My car's had to be recovered!

[Zebster]

I'll give an interim update...

It's not going well. Paid £60 for a specific diagnostic check to be done while the car was in for its 5th service at a Volvo dealer but they found nothing. Unfortunately the fault had cleared itself before I got there, so they said they could have no idea what the fault was. I expressed disappointment and asked them what they suggested, so the service adviser summoned their 'diagnostic expert' to talk to me... He took the car back into the workshop, connected up and ran VIDA then (surprisingly) announced that he HAD found several diagnostic trouble codes relating to my description of the problem and showed me the printout. In his opinion it's the dashboard display that's at fault, rather than the CEM, however he admitted that he couldn't explain how this would cause the Sensus system and centre console controls to become unresponsive. He said that he wasn't sure and so didn't want to play 'parts darts' with my car, but did delete all stored DTCs.

The service manager was rather dismissive about the possibility of Volvo providing any goodwill support, but did confirm that the cost of the various parts was likely to be high.

That was last week, today the problems all reappeared...

[Zebster]

Further update ...

My car's been back to Volvo Shrewsbury for further investigation. They've given me a courtesy vehicle so they can keep it for as long as necessary.

The good news is that the technician has found the cause of the problem; there was a leak from the rear screen washer pipe that was causing a mist of washer spray to penetrate a couple of underdash multi-pin electrical connectors somewhere above the passenger foot well. He emailed me some photos, where the blue stain of the washer fluid is pretty obvious around the area of leakage, plus inside the connectors where one does also look slightly corroded. However the connector shells come apart and he was confident of being able to clean up the connectors, check them out, apply switch cleaner and reassemble. Although the faults were not active when I dropped my car off, he was finding a persistent DTC relating to a Comms error (comes back when deleted). I've had a further message this afternoon to say that all is now working and no DTCs are coming up. He intends to drive my car home with him tonight and back in to work tommorow to further check it out, but he thinks it's now ok. I'm really happy with his professionalism and methodical approach to it all... I know it can be a nightmare to find an intermittent fault and - in a case like this - VIDA can't actually tell you where the problem is.

The bad news is that I'm looking at 5.5 hours labour at £90/hr (but no parts) plus VAT, so around £600 total.

Given that the technician suggests that the washer pipe was probably leaking due to have been badly fitted when built, how likely is it that Volvo might cover all or some of the £600 bill? The car is just under 4 years old and has FVSH, however I've only owned it since early July 2018. Do I need to somehow get the dealer to approach Volvo or - if they refuse - can I contact Volvo myself? The dealer staff have all been brilliantly helpful and pleasant, but the service advisor was very negative when I previously asked about Volvo goodwill.

Thanks

[Whyman]

Got to be worth a try! You have nothing to lose and up to £600 to gain/save.

[Zebster]

Indeed!

I was hoping whether someone might be able to suggest whether I'm reliant upon the dealer to take up the goodwill claim with Volvo, or whether I can do this if the dealer isn't interested? And, if I do it, will Volvo simply need the a copy of the bill?

[Zebster]

Final update (hopefully)...

After 6 days I've got my car back. Shrewsbury Volvo been carefully checking it out for several days, mostly the tech driving it home at night and looking for DTCs... the Comms error which was previously a constant feature has gone. The leaking pipe has been rerouted and cable tied.

They supplied a courtesy vehicle (a 68 reg V40 T2 Inscription), negotiated a 20% goodwill contribution with Volvo, performed a full vehicle check (with email video report), washed it and gave it an interior valet (it was filthy beforehand!). Very pleased with how the staff were happy to chat and answer all my questions in a relaxed manner, but overall it still cost me almost £500 to fix a problem which just sprang up out of nowhere! Oh well...

[Chrisv60]

Just had mine recovered today funnily enough.

Clutch pedal dropped straight to the floor and stayed there. Interesting times on the M6. Looks like a fluid leak where the pipe enters the gearbox housing.

I have to say, I'm really impressed with Volvo Assist. It came free as I had the car serviced at Volvo.

Technician turned up after 20 minutes (they send you a text so you can track him/her), did his best to fix it but it needs a new connector so he trailered it to the dealers as it's probably related to recent engine work.

10 minutes later I had a phone call from Thrifty asking where I wanted the curtesy car delivered to. Could have had an auto 2 series BMW but I wanted a manual so ended up with a C4.