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

[speedbird800]

SED5,

I'm not in your camp on this one. As other posters have mentioned you have a warning light to tell you that your screen wash bottle is empty but not one to tell you that your AWD doesn't work.

The reason this is important is due to the fact that the car "first and foremost is a AWD vehicle. This is a Fundamental feature of the whole existance of the car." This is a quote from Volvo Customer services at Volvo UK.

If the guy on the phone can say this, then I'm with him.

SED5 if your vehicle gets stuck on a dark night in the middle of nowhere with your family and the rescue truck can't get to you due to the fact that there are so many other call outs, you will feel the way I do. You will also feel what on earth have you paid all that money for!

I'm not saying that Volvo is a bad brand! I'm saying that this is a very important issue that they need to put right and honor. After all you can't trade off of past glory forever. You must maintain that level of superior service and quality! Otherwise the question people will be asking is...

How do you say Ford in Swedish? Answer. Volvo!

Think about others and someone will think about you!

[AB-UK]

I think the phrases "Fit for Purpose" and "Trades Descriptions Act" have significance.
The Volvo XC90 is sold in the UK as "AWD", meaning "All Wheel Drive", and if the said vehicle doesn't supply drive power to all four wheels then these two phrases should sound alarm bells at Volvo UK.
As "Watchdog" is not just concerned with safety issues, and does include items involving "cowboys" and other rip-off merchants, I can't see why they shouldn't be interested in this too.

[RoyMacDonald]

I've counted up and in this thread and 5 owners are saying they have a lack of AWD which isn't enough to show a major problem yet in my opinion.

perussel used to post a lot here about the XC90 as his company use them as company cars, buying about 50 at a time and he knew what problems the model had as well as anyone, but he never said there was a problem with the AWD failing on any of them.

Roy

[4wheeldriver]

Originally Posted by RoyMacDonald

I've counted up and in this thread and 5 owners are saying they have a lack of AWD which isn't enough to show a major problem yet in my opinion.

perussel used to post a lot here about the XC90 as his company use them as company cars, buying about 50 at a time and he knew what problems the model had as well as anyone, but he never said there was a problem with the AWD failing on any of them.

Roy

If they were company vehicles though Roy wouldnt they have been changing them at 3 yrs old?? Maybe not long enough for the fault to start showing! Just my thought like even if they are normally wrong!! lolol

[RoyMacDonald]

Originally Posted by 4wheeldriver

If they were company vehicles though Roy wouldnt they have been changing them at 3 yrs old?? Maybe not long enough for the fault to start showing! Just my thought like even if they are normally wrong!! lolol

I can't remember when they changed them but I'm sure it was a longer than 3 years, but whatever the length of time the milages he quoted were huge.

Roy

[4wheeldriver]

Originally Posted by RoyMacDonald

I can't remember when they changed them but I'm sure it was a longer than 3 years, but whatever the length of time the milages he quoted were huge.

Roy

I do like to keep my batting average of answers right Roy!!! lolol

[RoyMacDonald]

Originally Posted by 4wheeldriver

I do like to keep my batting average of answers right Roy!!! lolol

Here is a quote from perussell. I notice in another post he said he had done over 40,000 miles

I have a 2004 '54' model D5 Auto Exec and at 18 months old was prasing its' reliability compared to older models. I have also seen several people praising the reliability of their models, one member seems to have had 4 or 5 without problems but then it would appear he didn't have each of them for long.
Now my XC90 is 31 months old I am much less impressed with its' reliablility having had new airbag sensors, new rear wheel bearings, new track rod ends (recall) etc fitted.
I do like the car immensely though I have to say I am not replacing it with another one. I am also greatly relieved that it's within warranty. I am not sure I would ever buy one privately and outside of the warranty period. For the money it is just not reliable enough. I also work where we have 40+ of these in our fleet and I have not seen many of my colleagues choose the same car again.
If you do choose to buy one make sure those rear wheel bearings have been replaced, the problem is very common and very expensive to repair if out of warranty.

[Mixam]

Take a look in all the threads, look at the Swedish and US forums. There are loads of AWD failures and problems.

Plus if 100% of XC vehicles had this fault, 98% wouldn't have a clue.
You can't tell unless you are on ground where the AWD decides it needs to place the power to the rear wheels, and with due respect, if the vehicle still moves forwards on two wheel drive they wouldn't notice the rears weren't driving.
It's only when the vehicle can't move and spins the fronts frantically that it becomes really noticeable. You start to wonder why.
Trust me Roy, if yours hasn't failed and you haven't experienced it, you aren't in a position to comment. My misses and I drove hers for possibly 3 years without noticing.

I really cannot see Roys' point.

[RoyMacDonald]

Originally Posted by Mixam

Take a look in all the threads, look at the Swedish and US forums. There are loads of AWD failures and problems.

Plus if 100% of XC vehicles had this fault, 98% wouldn't have a clue.
You can't tell unless you are on ground where the AWD decides it needs to place the power to the rear wheels, and with due respect, if the vehicle still moves forwards on two wheel drive they wouldn't notice the rears weren't driving.
It's only when the vehicle can't move and spins the fronts frantically that it becomes really noticeable. You start to wonder why.
Trust me Roy, if yours hasn't failed and you haven't experienced it, you aren't in a position to comment. My misses and I drove hers for possibly 3 years without noticing.

I really cannot see Roys' point.

I'm just trying to work out whether the car has a major problem or the odd failure of the kind that can be expected from any manufacturer of a very complex piece of machinery.

A link to these Swedish failures would help as all I can find are American's with the T6 GM auto box, which are known to have a problem. What I want so see are the D5 Asin Warner AWD failures.

To give some kind of perspective on the issue I've been looking at the no. of XC90's made.....

XC90 – the best-selling Volvo model
Already during its second full calendar year on the market, the Volvo XC90 became the company’s best-selling model. Thanks to the enormous sales successes of the XC90 during its first year, a decision was taken about a year ago to increase the rate of production from about 65,000 to more than 90,000 XC90s a year, with sales in 2004 reaching a total of 84,032 (62,177) cars. Together with the recently introduced V8 engine, sales in 2005 will hopefully exceed 100,000 cars.

AWD has become a huge success for Volvo’s cars. In 2004, no less than 143,000 AWD Volvos were sold, which means that virtually one in three Volvos sold has four-wheel drive.

Roy

[4wheeldriver]

They seem to have sold a lot of these for them being faulty but being honest I'm less than impressed with the build quality of Volvos newer vehicles over the older ones that I've owned. Granted the xc has a FAR more complex set of running gear than any of the others I've owned. They just dont seem to build 'em like they used to!! If this isn't a widespread problem it could well be that it's due to owners not being any the wiser till the stinky stuff hits the fan or it could be that it definately ISN'T as widespread as is being made out. I KNOW my rears are driving after the snow here last week or so so I can't comment on how annoying it is but I HAVE had gearbox probs since the falling out of gear was cured. I now have an annoying "clunk" when I pull away from standstill as it engages drive. What this is I have no idea or if it's maybe related to this problem but if it's the start of something more serious I'm sure I'll find out tomorrow. 400 miles with the caravan on the back should sort if somethings going to break or not!!