Volvo XC60 review - Reliability and safety

Volvo’s focus on safety means the XC60 is fitted with lots of potentially life-saving equipment as standard.

All versions feature autonomous emergency braking, lane keep assist, dual-stage airbags and traffic sign recognition, while there’s also a system called oncoming lane mitigation, which steers away from oncoming traffic to avoid a head-on collision. The XC60 put in a very impressive performance during its Euro NCAP crash test and received a full five-star rating. 

Blind spot monitoring is part of the £1,500 Intellisafe Surround pack, which also comes with rear cross traffic alert and steering assist tech that boosts steering input to help avoid an obstacle in an emergency. 

The XC60 finished in a solid 30th position out of 75 cars in our latest Driver Power customer satisfaction survey, while the smaller XC40 achieved 14th place. Volvo as a brand placed 10th out of 30 manufacturers, rated highly for safety, build quality and design, although insurance premiums were felt to be too high.

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Warranty

A standard three-year warranty will cover anything that might go wrong, but very little should, given Volvo’s top half showing in our Driver Power league table. Volvo dealers didn’t put in such a strong showing in the dealer chart with a distinctly mid-table ranking.

Servicing

Servicing your Volvo XC60 should be fairly straightforward. The XC60 needs a service once a year or every 10,000 miles, and fixed-price plans are available. However, in our comparison tests, Volvo often charges more for its service plans than its rivals do.