Miguel Hauk Blog: Volvo V90: Personalized, Pretty & Powerful

I know, it’s just a wagon, what’s so special? 1 – it’s a very pretty wagon, and 2 – it ain’t slow. Nope, Euro-wagons have a habit of being much faster, and therefore much more fun, than you’d think. If you’re an American gearhead with a penchant for quick Euro wagons, another option is at hand, brothers and sisters. The Volvo V90 Wagon is now available to order for U.S. customers. Volvo allows us (and there’s a few of us out there) to use their custom order service via Volvo Concierge, so you can get a full range of options from the comfort of your couch.

Power & Performance

The V90 is based on Volvo’s new Scalable Product Architecture (SPA) and shares interior design qualities such as the 12-inch Sensus Connect Touchscreen, open-pore wood trim, and Nappa leather with the S90 sedan. You can choose from two power plants for the V90, either Volvo’s T5 FWD, turbocharged DriveE engine, or the T6 AWD, turbo and super charged powertrain in Inscription or RDesign trim.

Obviously, we here at One Automoblog Towers recommend the latter.

Other goodies include leather seats, a panoramic moonroof, and Blind Spot Information System (BLIS). Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard along with City Safety that activates automatic emergency braking with pedestrian, cyclist, and large animal detection (moose, deer and so on).

Volvo Concierge

Volvo has a rather nice online setup for the V90, which allows wagon enthusiasts to customize their vehicle. You can also get in touch with Volvo Concierge, which uses online chat, email, and actual voice to voice phone conversations with a real human being, to assist in configuring and ordering, if you want to take it to the next level.

Keeping up with the “high touch” attitude, Volvo Concierge will stay in constant contact with you, the future V90 owner, notifying you of when the car has been shipped from far off and exotic Sweden, and when you can expect it to reach your home. When it shows up at the local dealer for delivery, the car will have all preferences (radio stations, software settings, and other personal touches) based on the owner’s choosing set up and ready to go.

The Volvo V90 on display at the 2017 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan. Photo: Carl Anthony for Automoblog.net.

Overseas Delivery

V90 buyers that wish to have the full Scandinavian experience (get your mind out of the gutter, I know what that sounds like, and it’s not that) can choose Overseas Delivery. Overseas Delivery gets you two paid airline tickets and hotel accommodations in beautiful Gothenburg, Sweden. Buyers also get a tour of the factory where the V90 is assembled and ultimately pick up their car at Volvo’s Factory Delivery Experience Center.

Once the keys are in your hot little hand, you can drive your V90 throughout Europe and drop it off at a designated port for shipping back home to the United States. How much fun is that?

Sadly, this much fun, beauty, and practicality does not come cheap. The T5 FWD R Design V90 will start at $49,950, with models, options, and higher-end specifications going up from there in price.

Tony Borroz has spent his entire life racing antique and sports cars. He means well, even if he has a bias towards lighter, agile cars rather than big engine muscle cars or family sedans.