New Audi A6 Allroad vs Volvo V90 Cross Country: costs

Buying and owning

Costs, equipment, reliability, safety and security

Neither car is cheap to buy, so you’ll probably be looking at spreading the cost over a few years. Put down a £5400 deposit on a three-year PCP finance deal, with a limit of 10,000 miles per year, and the V90 will cost you £690 per month – around £20 less than you’ll pay for the A6 on the same terms. If you’re looking at leasing deals, the V90 is cheaper still, by about £120 per month.

If you’re buying privately with cash, the V90 will cost you nearly £4500 less after discounts, and it’ll be cheaper to own over three years, thanks to slightly slower predicted depreciation. The V90’s lower price also results in less expensive company car tax. Both cars are stung by the Government’s luxury car tax (which applies to cars with a list price of more than £40,000), so they’ll cost you £465 a year in road tax for five years, starting when the car is a year old. 

Although the V90 has better official fuel economy figures, it couldn’t match the A6 in our real-world tests, averaging 33.4mpg versus 37.5mpg.

As for equipment, the A6 comes with full leather upholstery (the V90 has a mixture of real and synthetic leather), but you have to pay extra for safety aids such as lane-keeping assistance and traffic sign recognition. Both of these things are standard on the V90. And while we’re on the topic of safety, the regular estate versions of these cars received a full five-star rating from Euro NCAP and promise to provide excellent occupant protection in a crash. 

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