Strong burning smell from engine, be aware

[jmot]

Originally Posted by Philip Fisher

Bad news. Did they positively confirm they had replaced the head when it was repaired last month or just tell you it was fixed?

Yep, replaced. Had to wait an extra 36 hours for the replacement valve head to be shipped and fitted..

I've got really good video this time of the smoke so they should have no problems spotting the burnt oil residue and finding whats gone pop this time.

Apparently, i'll have a Thrifty xc90 on my drive on or before 8.30am tomorrow.

We shall see.

[jmot]

although when i go pick the car up I shall be asking for a printed service history as i need an official log of all the BS issues we've had the car in for so I guess I'll get to see what they actually say they did last time...

You have planted the seed of doubt whether they just tried to patch it up rather than replace...

[Philip Fisher]

Originally Posted by jmot

Yep, replaced. Had to wait an extra 36 hours for the replacement valve head to be shipped and fitted..

I've got really good video this time of the smoke so they should have no problems spotting the burnt oil residue and finding whats gone pop this time.

Apparently, i'll have a Thrifty xc90 on my drive on or before 8.30am tomorrow.

We shall see.

I am sorry to hear about this, you seem to have had all the bad luck. We have had lots of software issues on the forum, recalls and odd bits and bobs, but major mechanical seems to have been pretty rare (and you have had 3 of them now.....).

There is obviously something big going on here, and something undiagnosed which is causing the heads to go (provided it was done properly 1st time of course). Just wondering if there is one possible cause which could relate the diff issue, and 2 heads, but struggling for ideas........

[jmot]

i'm going to call the dealer this am and ask them what my options are to terminate the lease and return the car or maybe even ask them to swap it. I fully expect them to not give me the proper answers but i'm going to set the tone for what I expect and what I'm considering.

Both dealers I've had the unfortunate requirement to get to know very well have ended up being superb so there is a little part of me that's not massively fussed at this stage but to be honest, my confidence in the overall reliability of this car is shot. There is no way I'd haul across Europe in it with a small child etc no way.

Certainly going to explore all available options.

The recovery guy said the most cars he gets to recover are BMW and Mercedes.... I'm not entirely convinced there is any brand that's properly reliable these days but this is taking the complete biscuit now ... 17 reg with just under 17k miles and so many proper mechanical faults.... maybe i'll publish the reg plate on this forum when we let it go in case someone ever googles it in future lol

[jmot]

If I didn't use the A47 and rural backroads in Lincs & Cambs daily there's no way i'd be so warm to the xc90. There is something very reassuring about driving it, especially with kids. Afterall, thats why we buy volvo's

[Deman77]

You have been very unfortunate. I know how you feel as I had been through similar experience in the first 18m of ownership. My issues weren’t as severe (squeaky breaks, messed up battery recharging, suspension recall, broken second a/c unit, tyre noise) but the car spent good 3 months in total with the dealer. I was really wondering but most people had no problems so I just went along letting dealer deal with it and insisting on equivalent car as courtesy. My car was always collected and brought back so I only had email as time spent. In the end it’s all fixed and for the last 18 months I had no issues and really enjoyed the car.
My suggestion if you don’t hate the car is to stick with it, have it fixed and keep enjoying. You will have to go through a lot of stress to terminate your ownership, probably extra cost and what you will get in the end will again be subject to small chance of it going wrong plus you may not enjoy the car. Especially if you have kids stress is not worth it. If dealer is treating you fairly you have an adequate courtesy and are not being forced to go back and forth to deal with this just let them fix it.

[jmot]

Originally Posted by Deman77

My suggestion if you don’t hate the car is to stick with it, have it fixed and keep enjoying. You will have to go through a lot of stress to terminate your ownership, probably extra cost and what you will get in the end will again be subject to small chance of it going wrong plus you may not enjoy the car. Especially if you have kids stress is not worth it. If dealer is treating you fairly you have an adequate courtesy and are not being forced to go back and forth to deal with this just let them fix it.

Agreed. I'm going to push on the various doors required to assess the level of willingness to look at a solution for us but you are right in many ways and I suspect how you describe it will be how things happen.

However, the issue really is one now that the car simply is not reliable, in any way. The level of mechanical faults is serious. That is something they cannot reasonably deny now.

18 reg xc60 d5 r design got delivered earlier. Not like for like but better than a Mitsubishi L200 pickup I was given last time lol

[Philip Fisher]

We have a 16 plate V40 r design on the fleet at work. It had recuring engine issue. In the end the dealer pushed Volvo and it was fitted with a new engine at about 40k miles. Been fine ever since. The driver tooled around in a Volvo UK supplied car for the duration of the repair.

Maybe you should push hard for complete new engine if you arent going to reject the car?

[Philip Fisher]

Originally Posted by jmot

Agreed. I'm going to push on the various doors required to assess the level of willingness to look at a solution for us but you are right in many ways and I suspect how you describe it will be how things happen.

However, the issue really is one now that the car simply is not reliable, in any way. The level of mechanical faults is serious. That is something they cannot reasonably deny now.

18 reg xc60 d5 r design got delivered earlier. Not like for like but better than a Mitsubishi L200 pickup I was given last time lol

Other thing is that buy backs and car replacements are not unheard of. Lexman got a new car on paint defects.

If you can get the dealer onside then this is 75 percent of the battle.

Maybe have a conversation with the dealer along the lines of "Get Volvo to take this back and put me in a brand new XC90 with the same monthly payment but with the lease term reset and we all go away with no bad publicity and you retain me as a customer". I would say that is worth a try.....

[S60Chris]

Following this with interest.

Agree with what has been said earlier - major mechanical defects are very rare most things I've read have been electrical gremlins. Ours is a 17 plate with the same milage and we've not had any issues apart from Sensus needing an update and a new battery due to a bad batch.

Good to know your dealers have been good, I'm not a million miles from you - I use Marshall Volvo in Cambridge and they are excellent too and have a good relationship with them and they always bend over backwards to help. That counts for a lot.

I also know what you mean about liking the XC90 because of the roads. Some of the roads round the Fens are awful, and when you throw deep ditches, tractors and foreign HGV's into the mix it's best to be wrapped in a Volvo in my opinion!

I hope you get this sorted.