VOLVO Complaints

IN OCTOBER 2007, I INQUIRED OF FIELDS VOLVO OF WAUKESHA WISCONSIN, ABOUT A MALFUNCTIONING TEMPERATURE GAGE. THE GAGE WOULD OFTEN DISPLAY A FAULTY READING, SHOWING THAT THE CAR WAS OVERHEATING WHEN IN FACT IT WAS NOT. WHEN I BOUGHT MY CAR IN FOR AN INSPECTION OF THE MATTER, JASON FISCHER SERVICE ADVISOR, INFORMED ME THAT I NEEDED AN ELECTRONICS BO ( SEE ATTACHED RECEIPT). HE ASSURED ME THAT WAS THE PROBLEM, SO I AGREED TO ALLOW HIM TO REPLACE IT AND WAS CHARGED $537.15 FOR THE PROCEDURE. HOWEVER, A YEAR LATER IN JULY 2008, THE PROBLEM RESURFACED. EVENTUALLY, THE COOLING FAN MALFUNCTIONED AND WOULD NOT SHUT OFF. THIS PROBLEM ALSO CAUSED THE BATTERY TO DRAIN. I TOOK MY CAR TO AUTO WERKS IMPORT CENTRE IN MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, WHO THROUGH RESEARCH OF THE PROBLEM, FOUND THAT THERE WAS A RECALL ISSUED FOR THE COOLING FAN IN NOVEMBER 2004. I WAS ALSO CHARGED $200.53 FOR REPLACEMENT OF A TEMPERATURE SENSOR AND THE THERMOSTAT. (SEE ATTACHED RECEIPT) AS A SATISFIED VOLVO CUSTOMER FOR OVER 10 YEARS, I FEEL THAT HAD THOROUGH RESEARCH BEEN DONE PRIOR TO MALFUNCTIONING OF THE COOLING FAN, EXCESS CHARGES COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED. I AM THEREFORE SEEKING A PARTIAL REFUND OF MAINTENANCE CHARGES. YOUR IMMEDIATE RESPONSE TO MY REQUEST WOULD BE MOST APPRECIATED. *TR

2004 VOLVO S60 2.5 TURBO: NO WARNING TO THE EVENTS. ON NUMEROUS OCCASIONS, THE CAR FEELS AS IF IT HAS HIT A LARGE OBJECT, TEMPORARILY LURCHES AND APPEARS TO MOMENTARILY STALL CREATING A TEMPORARY LOSS OF VEHICLE CONTROL. THIS IS FOLLOWED BY AN IMMEDIATE LOSS OF ALL INSTRUMENT GAUGES, AIR CONDITIONER, WINDOW CONTROLS AND DOOR LOCKS. THE FAN DID CONTINUE TO WORK. THE ABS WARNING LIGHT ALSO INDICATED AS WELL AS A WARNING THAT NO BRAKES FUNCTION EXISTED. THE SRS SERVICE AIR BAG URGENT INDICATION IS ILLUMINATED. ON TURNING THE CAR OFF AND RESTARTING, THE FUNCTIONS OF THE CAR RETURN WITH EXCEPTION THAT THE SRS SERVICE AIR BAG URGENT INDICATION REMAINS. THIS PROBLEM CAN TAKE MONTHS TO REPEAT OR ONLY A MATTER OF MINUTES. IT SEEMS TO BE MORE PREVALENT IN HOT WEATHER. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE SERVICE SHOP AT THE VOLVO DEALER AND THEY COULD ONLY CLEAR ALARMS AS THEY SAID THE EVENT CREATED TOO MANY ALARMS/FAULT CODES TO TROUBLESHOOT. THEY DOWNLOADED NEW SOFTWARE REVISIONS TO EACH CONTROL MODULE IN THE CAR. AFTER A PERIOD OF APPROXIMATELY A MONTH, THE EVENTS BEGAN OCCURRING AGAIN. THE VEHICLE HAS BEEN TAKEN TO NON OEM MECHANICS AS WELL AND THEY ARE NOT ABLE TO TROUBLESHOOT THE FAULT. THE VEHICLE IS SCHEDULED TO BE TAKEN TO THE DEALERS SERVICE SHOP AGAIN. SEARCHING THE INTERNET CHAT ROOMS AND BLOGS, AS WELL AS THIS SITE, THERE APPEARS TO BE NUMEROUS OTHER VEHICLES WITH THIS SAME SAFETY FAULT THAT STALLS VEHICLES IN TRAFFIC AND CREATES VERY SUDDEN AND SEVERE LURCHES IN POWER ULTIMATELY LEADING TO A MOMENTARY STALL OUT WITH LOSS OF ALL INSTRUMENT INDICATIONS TO INCLUDE SPEED, RPM, TURN INDICATOR, ETC. *TR

I WAS DRIVING NORMALLY ON A PARKWAY IN WASH DC. SUDDENLY THE ENGINE LOST POWER AND WOULD NOT GO MORE THAN 10 MPH. I "LIMPED" TO A GAS STATION AND TURNED OFF THE ENGINE, INSPECTED FOR LOOSE WIRES, OR OTHER OBSERVABLE DEFECTS. WHEN I STARTED THE CAR AGAIN THE ETS LIGHT WAS ON AND STAYED ON. NOW THE CAR RUNS ERRATICALLY LURCHING FORWARD OR SPUTTERING OR JUST PLAIN LOSING POWER AT RANDOM. *TR

AT THE END OF JUNE OF 2008 I NOTICED THAT MY 2000 VOLVO S-80 SMELLED OF GAS. SUBSEQUENTLY, ON 06/20/2008 ABBY CAR CARE (559-438-7181) MECHANIC KEVIN DETERMINED, PER MY RECEIPT, THAT 'DIAGNOSE FUEL LEAK-FUEL LEAKING FROM THE TOP TANK FOUND DEFECTIVE AT FLANGE FOR EVAP SYSTEM LEAKING WERE IT ATTACHES TO TOP OF THE FUEL TANK NOT REPAIRABLE.' I WAS ALSO ADVISED BY KEVIN THAT THE LEAK WAS NOT CAUSED BY WEAR AND TEAR BUT WAS 'DEFECTIVE / NOT REPAIRABLE' IN NATURE. ABBY CAR CARE REPLACED THE FUEL TANK. AFTER LEARNING OF THIS LEAK AND DOING SOME RESEARCH ON THE INTERNET 'GOGGLE SEARCH ENGINE', IT APPEARS THAT OTHER VOLVO OWNERS HAVE EXPERIENCED SIMILAR PROBLEMS WITH LEAKS TO THE GAS TANKS. I DID CALL MY LOCAL VOLVO DEALER (FRESNO LINCOLN MERCURY VOLVO ' 5200 N. BLACKSTONE AVENUE FRESNO, CA 93710 TELEPHONE NUMBER 559-226-5175) AND ADVISED THEM OF MY LEAKY GAS TANK AND THEY ADVISED ME THAT THERE WAS NO RECALL AND DIDN'T SEEM TO CONCERNED WITH MY PROBLEM OTHER THAN GIVING ME THERE CUSTOMER SERVICE TOLL FREE NUMBER. *TR

**APPROX. INCIDENT DATE IS ACTUALLY ONGOING FOR PAST FOUR YEARS.*** I HAVE A 2000 VOLVO S70 WHICH I PURCHASED NEW IN MAY 2000 FROM VOLVO ATHENS, GA. DEALER. I CURRENTLY HAVE 190,000+ MILES. OVER THE PAST EIGHT YEARS I HAVE OWNED THE VEHICLE I HAVE HAD CONSISTENT PROBLEMS WITH THE ETM SITUATION. AT FIRST, BEING NEW TO VOLVO CARS AND REPAIR SITUATIONS, VOLVO DENIED THE ETM PROBLEM AND STUCK IT ON ME TO BE REPAIRED IN NOV. 2004. NOT UNTIL I DESCRIBED MY ISSUES WITH ENGINE FAILURE TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC, WAS I WARNED ABOUT THE ONGOING PROBLEMS IN MY MODEL VEHICLE. SINCE MY INITIAL REPAIR I HAVE ENCOUNTERED FOUR OTHER TIME PERIODS WHEN THE SAME ETM SITUATION BEGINS OCCURRING, TYPICALLY 20-30,000 MILE INTERVALS SINCE THE LASTS SERVICE OF THE SPECIFIC ETM DEFECT. NOW, I AM ON MY FOURTH TRIP IN FOUR YEARS TO THE LOCAL DEALER TO ONCE AGAIN HAVE THE ETM SITUATION REPAIRED. I AM AT 190,000 MILES AND ACCORDING TO THE MANUFACTURER "EXTENDED WARRANTY" ON THIS PROBLEM, MY ABILITY TO HAVE THIS ONGOING SAFETY ISSUE FIXED AT MANUFACTURER COSTS WILL CEASE IN APPROXIMATELY 10,000 MILES. CLEARLY THIS SAFETY DEFECT HAS BEEN AN ISSUE WITH MY MODEL CAR SINCE ITS MANUFACTURE BY VOLVO AND TO DATE NO EFFECTIVE REMEDY HAS BEEN FOUND. I FEEL THIS ISSUE IS A MAJOR SAFETY DEFECT AS MY CAR WILL STALL OR HESITATE THEN SURGE AT ANY GIVEN MOMENT THUS CAUSING A POTENTIAL TRAFFIC ACCIDENT INVOLVING NOT ONLY MYSELF, BUT MY PASSENGERS, AND POTENTIALLY OTHER DRIVERS ON THE ROAD. I AM SICK AND TIRED OF VOLVO NOT TAKING MORE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THIS ISSUE AND FINDING A SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM, NOT JUST A STOP GAP MEASURE TO APPEASE NHTSA. I HAVE NEVER BEEN CONTACTED BY NHTSA REGARDING THIS ISSUE DESPITE MY ONGOING COMPLAINTS TO MY LOCAL VOLVO DEALER AS WELL AS THE MANUFACTURER SERVICE CENTER. IT APPEARS FROM DOCUMENTATION ON THIS WEBSITE THAT NHTSA HAS GATHERED, OR ATTEMPTED TO GATHER, COMPLAINTS ON VOLVO ETM MATTER AND I WANT TO BE INCLUDED IN SUCH COMPLAINTS. *TR

M RELOCATION, INC WAS MOVING AN INDIVIDUAL WITH AN 18 WHEELER ONTO THE APARTMENT COMMUNITY THAT I MANAGE. WHILE DRIVING ON MY PROPERTY, THE DRIVER DESTROYED A SECTION OF LANDSCAPING AND THE SPRINKLER SYSTEM. THE DRIVER REFUSED TO GIVE INSURANCE INFORMATION. *TR

PAPERWORK WAS COMPLETED, I WAS ON MY WAY OUT, THE SALESMAN SAID, "MAKE SURE YOU PUT SOME OIL IN THE ENGINE, IT HAS NO OIL, WE DIDN'T HAVE A CHANCE TO INSPECT THE CAR." HE WENT ON TO SAY, "BRING IT IN SOMETIME NEXT WEEK AND WE'LL INSPECT IT."CAR WAS BROUGHT IN FOLLOWING WEEK, THEY HAD NO TIME TO INSPECT IT. IT WENT ON FOR THREE WEEKS. THE ENGINE TEMPERATURE WOULD RISE VERY QUICKLY, I PULLED OVER AND TURNED OFF THE CAR. THIS HAPPENED FIVE TIMES. IT WAS BROUGHT TO A SEPARATE CAR REPAIR SHOP AND THEY CONCLUDED THAT THE CARS ECM (ELECTRONIC COMPUTER MODULE) ISN'T WORKING CORRECTLY. NONE OF THE GAUGES ARE CORRECT, INCLUDING THE GAS AND ENGINE TEMPERATURE GAUGE. THEY SAID THAT THE ENGINE COULD BE OVERHEATING AND IT WOULDN'T SHOW UP ON THE COMPUTER, OR IT MIGHT NOT BE OVERHEATING AND IT MIGHT SHOW UP AS OVERHEATING. THEN THE DEALER DID THEIR INSPECTION AND SAID THAT THE CAR WAS "FINE." I ASKED FOR DIAGNOSTIC RESULTS AND THEY SAID THAT THEY HAVE NO WAY OF PRINTING THEIR DIAGNOSTIC RESULTS. LATER, THE CAR STARTED SAYING "HIGH ENGINE TEMP" AGAIN. I ARRIVED AT THE DEALERSHIP AND TOLD THEM THE PROBLEM. ONE OF THE SALES MEN TOOK THE CAR ON A TEST DRIVE. ON THE FREEWAY, THE CAR WAS DOING JUST FINE. ONCE THE CAR WAS GOING ABOUT 35MPH IT STARTED SIGNALING OVERHEATING. BACK AT THE DEALERSHIP THE SALESMAN LEFT THE CAR RUNNING WHILE THE CAR WAS STATING IN THE DASH "HIGH ENGINE TEMP." THEY PROCEEDED TO LET THE CAR RUN. THE SALESMAN SHUT OFF THE VEHICLE, OPENED THE HOOD AND SMOKE WAS RISING OUT OF EVERYWHERE AND ALL THE COOLANT PIPES BLEW AND COOLANT WAS LEAKING EVERYWHERE. I WAS IN SHOCK. THEY BASICALLY BLEW UP MY CAR. I WALKED INSIDE AND THE SALESMAN COMMENTED TO ME, "I DID THAT SO HE [THE DEALER] WOULD GIVE YOU ANOTHER CAR."THE DEALER REFUSED TO TAKE THE CAR BACK. THEY STATED THAT THE ONLY THING THAT NEEDED TO BE FIXED WAS A "FAN CONTROL" BECAUSE THE FAN WASN'T WORKING PROPERLY. *TR

MY 2004 VOLVO XC90 T6 HAS PRODUCED A "TRANSMISSION SERVICE URGENT" MESSAGE BUT THE DEALER COULD NOT FIND A PROBLEM IN THE VEHICLE MEMORY. IT INTERMITTENTLY WOULD REV OVER 3K RPM WITH NO ACCELERATION AND WOULD VIOLENTLY JERK INTO GEAR FROM A STOP AFTER REVVING FOR A FEW SECONDS WITHOUT ACCELERATION. JUST BEFORE THE DEALER FINALLY AGREED TO REPLACE THE TRANSMISSION (71K MILES) IT WAS JERKING REPEATEDLY INTO GEAR AT ONLY MILD ACCELERATION. *TR

BACK IN JUNE OF 2008 - ON START UP MY 99 VOLVO V70 - WOULD ROUGH IDLE, REV TO 4000 AND WOULD NOT EXCEED 20 MPH. THE IDLE SOUNDED LIKE SNEAKERS IN A DRYER. I TOOK THE CAR TO MY GARAGE AND WAS QUOTED $2000.00 TO REPLACE THE ETM - I WAS TOLD BY MY GARAGE THAT THE ETM MAY STILL BE UNDER WARRANTY. AFTER SPEAKING WITH VOLVO USA - I WAS ADVISED THAT THIS PART WAS UNDER WARRANTY AND I SHOULD BRING TO THE NEAREST VOLVO DEALERSHIP. I DID. BOSTON VOLVO VILLAGE - DID A SOFTWARE UPDATE AND AFTER THAT REPORTED NO ISSUES WITH THE ETM - THEY CLAIMED CRACKED VACUUM HOSES WERE THE PROBLEMS. THEY REPLACED THE HOSES AND RETURN THE CAR. THE CAR BROKE DOWN A DAY LATER - REV TO 4000, ROUGH IDLE, WON'T GO OVER 20 MPH - SNEAKERS IN WASHING MACHINE SOUND. I BROUGHT THE CAR BACK TO BOSTON VOLVO VILLAGE - THIS TIME THEY TOLD ME THAT I HAD AN BAD ACCELERATOR PEDAL - WHICH WAS REPLACE COST WAS $225.00. THE CAR BROKE DOWN A THIRD TIME - THIS TIME ON A BUSY HIGHWAY - I WAS ABLE TO PULL OFF - BUT IF NOT FOR SOME EXCELLENT DRIVING BY OTHERS ON THE ROAD THERE WOULD HAD BEEN A 3 CAR PILE UP. BOSTON VOLVO VILLAGE TOWED THE CAR BACK TO THEIR GARAGE. ONE OF THEIR EMPLOYEES ADMITTED TO ME THAT THE EMT WAS THE PROBLEM - BUT THAT VOLVO MAKES IT IMPOSSIBLE TO REPLACE THE ETM. *TR

THE GEARS STARTED SLIPPING . I BROUGHT INTO VOLVO DEALERSHIP AND THEY SAY I NEED A NEW TRANSMISSION. AFTER READING UP ON INTERNET THIS IS A PROBLEM ALOT OF PEOPLE ARE HAVING. TRANSMISSIONS SHOULD NOT FAIL AT 60, 000 MILES. *TR