Volvo XC60 B5 Inscription Pro Review

We have been a carless family now for well over a year, it seemed silly paying out for a car just to sit outside unused as Paul works locally and I work from home. It does however yet annoying in school holidays and weekends as we are limited on where we can go, so we are currently looking for a new family car.

Over the summer holidays, Volvo loaned us a car they thought would be perfect for our family so we could put it to the test and see if it fitted the bill. We got to test out and use the Volvo XC60 B5 Inscription Pro for 2 weeks. Read on to see what my favourite features of this car were, if it suited us as a family and whether it would fit the bill as a perfect family car.

Now I am not a car buff so this post won’t include all the technical information you would fit on a car blog/website – it will, however, show you what it’s like for family usage etc.

Table of Contents

Volvo XC60 B5 Inscription Pro Review

The XC60 B5 is a mild-hybrid car meaning it has a twin-engine, unlike electric cars this doesn’t need charging so there is no need to have a charging point added to your home, this runs on Diesel and the electric part of the engine is charged as you are driving around making this a more efficient and environmentally friendly car.

Volvo is in the process of electrifying all of their range as part of their ambitious plan to reduce the lifecycle carbon footprint per car by 40 per cent between 2018 and 2025 – the mild-hybrid is a small step towards achieving helping them to achieve this goal.

This car is automatic and comes with a crystal gear lever which you pull upwards or push downwards to choose between reverse, neutral or drive.

Keyless entry

The keyless entry and start/stop engine are rather useful features for a busy parent, I usually have lots of bags etc in my hands as well as juggling roads and the kids, so not having to fish car keys out from the bottom of my handbag is rather helpful indeed.

You also don’t need the car keys to start the car so you can actually able to just leave them in your bag for the entire time. Unlock the car by walking up to it with the keys nearby (in your pocket or bag) and start the car by pressing the start/stop button.

The car will also lock automatically once you walk away, so again you don’t need to find the keys to lock the car.

You can open the boot of the car from the driver’s seat at the push of a button and you can also open the boot from the outside by waving your foot under the bumper – this is an amazing feature if you have your hands full of shopping or if you are carrying children/have a buggy to put away etc. Once you have filled the boot you can close it by pressing another button on the boot – there are two buttons one you press to just close the boot, and the other closes and locks the car.

Touchscreen display/car features

On the centre console is a full touch screen display with loads of usual functions. You can pair your phone to the car and then use voice assist to call people in your contact list, you can link the car up to your Spotify account and play your favourite playlists, set up traffic alerts. You can have your text messages read out for you, plug in a USB and many more features.

Some of the other car functions which can be turned on/off via the touchscreen are:

Lane-keeping aid (the car alerts you when you drift from the lane and also helps by pulling you back into the lane)

BLIS – this is a blind spot indicator – once switched on, a red line appears on your wing mirror if a car approaches on the left or right
Camera – there is a rearview camera to assist with parking and can be accessed at low speeds while you are driving
Parking assist – one of my all-time favourite functions of this car, you follow the onscreen instructions and the car will essentially park itself (you can remove your hands from the steering wheel and use only the foot pedals, this can be used when parking and when pulling out of a parking space and if perfect for parking outside my house as we have no driveway so parallel parking is a must.

volvo xc60 2 scaled e1599483058213 — This wasn’t parked up using parking assist – this part of my road you have to park on the curb.

Speed sign assist – this displays the road speeds
Dual climate control – you can have different temperatures in the front and back of the car
Google local search
Yelp
WikiLocation
Weather
pilot assist
Speed limiter
Collision avoidance
Cruise control

Heads-up display

Aside from the parking assist, this is my favourite feature of the car. The heads-up display shows your speed on the windscreen of the car, meaning you don’t have to take your eyes off of the road at all. It also displays the road speed on the windscreen and when you are using the in-built satnav the directions are displayed on the windscreen too.

Interior, legroom and boot space

This car features Nappa leather upholstery, driftwood interior inlays and a crystal gear knob. It also features electronic air suspension & heated windscreen wipers.

There is so much room within this car. The front seats are adjustable by switches to the door side of the seats.

Even with the front seats all the way back the children had loads of legroom in the back seats and three can very comfortably sit in the rear – we had a few days out with my parents, so the kids and my Mum in the back and myself and my Dad in the front. My Dad uses a wheelchair at times and this comfortably fitted into the boot and his walking stick fits comfortably in the front with him.

There are drinks holders in the front and also in the rear – you can pull down an armrest section in the back (if no-one is sitting in the middle) and this reveals an armrest, snack/storage sections and drinks holders too.

There are storage pockets in the back of the front seats for the kids to use and temperate controls and USB charging points in the rear.

There is also a wireless phone charging plate in the front of the car.

The boot of this car is really a great size and could easily hold our luggage when we went away, along with all our welly boots and coats. It can also very easily hold all the shopping and so much more. It is the biggest boot space I have had in a car so far. I really like the way you can open the boot hands free too – it certainly makes juggling shopping and kids far easier.

The kids loved the full panoramic roof on this car, it comes with a sun curtain which can be opened and closed and then the roof can also be opened too.

Final thoughts

If money were no object then this really would be the car of my dreams. I love SUV’s and being high up while driving and this has so many added extras it makes driving a dream and easier than I am used to. The added extras are what made this car an amazing drive.

The parking assist and heads up display are amazing additions and it would certainly be a perfect family car for us suiting the needs of everyone in our family.

Even Paul loved driving this one, he can be rather fussy but there wasn’t one thing about this car which he didn’t like.

Sadly, this car does come with a huge price tag and isn’t something which we would be able to afford but it won’t stop me dreaming of a lottery win to make this a possibility for us – I really did love this car.

You can find out more information on this car over on the Volvo website: www.volvocars.com