MY2016 XC90 T8 New ERAD Noise

[Joey99]

As an aside, I usually buy my cars at 3 years old and this experience has again validated my approach of sticking within the main dealer network for a couple of years until the prospect of manufacturer goodwill in support of any medium term issues is gone.

My previous high-mileage BMW 520d wagon suffered from the N47 engine problems at almost 7 years old and because I had had the car serviced by BMW up to six years old (with no gaps in the history) I saved myself about €3k when BMW covered the preventative, engine-out service to avoid a blown engine.

[Joey99]

OK. So latest update is that Volvo offered a 40% contribution as goodwill (€1,600 leaving me to pay €2,400). I have rejected that as I am not happy with the electric motor failing after 4.5 years.

Your thoughts? Am I being too ballsy in doing that? I can afford to cover the full repair and I have no fear of dragging them to court if an initial inspection reveals any indication of design/manufacturing fault.

[Joey99]

Curiouser and curiouser. I had a 40% goodwill offer from Volvo which many would regard as OK given that my car has done more than 150000KM. I wasn't happy with it, which is when things got weird.

I said I felt motors such as this should not fail after 4.5 years / 150,000 and that I suspected a defective design/manufacture/installation (perhaps exacerbated by the ERAD diff replacement earlier in the year). I also said I wanted to take away the old motor for independent expert review and inspection.

That prompted someone in Volvo to flag to Spirit that if they didn't get the old part back they would apply a 'surcharge' of ~€2,200 (bear in mind the motor had been priced at €2,715 ex VAT). I (politely) lost my sh1t altogether and told them that if they wanted to make me pay ~€6,200 for a fix that had been estimated at €4,000 I would do it but there would be hell to pay. Consumer protection and breach of competition laws may also have been mentioned.

They are working on a better deal at the moment and I'll be heading out there shortly to see what they have to offer. I'd be willing to pay a reasonable amount toward the fix but I'm looking for a meaningful gesture from Volvo because if I was willing to have essential drivetrain elements go kaput like this I'd have been in the market for a Renault. Will be interesting to see how it pans out.

[Joey99]

OK, having calmed down after the 'surcharge' price coming through and having involved Volvo Customer Care both directly and via Spirit we got to a resolution which I felt was fair and acceptable.

[Joey99]

In the heel of the hunt I said they could keep the old (dead or dying) electric motor, thus eliminating the 'surcharge' issue.

They offered ~75% goodwill coverage, leaving me to pay a little over €1,000 (inc VAT) all in. I felt that Volvo were standing fully behind their product with that offer given that my car has travelled 150,000km and is 4.5 years old.

I am still unnerved at the electric motor failing in this way but amidst all the talk of EVs having much lower maintenance costs I'm wondering what it would cost to get the motors replaced on a Tesla or similar if they died after about five years.

[Joey99]

I would say that to get from 40% goodwill contribution to 75% I really had to play hardball with them and threaten a bit of fire and brimstone.

At one stage I said that I would pay the ~€6,500 they were asking (inclusive of the 'surcharge' that cropped up), and I was fully prepared to act on that. In the same breath I made it clear that would be the most expensive (for Volvo) surcharge they had ever forced a customer to pay.

I am still left with a feeling of unease about the surcharge and the way it was proposed and the rationale for it. It felt a lot like they were imposing a penalty for me to deeply and thoroughly investigate a potential defect. If I had not been willing to go all-in in response I would have felt strongarmed to accept the 40% offer.

[AdrianIreland]

Originally Posted by Joey99

Hi, new member here. I've had my 2016 XC90 since January 2020, bought in the UK and ferried back to Ireland.

In Q1 2021 I had the ERAD replaced by Spirit Volvo at no cost (which I thought was good since the car was over 4 years old).

Ten days ago (19/07/21) I started getting an engine warning light and a new noise started coming from the ERAD. It is silent when accelerating up to 7km/hour but then a fluttering/propeller type noise kicks in under load which increases in line with engine speed until, at 30km/hour and above it sounds just like a soft whine whenever the accelerator is pressed.

Brought the car back to Spirit Volvo and they diagnosed a failed hybrid battery coolant pump which was replaced. Car was with them for six days over the weekend as the part wasn't available.

Now I have the car back but the noise is still noticeably present. My wife (who barely recognises her own car at the best of times) immediately noticed the noise so although it is soft it is noticeable and, increasingly, irritating.

Has anyone come across anything similar? I have to say that the car has run faultlessly apart from the ERAD failure (and I can't fault Volvo's handling of that problem) and electric power to date has been totally silent.

Is this noise the warning of further ERAD problems to come?

Hi Joey, hope you don't mind me reaching out. I live in Dublin, have a 2016 T8 with quite high miles (170k km) - and I am starting to feel those ERAD symptoms. I only have the car 2 years, but know some of these units have failed much earlier than mine.

I see you seem to recommend Spirit - would you have a contact name there who knows what they are talking about, so I could have a chat on costs. I have read that the entire ERAD used to be replaced, but now they mainly replace the clutch, so praying it's that - even though I am into the thousands probably.

I tried to PM you, but have limitations on who I can PM as I have under 20 posts.

Thanks a million,

Adrian