I own a 2013 Volvo XC60 T6, with front and back heated seats, parking assist, electronic liftgate, and blind spot detection as well as remote start. Sounds like those in the rental fleet do not have all of these options. The car has a dreamy leather interior, great lumbar support for long drives and tremendous moon roof. It came with a 6 month free Sirius trial. The standard factory sound system rocks and the car is so quiet on the road that one can actually enjoy the music. And though it may lack some frilly stuff like touch screen panels and a back up camera and a movie theater in the back seat, no one buys a volvo for those things. As an ER doc who sees more than a few lives ruined every month from major crashes, I must say that it is built to be a tremendously SAFE car for the occupants, especially in the case of a high speed crash.

Not to mention that although the VOLVO is an expensive car, it does not scream "I am rich" like a BMW, Lexus, Cadillac, Mercedes etc. Living in a city riddled with poverty and crime makes one aware that it is good to be less obvious in the midst of the less fortunate - on the one hand, driving those makes one a bit more of a target for crime and I also would feel uncomfortable showing up to volunteer in the homeless shelter or free clinic in a beemer. Being a potential crime target is always a concern, especially for women traveling alone and renting in unfamiliar cities. I will be renting a one way from Atlanta to Nashville to Charlotte (on a college tour with son) and paid for a luxury car bc I will be driving 100's of miles in 3 days and will likely end up in an XC60 if they have one for all the reasons mentioned above. Cons include smallish backseat for large adults when front seats pushed all the way back and lack of real off-road capability. Also, the T6 (turbo) model is appropriately powered, but I found the base XC60 a bit underpowered for fast acceleration, given how heavy a car it is.