Long term test: Volvo V70 D5 SE Geartronic – on sale now

Following the V70’s unfortunate dalliance with what must have been the largest pheasant ever known to East Anglia, it spent a few days under the expert care of local Volvo retailer Marshall Peterborough before returning clean and sparkling to the AM fold.

One new tyre, front fog lamp and bumper came to a reasonable £355.

While the car doesn’t have the sporty looks of our previous long term Volvo, the S60, it does have the same sporty feel from behind the wheel. It takes nine seconds to reach 62mph, but it does feel quicker – it would be nice to try this car with the manual gearbox instead of waiting for the automatic gear selection to kick in.

The V70 has oodles of space inside, from a passenger and driver point of view; it also has a massive boot. This tester has a personal criterion for all cars – how many bags of horse food can be fitted into it. In the case of the V70, the whole horse could pretty well fit in there.

Boot space alone is 485 litres, while the maximum capacity with the rear seats folded flat is 1,641 litres – that’s slightly more than the load area of an Astravan.

This is a car of choice for long journeys, and is economical to run, considering the size of the vehicle and the nippiness of its engine.

When you find yourself questioning the colour of the voluptuous leather seats, you know that there is precious little else to find fault about.

Price: £35,898 (as tested)
Engine: 2.4-litre, five-cylinder turbodiesel; 185bhp @ 4,000rpm, 295lb ft @ 2,000-2,750rpm
Performance: 0-62mph: 9secs; top speed: 137mph
Transmission: Six-speed auto
Test period: March-June
Start mileage: 2,750
Current mileage: 7,038
CAP RV 3yr/30k: £11,675 (39%)
CAP RV 3yr/60k: £10,100 (34%)
Likes: Capacious boot, leather seats, nippy engine
Dislikes: Precious little