3,000-Mile Report: Getting to Know You

The first year of owning a new car, SUV or truck is the honeymoon phase. You are still getting to know the vehicle, and can still be surprised by it from time to time.

Passion remains high, too, which manifests itself in all sorts of strange ways. Like an overabundance of car washing. Four and a half months after taking delivery, it still bothers me to see the XC90 dirty, and I go to great lengths to keep it clean. On Saturday, I washed it before heading off to a family dinner. Three days later, after briefly taking it out in the rain, I took 15 minutes to wipe it down in the garage after getting back home. Scoff if you will. Love can make you do strange things.

And I really am loving this XC90. Is it perfect? Of course not. Does it still tick most of my boxes? It sure does.

I said in my 1,000-mile report that the turbocharged and supercharged four-cylinder engine was impressive for its two-liter size, generating 316 hp and 295 lb-ft of torque. I still hold to that assessment, although I’ll confess that when Patti brought home a 2019 S60 T6 with the same power plant as a loaner the other week, it was immediately obvious how much more responsive that engine can be in a lighter vehicle. So, is the engine impressive? Yes. Would I mind if it had a little more grunt, and maybe a little more masculine note? I would not. But as my one son likes to say, first-world problems.

I also observed in my 1,000-mile report that the driver’s seat in the XC90 was taking some getting used to on my part, due solely to the vertically angled side bolsters that form part of the seat bottom. At first, the seat was simply uncomfortable to me because of those bolsters, even though nobody riding in the passenger seat, which has the same design, breathed a word of complaint. But the seat and I have continued to adjust to each other, and with each passing week it has become less of an issue. I’ve also documented more than once now that, counterintuitive as it may seem, the seat seems to grow more comfortable on longer rides, with any hint of discomfort disappearing completely after 30 minutes in the saddle.

Meanwhile, I’ve been having lots of fun learning to rely on Apple Music rather than Sirius XM radio, and almost never miss satellite radio anymore after having it for 16 years in my previous SUV. (I dropped it in the XC90 after the free trial expired.) I’ve gotten used to simply plugging my iPhone into the car’s USB port upon entry, and asking Siri to play virtually any artist, song or album I could possibly want to hear. Or one of Apple’s many canned playlists or radio stations.

I’ve still got much to learn about the XC90, having decided to figure out most new-to-me features at a leisurely pace as I need them. I only tried to use the automatic park-in feature for the first time last week, for example, and must have been doing something wrong. It didn’t activate. Of course, I haven’t read the park-in instructions in the manual, either. I also haven’t spent any serious time experimenting with display options for the digital dash.

All that is perfectly fine. An extended honeymoon is to be enjoyed, not rushed. For now, the XC90 is doing just about everything I expected of it. (And the interior, I’m pleased to say, still smells like a fine leather shop.) I look forward to what’s around the next corner.

3,000-Mile Numbers
Time of ownership: 4.5 months
Average mpg: 21.0
Maintenance costs: $0