Hello. I am new to this forum. I am in the process of finalizing my new car buying decision. It is down to a 2020 V90 or MB E450 Estate Wagon. I plan to buy, not lease, maintain to OEM specs and keep for 10-to-12 years. My primary needs are safety and comfort, particularly since my wife has serious back issues that have been addressed surgically. I am retired and plan to use this vehicle to visit family and friends in New England and the mid-Atlantic states, sometimes traveling in remote areas devoid of cell phone service. With this said, I'd appreciate an actual owner specific feedback that could be provided regarding front seat and overall ride comfort, as well as which vehicle might be a better choice from a long-term ownership perspective. Regardless of which vehicle I decide to purchase, I plan to stay with the standard suspension (not the air suspension), but get the premium seats and all of the other safety and comfort options. I also plan to stay away from the larger, low-profile, tires. Thank you.

 

I have the 2017 S90, so not exactly apples to apples (and this forum isn't busy, so this might be the best feedback you get), but Volvo seats are very comfortable and are identical across the range offered by Volvo. The seats can be adjusted easily, and include four-way lumbar adjustment (forward and back, up and down), and side bolster adjustment (narrow, wide). The seat adjustment is an air-driven bladder, so it's not like a padded bar pushing into you. It's very gradual. The adjustment is very gradual, if a little noisy. Seat heaters fire up very quickly in the winter. The seat ventilation is nothing special, but its there. As for the package to get front seat massage, I have no idea if it's any good. For a full size wagon, leg room is more than adequate. In terms of ease of access, you might want to check out the V90 CC as it has a slightly higher ride than the V90.

Definitely do not upgrade the wheels to the 20" if you are concerned about ride smoothness. I have both 20"(summer) 19" (winter) rims for, and the difference in feedback from the road is very noticeable. It seems as though tire sidewall height is the primary determinant in ride smoothness. The 19" rims are much smoother and quieter. If you get winter tires and rims, you may even want to go for 18" rims.

As for safety, the Volvo lineup's IIHS safety ratings usually get top safety picks. The only demerits across the lineup I found were difficulty in accessing children's seat attachments, and for headlight illumination distance and some glare. In my experience, the cross-traffic alert and blind spot sensor are a little over sensitive in snow and cold (it will often mistake heavy snow or exhaust plumes from cars ahead as solid objects). Mostly this is just a nuisance in stop and go traffic - they may have fixed this in recent years. The collision prevention system works extremely well, but will definitely scare you half to death when it kicks in. The pilot assist feature is nice, but it's only semi-autonomous and will turn off if you don't keep your hands on the wheel. Pilot assist and the adaptive cruise can let you set your following distance, and definitely helps with fatigue on longer drives.

I can't speak to the MB E450, but they are quite nice.

 

Thank you for your reply. In the coming weeks, I plan to take extended test drives with the V90 and E450 estate wagons. I'll be sure to look at the V90 features you mentioned. At the end of the day, from a safety and comfort viewpoint, I'm sure both vehicles will suit my needs, but due to my wife's very severe back issues, the car she feels most comfortable in will be the one I purchase.

Once again, thanks for your feedback.

 

Hi. Quick follow-up. I just test drove the S90 (didn't have a V90) and the Mercedes E450 sedan (didn't have a wagon) back-to-back.

Overall, here's my impressions:

Driver safety aids: Both have identical or very similar features and work in a comparable manner.

Front seats: For me, both afforded good comfort. Both have a whiplash mitigation design, although (my guess) is the Volvo is somewhat better. The E has whiplash mitigation built into the seat, as well, but also has rear sensors that can anticipate a rear-end collision and activate safety mechanisms just prior to collision. From what I recall, the E's front seat heating feature offered greater flexibility in providing heat, independently, to the back and bottom cushion, whereas (as I recall) the S's back and bottom cushion had the same heat setting.

Dashboard - command center: The control screen in the E, particularly when using the navigation map, seemed (at least to me) more vibrant and detailed. Also, the E's screen seemed to react quicker to commands, while the S's took (sometimes) several seconds to react. Both provided a vast array of options, and both could be used with Android Auto (which I would use).

Tires: I test drove the E with 18" wheels, while the S had 19". The E comes with only RFTs, with no spare tire, while the V comes with non-RFTs, along with a donut spare. IMO, the Volvo's larger wheels resulted in a harsher ride than the E's smaller wheel RFTs, much to my surprise.

Dimensions & Driving: Both vehicles are very similar in size. However, at least from my perspective, the Volvo's front hood area seemed higher than the more sloping hood of the E. IMO, this made the S feel bigger than it actually was, particularly when driving forward. Parking was easy for either vehicle, particularly with the (almost) identical electronic parking aids. Otherwise, at least for the way that I drive (leisurely), both were an easy drive.

Engines: The Volvo, with turbo and supercharger, based on the way I drive, was more than adequate when compared to the E's larger/turbo engine. With this said, from everything I've read to-date, the Volvo's 4 cylinder engine's gas mileage any better than the E's 6 cylinder, even with all of the technology thrown at it. Also, particularly since I intend to the vehicle for mostly long-distance highway driving, and buy-and-keep for 10-to-15 years, I'm concerned that how well the turbo/super charger complexity of the Volvo will hold up.

Potential reliability: Both the V and the E models have been on the market from 3-to-5 years. This has been plenty of time for the manufacturers to iron out the initial model year problems that are normally encountered in new models. Of course, particularly due to the preponderance of "electronics" in both vehicles, this will probably be a maintenance/repair issue in the years ahead, regardless of which car I purchase. With this said, the Volvo's use of a turbo AND a super charger is a cause of additional concern.

Price: The Volvo, based on my configuration, is approximately $17K less than the Mercedes, plus the Volvo comes with 3 years maintenance included.

Long Term Considerations: My guess is that both brands will have similar reliability. Both employ engines that are sound and both heavily rely on electronic safety features which are bound to have issues as the vehicles age. Both being imports to the US, my guess is that both will have similar costs to maintain.

Overall Impressions: From a ride comfort and dashboard performance perspective, I think the Mercedes is a little better than the Volvo. Passenger safety seems to be on-par. From an initial purchase cost and first-3-years of routine maintenance perspective, the Volvo is the clear lower cost winner. Mercedes has an endless list of options, including safety features that are standard on the Volvo, as well as other lower cost brands. I'll be conducting a long test drive with my wife. Her comfort is of paramount importance. Whichever she decides is the most comfortable is the one I will purchase.