AWD Transmission: XC90 No AWD Want to report this to BBC Watch Dog

[springjok]

Afraid I am joining the long list of AWD to 2WD problems. 05 xc90 with 81k on the clock. Bought 2 months ago. Was unable to get locking nuts off front wheels so went to local volvo dealer. They offered to carry out health check on the car while removing locking nuts. They have diagnosed failure of the bevel gear and sleeve at a cost of £1503. From reading the posts I am a bit concerned they could make this diagnosis without any internal checks. Took 1 year warranty when buying the car so hope to have it repaired under this but their liability is limited to £1000 so still having to fork out. Thanks to this forum I will try and get volvo to stump up a bit. Will update when work done.

[RoyMacDonald]

Originally Posted by springjok

Afraid I am joining the long list of AWD to 2WD problems. 05 xc90 with 81k on the clock. Bought 2 months ago. Was unable to get locking nuts off front wheels so went to local volvo dealer. They offered to carry out health check on the car while removing locking nuts. They have diagnosed failure of the bevel gear and sleeve at a cost of £1503. From reading the posts I am a bit concerned they could make this diagnosis without any internal checks. Took 1 year warranty when buying the car so hope to have it repaired under this but their liability is limited to £1000 so still having to fork out. Thanks to this forum I will try and get volvo to stump up a bit. Will update when work done.

I think you're right to be concerned as the Angle Gear hardly ever fails. Occasionally a broken spline does get into the box and cause damage, but it is very rare.

I'd get a second opinion if I were you. Try Charlwood Volvo if you are near enough.

[springjok]

Thanks so much Roy. I am only about 10 minutes from Charlwood so will call tomorrow and see if they would have a look.

[MJVolvofan]

I have owned 8 Volvo's over the years, from Tdi/petrol 850, V70,S70, V70T5, primarily bought for safety when we had children, all have been bought second hand, and apart from recall's or parts I can't buy elsewhere I rarely visit a franchise dealer, because I simply can't afford to, and manage just about every job myself. I have driven them in work, and all in all, a very pleasant driving experience, and blistering T5 performance. My dream family car has always been an XC90, having converted an S70 20v & V70 T5 to run on Lpg, (as they do like their fuel) my preference would have been an XC90T6 to run on Lpg. My brother recently bought a 2005 '55' XC90 D5 auto, I have been watching them for sale second hand for some time, hoping to buy one when the price is right... until reading all these posts.
I have been subject of Volvo's 'not our fault' policy when it came to an ETM failure (magneti marelli) on my 2000 V70 T5, £300 worse off, no admission of faulty parts, and the old chesnut 'you haven't been to a Volvo dealer for a while' as if that would make any difference, as all the faulty parts listed above have nothing whatsoever to do with any sort of service schedule.
Their attitude towards design faults, (because that's what they are, and lack of rigourous testing, this must be the case, because surely adequate testing would or should have highlighted these problems, or did they highlight them and press on into production anyway?) is incredulous! It seems the customer is subsidising Volvo's testing and evolution of it's design faults, and their lack of total liability + inconvenience compensation should be tested in a court, but no individual has the money to do this. In Sweden & the U.S.A in relation to their ETM faults, they relented and provided a 200,000 mile or Ten year warranty, Volvo say because of strict emission Laws, I'd rather think it was more to with the threat of mighty Legal action from the states, and there are certain things you just don't do on your own doorstep! We do need a Government funded body to protect consumers on issues such as this, to bring manufacturers to book, who else can afford to? I'd be interested to see what Volvo's policy is regards the T6 Gm Autobox, and all the 4wd and transmission problems outside the U.K. are, or are we Brits just been ripped off again.
As for getting better when the chinese take over? Look at their Gov't Regime...

[syko]

well ive just replaced the sleeve on mine thursday got sick of it being a 2 wheel drive volvo piece of ****!!! lol
rich

[y2blade]

Originally Posted by kar_leeds

Dear all,

After reading this loooong post I went back to my XC90 and tested if the AWD was indeed working. I tried on a quite steep ramp, wet grass, and roundabout. First, front wheels were spinning like hell, reear wheels not moving at all. Same in grass and turning fast on a roundabout cause my rear wheels start skidding. So, in summary not rear traction.

My car is now in a Volvo dealer (Leeds). I bought it secondhand paying a bit extra to have an extra warranty for 2 years. So, my guess is it will be cover by the warranty, but I am not whether this 'goodwill' percentage will apply in my case (should be 60% cause less than 50K miles). Also, do dealers apply this discount automatically or I should tell them that I know Volvo is aware of the problem and is offering to pay part of the bill? What is your experience?

Any comments are very welcome because I am not familiar with warranties/goodwilling discounts, etc.

Kar

Originally Posted by GJB

How did you get on with your warranty claim?

Originally Posted by Phil Longford

Hi Kar Leeds

Who is your warranty with? If it is with Volvo, you probably won't have a problem getting them to cover the whole repair. But if it is with someone like Warranty Direct, you may have problems. They have a limit on how much they pay, and pay minimal labour rates. If the angle gear has gone, (like mine had) total bill will be nearly £2,000.
Volvo have set levels of compensation for this repair, but this is not set in stone! I got stroppy, and eventually got their 20% offer increased to 70%, plus a 20% contribution from dealer.
Mention the Small Claims Court, and I reckon you will get a satisfactory result!

don't hold your breath...he has not been active since


kar_leeds
Last Activity: May 27th, 2010 14:23

http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/member.php?u=59397



I'm looking closely at this now as my sister is looking at XC90s

[AB-UK]

You must all petition your MPs asking for an independent vehicle examiner in the UK to look at defects like this.
There isn't one at the moment.
VOSA is only interested in safety related defects - and it isn't independent!

I have written to my previous MP, and my current one asking about this, but have so far got nowhere!

Come on everyone - email your MP today!

[y2blade]

I'm steering my sister towards the Audi Q7 TDI tbh

[jtaw45]

Originally Posted by y2blade

I'm steering my sister towards the Audi Q7 TDI tbh

Why, are they not likely to need a £330 repair over 6 years? Some people need to get real, ALL cars develop faults,some more serious than others. My XC90 is nearly 6 years old and if it lasts another 6 years with another £330 spending on it i'll be shouting it from the rooftops. Nobody likes their cars breaking down,but from what i see and hear we all ought to be glad theat the ones we own rarely do. My mate has a disco 3 that needed a new electronic handbrake control unit at £700 with less than 30k on the clock,he had to wait a month due to them being on back order because the manufacturers couldn't keep up with the failure rate. In the process of it going it cooked his back discs and pads,another £150. Don't assume the grass is always greener.

[yeoman]

Originally Posted by y2blade

I'm steering my sister towards the Audi Q7 TDI tbh

Interesting that you are "steering her" towards a Q7. I hear from my mate who has one ,that Audi say that he should refrain from going round "roundabouts" when he complained about about the rate and unever tyre wear of the front tyres!! Something tells me, you will be "steering her back2 to volvo soon !!