Oh dear, wheelarch rust
 

Just found some rust bubbling up on the front offside wheelarch, 10 o'clock. Very very disappointed. XC60 D5, 59 plate, 70,000 miles. Not what I expect from any Volvo even if 9 years old. Not as bad, but just starting on nearside too, same position, 2 o'clock on n/s. Clearly a design fault, probably improperly sealed or perhaps a poor panel shape or join, coming out from underneath the wheelarch guard. Always been dealer serviced. Owned from new.

Anyone else seen similar?

My S60 isn't 6 years old yet and it has surface rust on some exposed areas in the engine bay. It previously lived in Aberdeen, maybe all that sea air isn't good after all

The 2011-18 S60 isn't the best for presentation. I previously had an 05 model year car which still had a clean engine bay when I sold it at 9 years old approaching 100k miles.

My 2011 year car looks like it's been through a few ditches when I lift the bonnet, the cross member under the radiator looks like it was welded by a group of 16 year old trainees.

Ah yes, that weld, mine has it aswell. You'd think they could have made it without leaving that showing, I wonder why it's there.

Update
 

UPDATE

Well, after a long drawn out battle with Volvo (most of 2019 to date), we came to an arrangement and got the front wings replaced. Won't go into the details, suffice to say we won't be buying a Volvo/from that dealer again. The saga involved an alleged mouse attack. No, seriously. The corrosion will have started on the surface (at the very edge of the wing), so the anti-perforation warranty is of no value, according to one expert (outside of the dealer's).

Which however then posed the question what about the rears - which are a lot harder to replace? As if by magic I then spotted another car (exactly the same age and same colour as it happened) with a lot worse corrosion, including corrosion of the rear wheel arches. We quickly ran our car in to an approved body shop who have just reported that corrosion has indeed started at the rear, though fortunately it's early enough to stop it and stop it progressing - we want to keep the car a fair few years yet. So that's another chunk of money, which I rationalise by the new-car-would-be-more-expensive argument.

So, if you have one of these, or similar, get the wheel arch liners taken off, early, and inspect the edge of the wing lip, and take action as appropriate.

Whilst this is not an unusual problem with even modern cars, I do not expect it from a Volvo. How long has the industry been making cars, for Pete's sake? It's also why I bought an XC70 with full wing-edge protection.

Photos attached, of ours and the other one I saw.

That's disappointing to see will have to keep a close eye on mine, only 4 years old though so hopefully I won't be in for any unpleasant surprises yet.

That is absolutely shocking , despite seeing dozens every day i have never ever seen this before or heard of anyone having this problem .. One thought are you 100% sure that the car has not been repaired with substandard parts ? It could have been repaired before you bought it or before it was delivered to keep costs down Volvo wings should be zinc plated and be embossed with VOLVO on the top .... Worth considering .. and also worth taking to volvos Technical Centre for their opinion ...

Take the arch liner off and see what kind of finish is on the back hidden from view

Looking at the untreated stone chip type damage I'm not surprised they've gone rusty. They've rotted from outside in, so it's not a manufacturing defect. Considering it's ultimately a neglect issue its rather churlish to say you won't have a Volvo again.

How can it be stone chip damage when 90% is quite clearly behind the wheel arch liner therefore out of direct harm from anything thrown up from the road?

I do wonder though if it has been driven through a sea water flood. Or perhaps stood in a seaside car park while it was flooded with sea water. What is the car like underneath?

Or used on a farm with gravel tracks and lots of cows. That mixture will really encourage rust.

That style of rust is usually prominent when paint is applied to bare steel ..
They are all peppered with stone chips but they don't rust naturally .