2016 Volvo XC90 Research & Reviews

Overview & Reviews

Average Score

3.21/5 Average
96 Total Reviews
This Year's Model Updates:

The 2016 Volvo XC90 is fully redesigned with a new look, a new body structure and a more efficient powertrain.

Pros:
  • Available hybrid model.
  • Cutting-edge safety technology
  • Sharp new look and style
  • Small but powerful engine promises improved fuel efficiency
Cons:
  • Unknown how well the new touchscreen interface will work.

User Reviews:

Showing 51 through 60 of 96.00
  • Considering the hype about the Volvo brand, indeed - 2016 Volvo XC90
    By -

    I purchased this coming from a Lexus 400h expecting to be wowed. The test drive was good. The 360 view, the dashboard were fantastic looking and I was blown over. Post purchase, I began to uncover lots of common sense things that the car simply refused to do. Unlike the Infiniti, the 360 view is not attainable unless you go through several clicks and swipes on the very cool tablet/ipad like dashboard controls. The purpose of the 360 view is lost totally. The rear view can be replaced with the 360 view but then you lose the range of vision of the road behind you. Radio settings are made unnecessary complicated. Another example, the simple and easy windshield wipers. You would think they would have these automated down pat but no. Unlike the Lexus, you actually have to tell it that it is raining only after which it does some level of automated speed up and slow down of the wipers. The service was "ugh" and "aargh" always - condescending disposition of the people and poor time estimation at the top of the problems. A supposed 45 minute wait became "a few more minutes", "half hour more", "15 more minutes" to three hours! There was one time when the service person told me that car pick up for maintenance will happen only if I was disabled in some manner which was an outright cooked up story. The service people behave as if they are high and mighty and want to show that they control who gets picked up and who doesnt. A simple reason such as, "We dont have drivers or cars to pick up at that time" would have been totally understandable for inability to pick up. Lexus service was soooo much better! These are registered complaints and I received apologies. I was okay the first time but some issue or the other came up which did not have to come up. The router and the wifi is not of great strength as advertised for sure. The Lane Assist detected white dashed lines only. The double yellow line and the solid white line were totally ignored. To top all of this, the car self-braked many times for the wrong scenarios such as a car coming on the opposite lane, a parked car in a turn and didnt stop for a stopped vehicle causing a head-on collision and was totaled after 6 months of usage. In conclusion, it comes with a few cool bells and whistles but it is not a well thought through car for overall execution. Service gets the lowest score. Truly disappointing.

  • A True Luxury SUV with Outstanding Technology - 2016 Volvo XC90
    By -

    While we have only had our 2016 XC90 for a week, we truly love this SUV. The vehicle is primarily driven by the wife and on family trips. We were not even looking for a Volvo at first. Previously we had a 2004 XC90 and while an OK vehicle we never loved it, size was good, handling and MPG were not. We downsized from that to a new 2012 XC60 which was also nice (much better handling and MPG). Although nowhere near the same luxury as our prior Mercedes. With two kids it quickly became too small. Was looking to upsize and considered the following 2015/16 vehicles: Acura MDX, Range Rover, Porsche Cayenne (too small), Audi Q7 and Mercedes GL. We have always been partial to Mercedes and loved all our prior MBs so it was looking like that would be our next choice. Took the XC60 to the Volvo dealer for an offer and thats when we saw the new XC90. This vehicle is nothing like the prior XC90, it is easy to see what Volvo has been doing with the $11 billon from Geely. I am not concerned with a Chinese company being the parent owner of Volvo, as the Swedes still design and build the car. Look around these days and you will find many of the high-end items in the world owned by someone else. The luxury from the new XC90 is completely on par with the Germans. The Europeans have mastered the art of that for years but always seem to lag in the technology arena. Even when they do offer technology it is not on level with what high-end Japanese autos offered; not to mention you will easily add $10k to the European vehicles with options and still envy what the Japanese models have. The XC90 is a vehicle exceeding at both. Ours is a fully loaded model (specd same as a First Edition) and in no category does it lack. The luxury from the 18-way adjustable (Inscription model) front seats to the perfect balance of Nappa leather, birch wood and metal accents leave no doubt every detail has been thought of. Should you even find a glove box that can also cool down to 40 degrees in a European car, rest assured it will be another pricey option. The place I could see an improvement would be additional USB ports, but plug in one of the adapters that gives you two USB ports per outlet and problem solved. Reading other reviews prior to our purchase that was also one of the few things people could seem to gripe about. If lack of multiple USB ports are the biggest complaints with the XC90, then I think Volvo has succeeded in their goal of making a new iconic flagship for their brand. The all glass instrument cluster and center stack is as functional as it is aesthetically pleasing. The tablet like interface is extremely easy to use and does respond instantly (was a big concern of mine). Want to test the responsiveness, adjust the temperature slide up and down, it responds as fast as you can move your finger! Looking forward to the upcoming update to include Apple Carplay and Android Auto integration. The heads up display is another feature worth getting, very nice never having to take your eyes of the road. The enormous panorama sunroof is something the backseat and even third row passengers will enjoy. Shutting the doors is a solid thud I havent heard since our last Mercedes. Again every aspect of this vehicle we just love. The drive is outstanding for this capable 7 passenger SUV, especially for a 2 liter 4 cylinder engine. It has better handling and performance than our prior XC60 with an engine twice the size. While it cant tow as much as the Q7 (the XC90 is rated to tow 5000 lbs) and is not as sporty as the Porsche or BMW, it is certainly a well balanced mix of comfort, performance and capability. The cargo space is seemingly endless (especially when compared to more sporty brands). It does offer four different driving modes which further enhances your driving experience. You certainly feel like you’re driving a luxury sedan, not a heavy truck or large SUV feeling about the drive. My primary car is a Porsche, and this is our first SUV I dont mind driving. Safety is my paramount concern when purchasing a vehicle for the family. That is one reason I was originally looking hard at the Mercedes, but Volvo certainly knows how to build an extremely safe car as well. They further drove that point home with all the advanced safety features this vehicle packs. There is no need for me to go over all of them, you can read all about them for the next hour in other reviews. I will say they are impressive and non-intrusive. I absolutely love the lane keeping aid. A gentle steering nudge reminds you when you are veering out of your lane. I believe that is actually making us safer drivers all around because it brings to point when and how often you were drifting. Having that truly lets you know how attentive you are to the road and your primary task while behind the wheel. If you are in the market for a luxury SUV, you would be remiss if you dont check out the new XC90. This one is nothing like any Volvo of years past for all the right reasons.

  • Worst New Car Experience Ever - 2016 Volvo XC90
    By -

    The 2016 T8 Volvo XC90 was the car I wanted to love. Looked forward to owning it as soon as I heard it was in the works in 2014. Got what appeared to be a good deal on the lease. Unfortunately for this $70K car, Ive had more days in the shop for repeated repairs than all the other automobiles Ive owned in 4 decades put together. Software problems, sunroof water leak problems, transmission problems, navigation problems, acceleration problems. Now it needs to go back in the shop again and the local Volvo dealer has closed. The nearest Volvo dealer that will take care of warranty service is 5 hours away. Volvo is not interested in taking back their lease. I will be investigating our states lemon law. If youre looking for a good PHEV, I suggest the Ford CMax Energy. Half the price, twice the car except for smaller size and no AWD option.

  • Great car, terrible technology - 2016 Volvo XC90
    By -

    The good: Car has great material, great feel, and great acceleration/braking. A ton of space and smooth ride. If the software was so terrible the car would be perfect. The bad/worst: Car has so many software bugs and issues, its just terrible. Voice command will sometimes disable the radio buttons, the system crashes, auto stop/start works whenever it feels like it, and worst of all, the accident prevention braking goes off randomly. Car decided to randomly apply brakes and almost caused our car to get rear-ended.

  • Love my new ride - 2016 Volvo XC90
    By -

  • In the shop over 80 days in the first 3 mos - 2016 Volvo XC90
    By -

    I receive my inscription on 17 July 2015. After owning it for nine days I received a suspension error code followed by a safety restraint error code and promptly sent it in for service. It was in the Volvo dealership in Tulsa for over 30 days. After I received my car back I had it for less than one week before more electronic error codes again began popping up in addition to my virtual speedometer going black on rainy night. Despite dispatching numerous Volvo engineers who attempted to service my car, Volvo was unable to repair it and didnt give me a refund after four months of ownership. I would tread extremely carefully with this first model year car as it seems Volvo has no idea how to have the various modules interact with each other. I would visit various Volvo forums to better understand the gravity of this problem and Volvos pompous attitude to their new customers of the 2016 "car of the year"

  • VOLVO LOVER!!! Great Vehicle! - 2016 Volvo XC90
    By -

    Edmunds needs to get off their "high horse" and rate this vehicle properly. Ive drove many luxury vehicles and I must say this is the best one. BMW,Audi, Land Rover etc etc doesnt compare to the quality of the materials... And hey dont be bashing the vehicles features just because your tiny mind cant handle the XC90 capability. It has easy to use features, if you know how to simply use an Ipad or Iphone, this touch screen is the same thing. I love how the vehicle "grips " the road! It has the feel of a car, the simplicity of an Ipad for features, amazing quality of materials from the leather seats to the wood grain on the dashboard. Please see this vehicle!

  • Hold off buying this car ! - 2016 Volvo XC90
    By -

    Love my new Volvo XC90 when it starts. Beautiful inside and out, lots of great safety features, and a pleasure to drive. However, there have been severe software issues and most recently battery draining for no apparent reason when it sits. Each trip to shop has been 2 - 3 days, because their technicians are not fully up to speed and/or the software is too screwed up. They generally have to do a remote consult with Volvo engineers.. As I write this I am about to jump start it to take it back to the shop again, just a month after the last battery episode (they did a battery reset and then installed a new battery last time, but never did find the cause). Do a Google search and you will find dozens of other people with the same problem. Another issue is quirky navigation system. Usually reliable, but occasionally totally screws up destination city. My recommendation. Do not buy this car yet. Perhaps wait a year until Volvo gets their act together.

  • A lot of car - 2016 Volvo XC90
    By -

    For as big as this car is, it handles surprisingly well. That said, I had planned on getting something smaller, but the ride comfort and technology (especially the great center display and fewer buttons) won me over. It is bigger than the Highlander it replaced, so my wife and I are still parking in the back corner of the mall parking lot - afraid to get too close to anything that might scratch our new car. It is great onthe open road, but a bit too much around town, My wife and I are still learning the new technology, which is a bit intimidating to a non-technophile. My wife couldnt figure out how to turn off the radio the other day, and needed to recruit a youngster to help (you just turn the volume down until you see the "x" - oh well.

  • This car was NOT ready for prime time - 2016 Volvo XC90
    By -

    I was one of the first to take delivery of the 2016 model (non-first edition). The car is great if you are just taking it for a short test drive. All of those glowing reviews.... Were from reviewers that took it on a few hour test drive. Actually owning the car was a different story. Mine leaked twice, and after a long, drawn out, months and months long story, it was lemond and I got into a Q7, which is far and away a better vehicle. Its not even close. And the leaking wasnt the only problem that I had. For the first several months that I owned the vehicle, my car spent more than 30 days in the shop. The support from VCNA and the dealers is just awful. I could literally go on and on for pages about my experience, but Ill just leave it at that.

Volvo XC90 Reviews By Year:
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