1st Apr 2010, 04:12

I have had a similar problem with the transmission of XC90 going in NZ, and the dealer did nothing about a common problem. Does any one in NZ know whether they had any luck getting compensation from Volvo regarding this expensive fix?

9th Apr 2010, 03:59

Volvo XC90 T6 2003.

82000km, Full Volvo Authorised Service Agent service history.

Location: Australia.

Problem: ‘Transmission Service Urgent’, Slipping in 3rd gear, RPM flares, drive lost.

Diagnosis: FAILED TRANSMISSION.

I am appalled to find so many Volvo owners with the same problem worldwide without any acknowledgment of an intrinsic problem with this model from Volvo.

I am the second owner of this vehicle and have had it for over a year; initially the gearbox worked well, but after a service by an Authorised Volvo Service Centre where software upgrades were performed, its performance declined. Time to shift between gears increased and I noticed the engine’s power was significantly retarded during upshifts. I suspected that the software upgrade was to prolong the life of the gearbox, so was prepared to accept it, however the effect seems to be the opposite with it immediately starting to ‘clunk’ on upshifts uphill or under stronger acceleration, it seems the RPM drops to low to pick up the next gear smoothly. Consequently my wife and I have avoided hard acceleration and have driven the vehicle very gently.

Last week driving up a moderate hill, the transmission started behaving erratically and seemed to be hunting for a gear. The RPM then flared and I could feel that drive was being lost. A ‘Transmission Service Urgent’ warning message appeared. The vehicle’s electronic transmission went into limp home mode and locked itself into 3rd gear (which I have since learnt is the one that is slipping).

My knowledgeable and sympathetic Volvo Service Agent examined my vehicle almost immediately after this warning appeared and has diagnosed the transmission as failing. He tells me that there is no telling how long, it could be a day or a month, but soon the transmission will lose drive entirely. I consider this a great risk to my family’s safety, and won’t allow them to travel in the vehicle. If it fails in an intersection myself, my wife or children could be killed.

Although the Service Agent can’t acknowledge this as a common problem, he has completed a technical report and submitted it to Volvo Australia to consider and has appealed to them for ‘goodwill consideration’.

After not receiving a response to his request, he advised me to call Volvo Australia Customer Care directly and appeal to them. To Volvo’s credit, they did respond to me early the next day and although they will not acknowledge a problem with this model, they did make an offer of 25% good will on parts and labour. This however is 25% of what looks like upwards of an $8000 repair on a vehicle that now sells for less than $30000 and I don’t think it's good enough. Volvo must be aware of this dangerous problem with this model by now, and to continue raking in money on expensive parts is unconscionable, maybe criminal.

I have asked Volvo to reconsider their offer, but I am not confident of a positive outcome.

Thankfully our state has government authorities that enforce laws to protect consumers from poor quality products that are not ‘fit for purpose’, and if Volvo don’t come to the party with 100% of the repair cost, I intend to test them on it.

24th Apr 2010, 08:18

2004 XC90 T6, 78,000 miles -- Wow, after skimming all the comments, looks like I should have traded mine in a long time ago. Couldn't get into first gear after leaving my home and traveling a mile. Had to drive home in reverse. Lucky I wasn't on the freeway! Dealer says Volvo will take care of the transmission repairs for free and acted like they were doing me a favor. Well, at least it is only costing me driving inconvenience and not a lot of $$.

24th Apr 2010, 09:56

To the above, at least that's great service from Volvo. The car is 6 years old now, and if that's largely all that's gone wrong, that proves how good the XC90 is! In my view, it's a great car that's hard to beat in many areas.

11th May 2010, 02:29

I have had this exact same problem with my XC90 today. As is typically my habit with any car I have ever owned, I was planning to send my Volvo in for a full servicing at the tail end of my warranty period. My warranty was due to expire at the end of May, 2010. However, due to recent very drastic safety issues from my car, where the transmission slipped into NEUTRAL while I was crossing a junction, and then engaged just seconds before I was slammed into by another car - I sent it in immediately. I was stunned to receive a phone call from my dealership stating that my warranty had actually expired, and that I was expected to pay a RM35,000.00 (About USD 11,000) to fix it. Apparently their records showed (erroneously) that my warranty expired at the end of February.

This prompted me to thoroughly examine my documents. I was successfully able to produce my customer warranty card, and vehicle registration documents to show them that their records are WRONG!

Now Volvo is on the backpedal. What really makes me mad is that the my car had already been sent for servicing to fix problems that I now know are KEY INDICATORS of the this KNOWN problem. They should have known that my car was about to experience this transmission failure from as early as September last year. It was all there. The gearbox leaks, the limping, loud knocking noises and jerks during gear shifts etc. I suspect that they chose to only apply cheap fixes to my car while it was under warranty and then suddenly when their records the warranty was over, try to hit me with this huge bill.

WTF Volvo. The moment my wife told me we were expecting our first child the first thing that came to my head is that I need to buy a new safe car. A Volvo, nothing less. And now, I see that not only have you sold me a piece of crap with a global design fault, it also seems you were willing to let me drive around in an UNSAFE vehicle for over half a year just to save a couple of bucks.