VOLVO Complaints

This car is subject to NHTSA Recall Number 26V103, manufacturer's recall number R10362. I learned about the recall on February 23 via a Reuters article, but received nothing from Volvo. In follow-up with Volvo I was told on February 25 via email that there was no recall on my car. After some digging, I found through the NHTSA site that the recall did apply to my car. When Volvo corporate finally got their story right with prodding from my local dealer, I instructed to reduce charging to 70% and not to charge in or near my home or other flammable material, like trees. I have received a notice of recall a few weeks later from Volvo. After multiple escalations, and nearly 4 months without any timeframe for repair of my car, I have initiated a lemon law claim with Volvo. My complaint is that Volvo (1) sold me a car last July that is now limited to 70% of the range I expected, and presents a serious safety risk to my home and my family, (2) failed to communicate with me or my dealer about this serious risk for weeks, and (3) they have not repaired my car in a timely manner.

Component: Electrical / Instrument Cluster The vehicle experienced a failure of the digital instrument cluster while driving. The instrument panel intermittently malfunctioned, including going blank, freezing, or failing to display critical information such as vehicle speed, warning indicators, and system alerts. This issue occurred without warning and created a safety concern because the driver was unable to reliably monitor essential driving information. At times, the display did not function properly, which impacted the driver’s ability to safely operate the vehicle, especially while in motion. The problem was not consistent and occurred intermittently, making it difficult to anticipate or manage. Restarting the vehicle sometimes temporarily restored functionality. The instrument cluster was later identified as defective and required replacement by Volvo. The failure of this component raises safety concerns due to the loss of critical driver information while operating the vehicle.

The contact owns a 2019 Volvo XC90. The contact stated that while driving at various highway speeds, the vehicle suddenly entered LIMP mode and decelerated before stalling. The failure had occurred on two separate occasions. On one occasion, the vehicle did not restart and was towed to the dealer. During the second occurrence, the vehicle was restarted moments later and was driven to the residence. The vehicle was later towed to the local dealer, where the contact was informed that diagnostic trouble codes for fuel delivery system malfunction and low fuel pressure were retrieved; however, the exact cause of the failure was not determined, and the vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the fuel tank was half-full during the failures. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 79,900.

This is my daughters vehicle. She was driving home from work with my [XXX] and [XXX] grandchildren in the car. The car suddenly wouldn't drive at a safe speed and was chugging along. She almost got into an accident because she couldn't go faster than about 12 mph. She as finally able to pull over in a safe location and called AAA. My son in law met her and picked her and the children up. The vehicle was towed to VOLVO in Buffalo NY. The diagnosis was a known leak in the sunroof that causes the drains to become blocked. Water then runs down and burned out the ECR module that is located beneath the drivers side foot well. Volvo is aware of the problem and is currently checking all vehicles for the blocked drains. They were given a 5000.00 estimate for repairs. Today VOLVO refused to repair it at their expense. There should be a full recall on this issue. I am a Fire/Explosion Investigator who has investigated numerous car fires related to Control modules catching fire. This could have caused a fire and trapped my grandchildren in the rear seat. The dealership reported 2 other vehicles in for the same issue. Please review and respond to me- [XXX] [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

I believe this is a major (and known) software issue, but the car has on several occasions, when stationary, entered a state where all of its controls are unresponsive and the engine cannot be turned off. *Nothing* related to the operation of the car works, including the electronic handbrake, gear selector OR the stop/start button. This is an exceptionally dangerous fault, as the car engine cannot be turned off, and the "handbrake" cannot be engaged. Getting out of the car and locking/unlocking it with the remote does not initally clear the problem. Sometimes it resolves by itself after several minutes. We think that maybe pushing and holding the stop/start button sometimes helps, but it is not clear that this is the case. Rebooting the software system onces the car has "woken up" again has not fixed the problem. Volvo dealers are apparently aware of the issue, but a massive software update by Volvo has not resolved it in any way -- if anything it is worse. Frankly, Volvo should not be permitted to sell cars to the public until this is completely resolved, and cars are recalled for a *real* (as opposed to supposed) fix. I thought you should know. (The date given below for "when this incident occurred" is simply the most recent occurrence.)

When parked, the driver side mirror of various SPA Volvos seem to automatically adjust the driver side mirror in random directions after the driver exits the car. Then, on returning to the car, the mirror is not re-adjusted. Thus, if the driver fails to check the position of the mirror before driving off, they may find themselves in a situation where the mirror is unexpectedly out of alignment and they are unable to view behind them and to the left. They then have to re-adjust the mirror to its proper position while driving, which is unsafe. This is a known problem that has been reproduced by countless dealerships. The common fix is to replace the driver door module, however I believe there should be a recall for this as it poses a safety concern and some drivers may not have the means to pay for the replacement.

An intermittent electrical failure occurred to my wife causing my 2021 Volvo XC60 to stop and then later go into limp mode while driving. The service light went on immediately and was very startling to her and made it difficult for the drivers following as the car speed was significantly reduced/ I suspect limp mode though it was not on the dashboard. When I called Volvo and then brought the car in... it is a known issue to Volvo. They purposively produce a vehicle that is known for sunroof leaks which knowingly leads to electrical issues exposing their customers to harm. Volvo (Geely) inspected the car, found the electrical issues from the front interior to the battery compartment that had water over an inch deep. the VGM (Vehicle Gateway Module) was replaced and reloaded, all connectors were separate/dried and several had to be cut/spliced and rewired due to corrosion damage. Carpets were removed, the gasket was replaced, the front and rear sun roof drains were cleaned out. Aside from the safety concern the shrinking of the rubber gasket caused the issue. Not funny, but Volvo/Geely states that the repair now has a lifetime warranty after I was charged over $4,000 USD. The vehicle is only about 5 years old!!

The contact owns a 2021 Volvo XC40. The contact stated that the liftgate was consistently making loud sounds while opening or closing. There was no warning light illuminated. The local dealer was contacted. No further information was available. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 23,000.

The seal on my 2020 Volvo XC60 moonroof allowed water to leak under the floorboards. My car is only 6 years old. We had a lot of rain over a short period and I noticed the sound of water sloshing around under the floor. Nothing was wet inside the car. My Check Engine light came on as well. I took it to the Volvo service dept. They are now saying wires are corroded and that it will cost me over $11,000 to fix this problem. Again - my car is only 6 years old, and less than 70K miles. With my previous Volvo, that I had for 18 years, I never had this problem.

I was parallel parked. I put the vehicle in reverse to pull out. When I’d gone a few feet in reverse I baked and the brakes were HARD and failed to stop the car immediately. I nearly hit the car behind me. He/she honked at me, that’s how close I was. It happened three times. I think in all three incidents I was going in reverse. I had the dealership look at the vehicle but they could not replicate the issue. So they claim that it is safe to drive!