The last time I wrote about the Volvo V60 Polestar I signed off by saying that I had reluctantly handed the keys over to a PH colleague, which was a clear sign that the car had got under my skin. As it turns out, the Polestar's charm didn't only have an effect on me; there has been a constant battle to get the keys back in my pocket.
The V60 visits Wales. James not driving
This battle has effectively consisted of a giant game of car-logistics-chess, where anyone that gets hold of the keys does everything in their power to avoid relinquishing them.
At all costs. This has also been accompanied with a near endless stream of positive comments about the car, albeit disguised as series of gloating text messages, tweets and emails.
But I had an ace up my sleeve. Little did my colleagues know that courtesy of the nice folks at Volvo's press office I'd been equipped with the 'Volvo On Call' app for my phone. Once linked to the car, the app allows you to see information on the car's status, as well as its location. It also allows you to make the lights flash and the horn sound at the touch of a button. In writing this I'm both confessing to a crime and explaining to my colleagues that the car doesn't in fact have a very annoying electrical glitch that causes the alarm to go off on their driveway. Every night. As I said, at all costs...
Still not kerbed, whoever is driving!
Aided with the app and an office full of colleagues who have recently fallen out with their neighbours, this morning I was triumphant and the keys are firmly back in my possession. A brief but joyous reunion has reasserted my thoughts about the car; it simply has a fundamental sense of 'rightness'. This intangible feel is as hard to describe as it is to convince a die-hard Audi fan that a Volvo V60 Polestar is a credible alternative to an
S4 Avant. It seems to have just the right amount of everything it needs: performance, noise, composure, handling, comfort, equipment and rarity. Not to mention the app... That combination produces a genuinely special and interesting car, one I'm really looking forward to spending some more time in now that I've taken the precaution of locking my desk draw. I'm also planning a family weekend away in Wales over the Easter Bank Holiday which is surely the very thing a car like this is designed for, so I'll report back on how it goes.
As a parting thought, it seems that it isn't just me that has struggled to explain what makes the V60 a great car. You can now pick up extremely low mileage examples at a significant saving over list price, this one is even in stealthy 'Black Sapphire Metallic' for full on Q-car effect. A viable alternative now, right?
Car: 2014 Volvo V60 Polestar
Run by: James
On fleet since: February 2015
Mileage: 10,422
List price new: £49,775 (and £49,775 as tested too!)
Last month at a glance: The rest of PH tries the V60 and the reports are glowing!
Previous updates:
Hot Swede welcomed to the PH Fleet...
[Pics: Ben Lowden]
