Volvo XC90 review

All premium SUVs are expensive these days. Heck, you can’t get a VW Touareg for less than £71k, and this is a notably better car than that. But you don’t need much more than a base B5 to get the best from your XC90 ownership experience.

Even the entry Core model – available from £65,450 – is stocked generously: it gets 20in wheels, LED lights, a power tailgate, 11.2-inch touchscreen and 12.3in driver's display, rear camera, front and rear parking sensors, sat nav, adaptive cruise control, keyless entry and start, a 10-speaker 220W sound system, leather-free upholstery, four USB sockets, wireless phone charging, a heated steering wheel, plus heated front and middle-outer seats. Oh, and much safety tech. Of course.

Next up is Plus trim. At £70,450 it's a bit of a step up, but it adds a panoramic roof, Harman Kardon audio system, a 360-degree parking camera and parking assistance features, blind spot monitoring, the active air suspension, gloss black roof rails and a crystal drive selector. Swish.

Plus Pro is £73,200: it adds 21in wheels, tinted rear windows and ventilated Nappa leather upholstery.

Finally you've got Ultra for £76,950. Here you get the brilliant Bowers & Wilkins sound system, massage seats up front, active air suspension, 22in wheels, a head-up display, and rear-door sun blinds for the kids.

And if I want the plug-in hybrid?

If you really must, you're looking at another £7k ish on top of the B5. Same four trim levels mind, starting with Core at £72,760 and ending with Ultra for £84,260.

That’s a lot, but a plug-in BMW X5 starts at more than £10k on top of that, and the Audi Q7 PHEV is also dearer. So it's a bargain really. The Volvo is the car you’ll want to tell your friends and neighbours about, not the one you hide from view when they call by.

Get a B5 Plus for the pano roof and richer hi-fi. With a deposit of seven grand you're looking at monthlies of £825 ish over four years, with Volvo offering 3.9 per cent APR at the time of writing.