Oil level too high - sold the car!

[larchdale]

Hello all,

Sorry for the long post, but I hope this is worth reading.

I'm aware others (many of you!) have had a similar problem, and various solutions have presented themselves. This is my experience with a 2018 Volvo V90 D4 Inscription.

Twice during the lockdown, I had the car warn me that the oil level was overfilled. On each occasion, a trip to the dealer (Squire Furneaux Guildford) was arranged by Volvo Assistance. I was only offered an early appointment at the dealer if it was arranged by the VA technician - personal requests meant waiting weeks.

The result on each occasion was an oil change under warranty, though the oil was refilled to the correct level and my suggestion - and that of the VA technician - that it should be slightly underfilled was ignored.

In May 2021, the vehicle came out of the manufacturer's warranty and I purchased a Volvo extended warranty. It also had a service and its first MOT, with a request that the DPF/oil overfill problem be looked into, as I was taking the car to France. I was assured the problem would be resolved by some fast motorway/open road driving. Needless to say, after 2,500 miles of driving on such roads and three days before our scheduled return to the UK I saw the warning again.

I rang the UK dealer and was firmly told not to drive the car, but to call Volvo Assistance and have the vehicle taken to the nearest main dealer in Agen, two hours' drive away. Six hours after the first call, a flatbed 4-wheel lift breakdown truck arrived at our house. We were advised that the driver would take the car to Bergerac, thereafter it would be transported to the dealer in Agen. The process of getting the car to the main dealer was expected to take 4-5 days! There was no courtesy car available, so we were advised to hire one to get us home to the UK. We sent him away, having explained our position and politely declined his assistance. We were asked to sign a disclaimer preventing us from calling Volvo Assistance again during this trip.

The following day, a friendly local Peugeot dealer with some mechanics trained by Mercedes and BMW agreed to drain the oil, measure it and return the correct amount to the car, allowing us to travel without the warning. We were immediately offered a courtesy car and the charge for that service was 35 euros. He told us the problem was common amongst the prestige marques and that his mechanics had dealt with Volvos before that had similar problems. When we asked what we could do to avoid the problem in future, he suggested we buy a Peugeot!

When we returned to the UK, the car went to the dealer ASAP. This time, they wanted £350 to check the DPF and change the oil since the car was no longer under warranty and the extended warranty didn't cover such work. Unhappy with this, and looking at that charge plus others totalling nearly £1,500 for other work (only a clonking O/S drop link was covered by warranty), I asked if any of it would guarantee freedom from the problem if I took it away again to France. The answer was a firm "no".

I asked for a trade-in price as it stood against a similar car with a petrol engine. By this time I'd worked out that any difference in MPG between diesel and petrol would likely be covered by the reduction in hassle and costs associated with repeated breakdowns abroad. The salesman got back to me with a price to change to the only car he could find (V90 T5 Cross Country) of £23k.

I took the car away and traded it in against a fully loaded Peugeot 508SW Hybrid (21 reg, 1,400 miles, price to change £11k), and they gave me £3k more for the trade-in than Volvo had offered. The dealers in both France and the UK are plentiful and supportive. My outgoings associated with the car have plummeted.

Lessons learned:

1) Prestige marques aren't all they're cracked up to be - especially diesels - and depend on decent dealers being available

2) Volvo Assistance in Europe was woefully bad. RAC Europe Assistance was so much better the last time we had to use them (different car)

3) Note that disentangling oneself from extended warranties and service plans is difficult. I sold the car in mid-September and have yet to receive a refund for the balance of the warranty. Both the service plan and warranty charge significant administration fees on cancellation and, perhaps unsurprisingly, are much less interested in helping you leave than winning your custom in the first place.

Thanks for letting me get that off my chest.

Happy motoring to you all!

Iain

[TeamG]

This is one reason amongst many why I will never buy a newer Volvo than my current XC60*.

The numerous reasons why they now randomly self-destruct and Volvo believe it’s your problem are not worth risking thousands, or tens of thousands of pounds.

Dealers don’t give a sh*t unless you’re about to spank £40k or more on a new car. After sales, what after sales. They won’t even give you a part number for fear of you “buying one cheaper on ebay” (direct quote Cardiff, Bridgend and Swansea).

* I may change my mind if they fit a proper oil dipstick.

[XC90Mk1]

I have yet to find anyone who can tell me why removing a dip stick offers any advantage….

I will in time I am sure buy a mk2 XC90 but for now I will keep mine!

[Philip Fisher]

Originally Posted by XC90Mk1

I have yet to find anyone who can tell me why removing a dip stick offers any advantage….

I will in time I am sure buy a mk2 XC90 but for now I will keep mine!

I have done 125k miles with mine and the absence of a dipstick really has never even crossed my mind. Everytime I start the car it checks the oil level. I simply.do not see the issue.

Hell I only check the tyre pressures twice a year now when I swap the winter and summer tyres over - and no they are not all flat, they are all between 37 and 38 just as they should be and the car checks that for me constantly.....

[Philip Fisher]

Originally Posted by TeamG

This is one reason amongst many why I will never buy a newer Volvo than my current XC60*.

The numerous reasons why they now randomly self-destruct and Volvo believe it’s your problem are not worth risking thousands, or tens of thousands of pounds.

Dealers don’t give a sh*t unless you’re about to spank £40k or more on a new car. After sales, what after sales. They won’t even give you a part number for fear of you “buying one cheaper on ebay” (direct quote Cardiff, Bridgend and Swansea).

* I may change my mind if they fit a proper oil dipstick.

I have never experienced that kind of sh1t from my preferred Volvo dealer, Doncaster Audi on the other hand were truly shocking......

Anyway, it is a shame the OP has given up on Volvo, but it does sound like he had a really poor experience. I hope that he gets on well with the Peugeot. I have not had particularly positive experience of Peugeot dealers in the UK with our motorhome, but maybe they are just patchy like Volvo dealers. If you find a good dealer it is perhaps more important to be loyal to them than the actual brand of car.

[Stewart1359]

I have a v90 t4 and have never had a problem with it other than the petrol consumption because it is all very short journeys that I do. The car that you picked is an extremely nice looking car and you should benefit from the plug in hybrid. I too might be changing away from Volvo to a Kia EV6 which is electric Good luck with your new car

[OldEngineer]

It's a pity some Diesels live a low mileage life and are therefore always battling what to do with the excess fuel needed to keep the system clean. Dumping it inside the engine just leads to 'high oil level' but is in fact diluted oil and engine destruction.
I'm a Peugeot Engineer and involved in the early days of diesel when you had to get your fuel from the 'Lorry Pump'. The systems were simple and the soot just came out of the exhaust pipe!

[Zebster]

I've never understood how an interrupted DPF regen can lead to a significant rise in sump oil level. I realise that during the regen cycle additional diesel is dispensed into each cylinder during the exhaust stroke, but surely when the engine is switched off (even if the regen cycle is still in progress) the injection of fuel will immediately cease while the engine's rotational inertia (surely a couple of rotations?) lets each cylinder pump out practically all of the unburnt fuel last injected, leaving only the tiniest trace to percolate down to the sump via the piston rings?

And why are only some examples of the VEA engine troublesome in this regard? I give absolutely no consideration to DPF regen in my driving style, yet somehow my car just does it's thing keeping the soot level low and never causing my engine oil to rise. Is the rising oil level issue really a symptom of another problem?

[ThomasC91]

Sorry to hear you’ve been so unlucky.

I’m on my third Volvo and never had any major problems. My current S90 most probably needs a new steering wheel module as the window wipers have a mind of their own and will come on at random periods, but other than that has been fine so far.

I personally would never go with a Peugeot after having driven a luxury brand such as Volvo.

[larchdale]

I've never been a brand snob, I'm afraid. Any unreliable car is a liability. An unreliable luxury car is a very expensive liability, especially in rural France where Volvo dealers are like hen's teeth!

I've replaced the Volvo with a Peugeot because it's well supported in France. It turns out to be just as comfortable, has all the toys and has given me rock-solid reliability and an average of 88mpg in the two months I've owned it.

I enjoyed driving the Volvo, and it was very comfortable. But I don't miss the regular visits to the dealership to sort out niggly electronic and other problems.

As an example, the chrome trim on the little-used rear N/S door handle began to flake off. Dealer says not covered by the warranty as "fair wear and tear", so £350 for a replacement. The DPF problem is apparently covered by Volvo's warranty twice. Thereafter, I was told it was put down to my driving style and type of mileage, and chargeable!

I'm an ex-police advanced driver, and I was sold the car on the basis of my mileage - a combination of local runs and travel to France and back - which I was told would be just fine.