one, and the V90 Cross Country really comes into its own. There’s an Off-Road Drive Mode which automatically picks the right settings for the various systems such as traction control, the four-wheel drive setup, and hill descent control — which automatically keeps the V90 Cross Country to a slow and sensible speed when slithering down a long, slippery slope. It may not look like a butch off-roader on the outside, but the V90 Cross Country is surprisingly capable when shown a muddy track or grassy field. It’ll get further into the countryside than its shape and style would have you think.

There’s plenty of room for people, but less so for luggage

The V90 Cross Country is roomy in the front, with big and wide seats which should prove comfortable even for the largest of occupants, but it’s not quite as practical when it comes to storage as some newer designs.

There’s a long, slim, covered section on the centre console which is also home to the cup holders, and there’s another slightly shallow storage box under the front seat armrest, but aside from that there’s not much. You get a small covered tray just in front of the gear selector, which seems almost like it may have been an ashtray at some point in the design process.

The door bins are large, and lined in soft material which helps to keep the rattles down, but aside from that the V90 Cross Country really could do with a bit more space for stuff.

Space in the back seats

Space in the back of the V90 Cross Country is excellent, with plenty of legroom even for taller rear seat passengers. Headroom isn’t as generous as you’d find in a taller SUV, but there’s plenty of it all the same. The seats are wide, which means that there’s just enough room in the centre rear seat for an actual adult passenger, although the hefty transmission tunnel that runs through the cabin means that anyone sitting in that middle seat won’t have much space for their feet.

The big rear armrest has useful, if shallow, storage space under a lid, and the cup holders slide out, so you won’t have to dip your elbow in when using the armrest. There are nets on the backs of the front seats for storage, decent door bins, and a small tray at the back of the centre console which is pretty well useless unless you need to store a Bic biro.

Boot space

In days of yore (which in this case means the 1980s) Volvo estates were untouchable when it came to the sheer amount of boot space that they could offer. Not so the V90 Cross Country, which has a mere 560 litres of boot volume up to the luggage cover, and 1,680 litres when the back seats are folded flat (they fold electrically and do go properly flat).

On the good side of things, there’s a flat load lip which makes it easier to load heavy or bulky items, but the relatively low roofline means that there’s not as much space for tall boxes, bikes, or furniture as you’d find in an equivalent SUV.

Annoyingly, there’s nowhere to store the luggage cover when it’s not in use, but helpfully there is a pop-up section of the boot floor which allows you to divide up the space, keeping shopping separate from mucky sports gear, for example.

The fact is that there are several models which offer bigger boots now. The BMW i5/5 Series Touring matches the V90 Cross Country for luggage space, while the Skoda Superb has — wait for it — 130 litres more capacity.

The design is starting to look old-fashioned now, but it’s still satisfyingly easy to use

Compared to Volvo’s newer, screen-heavy models the cabin of the V90 Cross Country looks almost quaint. Once, that 9.0-inch touchscreen looked almost futuristic, but now it’s a good six inches shy of what more modern vehicles can offer in terms of digital real-estate. However, while the V90 Cross Country might look — and in fairness, is — old-fashioned, there are benefits to this.

The biggest of which is that it’s simpler to use than more modern equivalents. The touchscreen has relatively limited functionality which makes it seem much simpler than newer versions (especially that of the rather confusing Volvo EX30).

The column stalks are chunky and pleasing to use, and even the twist-to-start starter button has a nice old-school feel to it. The digital instruments behind the three-spoke steering wheel are crisp and clear to read, and the driving position is very good.

One thing to note — the V90 Cross Country still has Volvo’s old buttons and joystick to adjust the angle of the door mirrors. This has been abandoned in new models such as the EX30 and EX90 in favour of a combination of on-screen commands and steering wheel buttons, and the V90 Cross Country’s door-mounted controls are a perfect reminder of why this was a very silly idea.

Oddly, Volvo has never offered the V90 Cross Country with the efficient plug-in hybrid powertrain from the V90 estate. This seems like something of a strange omission, given that electric power is terrific for off-roading, and a silent electric 4x4 is ideal for not scaring the wildlife when out and about.

Instead, engine choice is limited to two mild-hybrid 2.0-litre petrol turbo engines (with a choice of 200hp or 250hp) or a mild-hybrid diesel with 200hp. Economy is not going to be a strong point with either of the petrol engines — figure on 30mpg on average — but the diesel is relatively frugal, and should stay on the sunny side of 45mpg if driven gently. Emissions are quite high, however — up to 194g/km of CO2 for the most powerful petrol version, which makes for a chunky Vehicle Excise Duty bill.

If you’re getting a V90 Cross Country as a company car, then you’ll pay a minimum of around £300 per month in Benefit in Kind (BIK) tax – you’ll want to look for a plug-in hybrid or electric car to make savings in this case.

The Volvo V90 Cross Country was last tested for safety by Euro NCAP back in 2017 (in V90 form) which means that technically the rating has expired, and it may not do as well if it were re-tested today. That said, the V90’s 2017 scores were hugely impressive, with a 95 per cent rating for adult occupant protection, 80 per cent for child occupants, and a 76 per cent pedestrian safety rating, making it one of the safest cars of all on sale at the time.

Being as it’s a Volvo, that’s perhaps not exactly surprising, and Volvo is still one of only two major car makers (Mercedes is the other) which is allowed by local police forces near its factory to attend the scene of serious accidents involving its cars. That’s priceless real-world safety knowledge.

Generally speaking, a V90 Cross Country should be a solidly reliable car, and Volvo finished 13th out of 30 manufacturers in the Auto Express Driver Power reliability survey. There have been reports of niggling reliability concerns where bodywork fit and finish, and electrical faults are concerned, but on the whole the V90 Cross Country is a well-made car which should prove reliable.

Volvo offers the V90 Cross Country with a three-year, 60,000 mile warranty, which is about as basic as you’ll get with any new car in the UK, but is in line with most other premium manufacturers.