It’s been a while. And life with the Volvo has been as expected.

I bought the Mussel Blue S90 Momentum on June 28, getting an extension of the warranty just under the wire. I’ve taken it on a couple to trips (to Houston/Galveston, and to Waco) used it on my short commute, and on errands to repay my wife for having to drive us to the grocery when the Mercedes was ailing. My criteria included back seat room, good looking, safe, and reliable. The Volvo has met those criteria.

First, I think it’s good looking. Although Mussel Blue was the most color you could get in a S90 in 2018, it still beats the varieties of silver and grey. The amber interior looks great, and the interior is well laid out and supremely comfortable.

Second, speaking of comfortable, the back seat is huge and comfortable. I can cross my legs sitting behind the driver’s seat when the seat is adjusted for me. From the passengers on the road trip, I heard mostly gentle snoring and no complaints.

Third, the Bowers and Wilkins was a worthy option. It sounds great and I hear things in music I’ve missed on other systems.

The engine is the base turbocharged 2.0 liter four cylinder, and is not really inspiring. It gets the job done, and seems happiest on the highway. Around town, the engine and transmission are mildly disharmonious, but sort themselves out. Good news on the engine front – I’ve been getting around 26 city and 35 highway which is the most efficient car I’ve driven, maybe ever. It does its thing without much drama, including fording near flooded roads.

Two downsides, but only mild downsides. The Sensus infotainment system is pokey when booting up and has a steep learning curve. I’ve learned to take a meditative moment when starting out in the car before driving away to let the system wake up, recognize my phone, and start playing my desired music. The system took a while to figure out, but I can now accomplish most of what I need pretty handily. It did take a while to figure out how to reset the TPMS warning, and how to use the automatic parking (which works).

My brief commute takes me past a Volvo specialist garage, fully nested with 240s, 740s, 850s. In the last week, there were 2 P1800s – the coupe and wagon. And today, there was a yellow T5-R sedan – was it my old one?