Trailing arm bushes going!
 

Just had my V70 back from it's 2nd service, and guess what? The nice man from Volvo said " there's an amber warning on your trailing arm bushes". Great! I know there is an issue with these, only by reading this forum, but for Gods sake, the car is not even 2 yrs old, 33k and has a very easy life pottering up and down the motorway. Now they WILL be replaced under warranty at the next service, and it won't cause me too much of a problem I suppose, but am I correct in thinking the P3 is now 7 years old? and has always had this fault? Why then, aren't Volvo doing something about it?

Sorry, rant over. I'm actually pretty happy with my V70.

Interesting...were there any symptoms? How did he make the call? I'm curious as mine has got 125K km's on the clock and all seems fine. I'm wondering if there anything I should be looking out for with respect to these dastardly bushings.

It seems Volvo dealers look for peeling of the skin as a guide to replacement, whilst an MOT looks for movement. Volvo have been flagging mine up for 2 years, but wouldn't do it under warranty as there was no noise. I took it to my local Volvo Specialist and MOT tester last summer, for his opinion and he said they were fine, even though I was also asking him for a price of doing the work, effectively talking himself out of getting the job!

The dealership were very honest, in that the service chap said book it in next year just before the warranty runs out and they'll replace them. I've no idea what to look out for, but my wife says when she rides in the back of the car the suspension is very hard..

Had exactly this with my MY 2012 XC70, at 28 months and 30k miles. Replaced under warranty, no dramas. I too was a bit surprised to see them flagged up considering the age & mileage of the car too.

I think the problem has been well documented and Volvo now supply bushes with an add on seal that protects the edges of the bush from water ingress that causes rust and eventual de-lamination of the rubber to metal join. Is it possible they replacing them in an attempt to keep customer loyalty?

It's good to hear Volvo are now fitting a updated component, and yes lets hope they are fitting them under warranty as a show of good faith. My moan/quibble though is how long have they been fitting a substandard part the the cars, and at what point did they stop. My car is a 2013 model built probably at the end of 2012 so certainly not then, but at which point are you safe?

Lets face it. It's not the end of the world, just a random moan!

It is also a £300 bill if done at dealers out of warranty.

My MY10 has had 2 MOTs this year, baught it in august and a silly time of year for me to be having MOT so had it redone at local dealer in November.
1st MOT no advisories at all, 2nd one 4000 miles later advisory that rear trailing arm bushes worn, not yet excessivly. Its a select car and I start to wonder how effective the 100 point checks are. Oh and its a wear and tear item so not covered by warranty.
When weather gets warmer I shall get underneath and make my own assessment

Paul..

Hi you will be safe even if they failed badly it wouldn't break away but would be horrendously noisy . The add on seals were supplied with new bush kits that I had fitted to my car in august 2013,but parts had to be ordered from Sweden. They should be fitted as standard now , can anyone let us know ? The add on seals are just that. They are a plastic ring that is filled with a sticky mastic material that is simply pushed over the edge of the new bush once fitted. The mastic supposedly seals the area where the rubber joins the metal outer bush. It should at least delay the failure but won't stop it . The bushes are the same as fitted to ford cars like the Mondeo. Not nearly as robust as the P2 equivalent. Just another Ford money saving exercise.

The bushes are £80+ vat at dealers, the tool is £180 or so on eBay, 2 bushes and tool £340, subsequent bush change £160.
If 30/40,000 miles is life of bushes the DIY route is going to save a fortune.

Paul.