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By Jonathan Crouch

Introductionword count: 78

Volvo's second generation XC90 is a seven-seat luxury SUV that gave key rivals like Audi's Q7 and the Land Rover Discovery a lot to think about. Safe, efficient, clever, practical and stylish, this car positioned the Swedish maker as a credibly prestigious automotive brand. And a facelift in 2019 made it better still, thanks to the introduction of mild hybrid engine tech. Is this 2019-2024-era MK2 XC90 model we look at here. It makes a great used buy.

Modelsword count: 17

5dr SUV (2.0 petrol T5,T6 / 2.0 turbo & supercharged T8 plug-in hybrid / 2.0 diesel D5)

Historyword count: 341

The second generation XC90 was the car that began Volvo's modern era. This large luxury SUV established new standards for the brand when this model was originally announced back in 2014 and the company's subsequent move towards full electrification re-set those standards once again. The improved version of the MK2 XC90 model announced in the Spring of 2019 reflected that trend with fresh mild hybrid technology. Plus the line-up got a light update. Let's start with a quick XC90 recap, should you need one. The first generation design arrived just after the turn of the century in 2002, but its Ford-derived engineering had passed its sell-by date by the time the Chinese conglomerate Geely paid $1.3 billion to buy Volvo from Ford in 2010. Ten times that amount was then invested by the new owner in the fresh 'SPA' 'Scalable Product Architecture' platform and new 2.0-litre 'Drive-E' engines needed for a range of future Volvo models. This second generation XC90 represented the first fruits of that investment and contributed usefully to the brand's spiralling sales. But it had to evolve, hence in 2019 this revised range's inclusion of mild hybrid 'B5' diesel and petrol engines that together replaced the conventional D5 diesel that the majority of buyers of this SUV had previously chosen. Plus the T8 Twin Engine plug-in hybrid petrol/electric variant got a much-needed boost in its all-electric driving range capability - up from 22 to 29 miles. There was also a light re-style that saw smarter bumpers and a revised grille. And Volvo introduced a whole host of extra camera-driven safety features. Otherwise, things with this MK2 model remained very much as they had been. From 2019, all XC90s continued to provide the sort of proper full-sized seven-seat versatility that few rivals from this period could credibly offer and a cool, authentic brand of Scandinavian charm that was really quite appealing. The post-2019 version of this MK2 XC90 was further updated in late 2024, but it's the first facelift 2019-2024-era versions we look at here as a used buy.

What You Getword count: 428

No significant changes were made to the look of this second generation XC90 in 2019. None were really necessary, thanks to styling that designer Anders Gunnarson describes as 'timeless'. Which was important, given the long production life planned for this MK2 model. The shape, though substantial, is cleverly proportioned to look as compact as possible. So many large luxury SUVs appear bulky and intimidating: this isn't one of them. The interior is simple, elegant - and very uncluttered, with only eight buttons on the fascia. The remaining functions you'd normally access through confusing rows of little switches on the dash are relocated into menu options that lie behind the big, easy-to-use icons you'll find on a smart 9-inch infotainment colour touchscreen that's presented portrait-style on the centre console. You'll glimpse more hi-tech screen technology through the three-spoke wheel courtesy of Volvo's 12.3-inch Active TFT Crystal Driver's Information Display. Otherwise though, this cabin's an aesthetic triumph, immaculately made and full of premium touches like the diamond-cut start/stop control switch and the slatted cover for the centre dash compartment. Your middle row passengers are well catered for, with individual seats that slide and recline for greater comfort on longer journeys. In the third row, as an adult, you'll only be able to install yourself with any kind of comfort if you prevail upon those ahead to move their seats forward a little. But if that's possible, we could believe that a couple of fully-sized adults could cope OK back here over short-to-medium-length journeys. As for the boot space on offer, well that fell slightly with the introduction of the mild hybrid powertrain but it's still very class-competitive for a larger 7-seat SUV from this period. Inevitably, capacity is going to be a little restricted with all seven seats in place, though even in this configuration, you still get 302-litres of luggage space. Most of the time though of course, you'll probably be running the car with the third row chairs folded down, the retracting process much easier than the back-breakingly fumbly machinations you have to go through in a rival Land Rover Discovery to achieve the same end result. Once that's completed, there's a lot of room to play with. On the B5 and T6 variants, there's 680-litres if you load to the window line and as much as 1,007-litres if you load to the roof. Getting more room of course means folding the middle row. On the B5 and T6 variants, that frees up 1,045-litres up to the window line or 1,856-litres if you load up to the roof.

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