V60 Twin Engine- £2.5k for failed on-board charger

[Rich306]

I picked up a V60 D5 twin engine with 38k miles on it at just over 3 years old. Now, 4 months down the road, I only get red light when trying to charge it.

After 3 days in dealer, back & forth to 'technical' I now get the great news, "they say we need to change the on-board charger"... £2.5k!!!

Does anyone have any pearls of wisdom that will help me to lessen the impact?

[Adrian888]

Ouch!! I am picking up a D6 Hybrid on Saturday from Volvo in Solihul - decided to buy with dealer warranty given they are complex cars. Presumably no warranty in place? Any prospect of a goodwill payment? Tried an independant Volvo specialist? Have they said why? Sorry for all questions and no answers.....

As an aside do you ever charge it away from home and if so what 'apps' do you have to find or pay for charging?

[Rich306]

I purchased from Imperial and their used car warranty is expensive and rather limited (e.g. £1000 max limit) etc. so I declined. Since the car was only just over 3 years old and had been fully taken care of by Volvo as a lease car I went to the local Volvo dealer and asked about my options with respect to purchasing service plan and warranty etc. I was told to wait until I had the next service.

I have asked the dealer to approach Volvo for goodwill.... we will see.

So far I have only really charged at home although I have tried it out at the supermarket. With only a 3.6kW charger onboard, you would need to be stopped for quite a while to make it worth the bother of getting the cable out. Slightly frustratingly, it seems that no one created some kind of super-app that can use all the different brands. So, unless anyone else offers a different opinion, then you are looking at downloading apps for podpoint, BP Polar plus a few others just to get 50p worth of charge per hour that you are stopped. It would be quite different for a full electric with a 22kW on-board charger for example.

[Adrian888]

Fingers crossed on goodwill. I have found Zap seems to cover more than most. When we return to the office I can charge at work so will have all day to plug in. It is one of the few downsides not fast charging. How are you finding the car otherwise? What spec is it?

[Clan]

Originally Posted by Rich306

I picked up a V60 D5 twin engine with 38k miles on it at just over 3 years old. Now, 4 months down the road, I only get red light when trying to charge it.

After 3 days in dealer, back & forth to 'technical' I now get the great news, "they say we need to change the on-board charger"... £2.5k!!!

Does anyone have any pearls of wisdom that will help me to lessen the impact?

How about getting someone to repair it ? There must be companies set up by now to do this kind of thing...

[Tannaton]

Originally Posted by Clan

How about getting someone to repair it ? There must be companies set up by now to do this kind of thing...

+1

I read on another forum someone bought a similar V60 with a failed inverter - the part was £1,500 + fitting & programming. They got it repaired for less than £250 as it was simply a single faulty electronic component - capacitor or transistor or something.

If I come across it again I will post a link to it.

[Rocinante]

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rig...-are-my-rights

"If you take the vehicle back within six months of purchase, the dealer should accept there was a problem when the vehicle was sold and offer a partial refund or to repair or replace it.

If the dealer doesn't accept there was a problem when the vehicle was sold, they'll have to prove this."

So you want to call up the dealer that sold you the car, straight away and tell them they need to repair it as they have sold you a faulty car.

[Tober]

Originally Posted by Rich306

I picked up a V60 D5 twin engine with 38k miles on it at just over 3 years old. Now, 4 months down the road, I only get red light when trying to charge it.

After 3 days in dealer, back & forth to 'technical' I now get the great news, "they say we need to change the on-board charger"... £2.5k!!!

Does anyone have any pearls of wisdom that will help me to lessen the impact?

How much? That is a frightening figure and clearly not covered by the 8(?) year battery warranty. I am pleased now that took out an extended warranty with Volvo pushing my twin engine cover out to 5 years. I hope you find a solution and some element of goodwill

[Adrian888]

Forgot about the 6 month rule. If not sure just search on Honest John where you will also probably find the Legally correct form of wording for sending a recorded and signed for delivered letter.

[Foxwhelp]

you could speak to the PYE chap in stirchley who runs a volvo garage, last time i spoke to him he said he wasn't touching Volvo phevs, that was a a year ago or so, he may do now.
As there arent many miles on the clock Volvo may contribute, but you'll need to ask the Solihull dealership to get in touch with them.
I have a D6 V60 phev, two repairs so far £950 and £300, and now an engine warning light appearing on the dash which apparently may be a faulty HV battery, only 20k to supply a new unit i'm told ! Wish I had taken out a warranty.