XC90 problems

[SiC2]

Well my mum has an XC90 which i understand is one of the very first in the country as i understand as it is a 52 reg so is now out of warrentee! We have had numerus problems with the car! The latest problem seems really expensive to fix, as they dont know whats wrong with it. The Parking brake has stopped working coincidently the day after a recall with the wheel bearings. Volvo has just rung up to say that it looks like they will have to strip out the inside of the car to get too the problem.

This is not the 1st problem we have had with brakes,a few hours after a service just before christmas the parking brake stayed on and warped the disks and the car had to be recovered, as it was only just out of warrentee then they fixed it without charging us even tho they still say it was just a coincidence!

So this is the end of XC90 ownership, Mum is thinking of getting a nw Tourage (sp)

Has anyone else had problems like this or is this the 1st major problem there has been?

[perussell]

Well, let's just say that where I work, (which is nothing to do with Volvo) we have probably 50+ XC90s in our car parks. In general it seems the early models were plagued with problems and niggles and a lot of the people who bought one of these say they would never have one again. (Then again another colleague in a 53 reg Merc ML has had it back in the garage 11 times! - so it's not just Volvos)
On the other hand those of us with 54 reg (incl myself) onwards seems to have a much better reliablity rate. Mine has suffered nothing other than a couple of loose pieces of trim or rattles.
So I guess this suggests that it took Volvo a while to iron out the inevitable new model glitches.......

[JsR]

Well, let's just say that where I work, (which is nothing to do with Volvo) we have probably 50+ XC90s in our car parks. In general it seems the early models were plagued with problems and niggles and a lot of the people who bought one of these say they would never have one again. (Then again another colleague in a 53 reg Merc ML has had it back in the garage 11 times! - so it's not just Volvos)
On the other hand those of us with 54 reg (incl myself) onwards seems to have a much better reliablity rate. Mine has suffered nothing other than a couple of loose pieces of trim or rattles.
So I guess this suggests that it took Volvo a while to iron out the inevitable new model glitches.......

Which is one reason why I'm now going for a nearly-end-of-life brand-new XC70 - my '03 XC90 has suffered a series of niggles the fixing of which I didn't want to finance myself. I must say though that Volvo, and my dealer, have been excellent in sorting out all the problems without any argument. Now sadly out of (extended) warranty so decided to bite the bullet and trade-in. But I'm really looking forward to the new car...:car-smiley-003:

regards

John R

['01 XC Owner]

but its been just fine for the past year. Over 200,000 miles, 25 mi/gal (not so hot), we have an '85 240 sedan, an '85 740 wagon waiting for a new tranmission (taking up much needed room in our garage), and a '93 240 wagon we use daily along with the XC. Was hesitant to upgrade to the new century but decided it was worth a try. On to this morning. My 18 year old used the car, had the radio up loud, the car was in reverse he thought it was running, it was in reverse, it ROLLED FORWARD, put brake on and while car was still in reverse, tried to start the car. A funny sound occured. Radio was turned off. Car was put in park, tred to start it again and same clicking/funny sound occured. Husband went to site, determines the engine will not engage, possibly alternator. Any ideas? Why would it roll FORWARD in reverse anyway? :cry_smile:

[volvotech]

We are a non franchised volvo specialist garage with all the toys to repair these cars. We have a xc90 belonging to a customer 54 plate out of warranty the gearbox has been replaced at 30K the box has now done 9k and is gone again, the diff rear awd and AOC had to be changed as dealer reported serious oil leak but told customer to drive 300-400 miles, absolute load of rubish. That advise caused to AWD unit to run out of oil and self destruct. total spend to date is around 7,900.00 and still costing. Volvo dont want to know, stratstone dont care and motorworld havent a clue what planet they should be on. Also today the alternator has gone costing another 800.00. worst car ever produced and backup from volvo = non existant. Cheaper to run a helicopter than these. Beware of high labour charges from dealers also. They love to rack up the bills. If anyone is considering buying one, DONT, but a bmw instead.

[RoyMacDonald]

We are a non franchised volvo specialist garage with all the toys to repair these cars. We have a xc90 belonging to a customer 54 plate out of warranty the gearbox has been replaced at 30K the box has now done 9k and is gone again, the diff rear awd and AOC had to be changed as dealer reported serious oil leak but told customer to drive 300-400 miles, absolute load of rubish. That advise caused to AWD unit to run out of oil and self destruct. total spend to date is around 7,900.00 and still costing. Volvo dont want to know, stratstone dont care and motorworld havent a clue what planet they should be on. Also today the alternator has gone costing another 800.00. worst car ever produced and backup from volvo = non existant. Cheaper to run a helicopter than these. Beware of high labour charges from dealers also. They love to rack up the bills. If anyone is considering buying one, DONT, but a bmw instead.

Well my XC90 has never been off the road unlike my neighbours BMW X5, and do BMW do a seven seater anyway?

There is an AWD XC 70 on the club web site that has about 750,000 miles on it so the system can't be that bad.

Volvo have the best record of any manufacturer for honouring warrenty claims according to some one, honest john I think.

I'd give up being a Volvo specialist if I had your views.

Roy

[Finbo]

The title of the post from the Volvo indy says it's a 2.9 petrol engine which will have the GM autobox instead of the Aisin Warner geartronic box in the D5.

Reading the forums it suggests owners of the petrol model seems to have a lot more problems with their autobox compared to diesel owners.

[volvotech]

Well my XC90 has never been off the road unlike my neighbours BMW X5, and do BMW do a seven seater anyway?

There is an AWD XC 70 on the club web site that has about 750,000 miles on it so the system can't be that bad.

Volvo have the best record of any manufacturer for honouring warrenty claims according to some one, honest john I think.

I'd give up being a Volvo specialist if I had your views.

Roy

Being a volvo specialist hardly endears us to put up with thoughtless rubbish being piuled on to our customers. anyway your car has the same gearbox as a v70, asin warner, which last longer and they suffered from all sorts of solenoid problems. we see thousands of these cars compared to the one you have. Point Taken?
Customers these days are being seriously ripped off by dealers who invariably end up puting an apprentice on your car and charging a £100.00 plus per hour that he is learning. Sorry mate but as joe public you havent a clue of what goes on in the garage industry, best to stick to what you know.

[chunderground]

Still think i will stick to the volvo dealer

[volvotech]

Still think i will stick to the volvo dealer

good luck mate, hope you dont have to winge about it, but I bet you will be doing just that.

[chunderground]

Being a volvo specialist hardly endears us to put up with thoughtless rubbish being piuled on to our customers. anyway your car has the same gearbox as a v70, asin warner, which last longer and they suffered from all sorts of solenoid problems. we see thousands of these cars compared to the one you have. Point Taken?


I think you may find it is an aisin warner gearbox not asin warner.

[RoyMacDonald]

I think you may find it is an aisin warner gearbox not asin warner.

He's too busy repairing thousands of Volvos to check his spelling ;-)

[Rentagas]

I really don't understand this thread:

Punter points out xc90 problems
Others say older cars are a bit worse
Someone knows what they're talking about gives advice and says be careful to not get ripped off
Others correct their spelling and rejects the advice. Weird.

Am I missing something?

[RoyMacDonald]

I was amused that a Volvo specialist would appear to dislike Volvo's so much because he gets thousands of them going wrong and advises people on the forum to buy BMW.

I just don't have anything to do with the products of manufacturers I don't like and all my Volvo's have been great cars so I keep on buying them.

There's no such thing as a perfect car, and they all have their strengths and weaknesses, but specialist I go to loves them, drives them, races them, likes talking about them.

[ozgreendragon]

I agree with Rentagas - what are you guys doing sticking the boot in?
Volvotech has NOTHING to gain by offering his advice as he IS a Volvo specialist.
We had considered buying an XC90 until I spent a few days researching global boards about problems. Across the model range these things have a vast array of issues and the T6 gearbox problems are enough to make you sick.
However as a sop to those who prefer to run down others trying to be helpful, the problems with the XC90 are only a symptom of the disease of modern car manufacturing. Every manufacturer has their problems and they all come back to similar roots: Design tolerances are reduced to the min to maximise utility from materials, overly complex systems with multiple (expensive) failure points, outsourcing and an inverse ratio between the bottom line & the quality of the final product.
The situation is only going to get worse too - in terms of value for money and reliability you are better off buying a 70's model vehicle and spending 30 grand to refurbish it (then keeping it forever) than buying a similar modern vehicle - the ONLY logical reason to buy a modern vehicle are the safety enhancements.

[RoyMacDonald]

The situation is only going to get worse too - in terms of value for money and reliability you are better off buying a 70's model vehicle and spending 30 grand to refurbish it (then keeping it forever) than buying a similar modern vehicle - the ONLY logical reason to buy a modern vehicle are the safety enhancements.

Have you tried to insure your 70's car that you spent £30k on so you can get your money back if it gets written off the first time you take it out.

I spent £1,000 doing up an old car for my daughter and she never even drove it before it was written off by my neighbour crashing into it outside our house, and the insurance company would only pay the book price of the car. Fortunatly for me my neigbour picked up the tab for the £1,000 I'd spent on it. I doubt I could have got £30k back however guilty he felt.

Still you can usually repair a car but people arn't so easy fix up after a crash. Give me the safest car I can get for my family. They don't come any better than the XC90.

As for a specialist who dosn't like his chosen marque! I just don't get it. Why not specialise in something you like and enjoy?

The XC90 T6 gearbox was changed for a reliable one some years ago by the way.