View Full Version : 2006 XC90 lasted 63 miles before stalling...
Sunday 3-26-06 - Just got 2006 XC90 V8 AWD with 12 miles on. It now has 75 miles and declined to do anymore. It stalled while my wife was at a stop downtown Honolulu and would not start again. So much for safety! Three policemen were quite gracious and pushed it to the closest sidewalk. My wife called Volvo-On-Call. That was almost 4 hours ago and she is still waiting for a flatbed to take the car to Volvo. So much for service.
+ 1 D -Monday 4 p.m. local time, my wife never heard progress report from Volvo, despite many calls. Decided to go to the next level and started calling management. Eventually she was told a technician had started working on it. Does that sound comforting? You tell me. Did Volvo call back to offer a plan? No. Did Volvo call back to offer an alternative? No. Did Volvo call back to offer a time line? No.
+ 3 D - Day 3. Well, now we know what went wrong. I could blame it on my wife. She took my car out on a rainy day. Couldn’t do that with my XC90. Apparently the rain shorted a connector to the CEM or the CEM itself, I am not sure I understood what the technician explained to me. Volvo is providing me with a loaner while waiting to hear from H.Q. Good thing because it is raining again...
Day 5 - The car had stalled while being driven. My wife gave formal written notice to Volvo of a defect that appears to fit HRS 481-I3-(d)(2): nonconformity ... "which is likely to cause death or serious bodily injury if the vehicle is driven..."
Day 8 - Car is still at Volvo. Got news for the first time despite leaving several messages. I am told they are waiting for a part, a fuel pump and should receive it tomorrow. Fuel pump?
Sorry to see your first posts are about a problem. Stuff happens so you have to be patient, although admittedly that can be hard--even in the Aloha State--when you just plunked down big $$$ and expect to be treated well. I heard from my brother-in-law who works in Honolulu that there has been a phenomenal amount of rain even for there.
First, the dealer service. No excuse for not communicating with you. I take it there is no other dealer to try. Despite the frustration you should try to work with them and understand that they are people who make mistakes. Perhaps they are overwhelmed by the rain like everyone else. As a dealer they are independent, so if they fail to fix the problem after a reasonable time or it keeps reoccurring, call Volvo North America Customer Service; the number is in your manual and on Volvo's website. There are many things they can do, such as getting the regional technician involved if it is a hard problem to figure out.
Second, the stalling. That could be many things and may indeed be water related, especially if the car was parked outside for many days. Do you see other cars stalled in the rain? So many electronics in modern cars that stalling could be caused by any of various systems: ignition, security, fuel, etc. Probably a cheap part that was not sealed perfectly and the moisture seeped in.
Let us know how it goes and try not to let this rough start ruin your owner experience. It's a great car.
Day 10 - Car still at Volvo. BIGg, thank you for your comment and encouragements.
But I definitely feel betrayed. Am I wrong to believe that loss of power while driving is a major safety hazard? IMHO it ranks with catching fire (while you are in the car!). I could have a lot more patience for other defects but not for major safety issues. This is THE reason I was buying Volvo. This is THE reason I already have a 2004 S80.
I cannot comprehend Volvo’s handling of the stalling problems I have read about on the internet over the past few days. It seems they hope the problem will get away. They are wrong. People are the ones running away. I read sales in US were overall down 11% in 2005 over 2004 and another 11% 2006 YTD compared to YTD 2005. Is this why?
Yes, it has rained a lot in Hawaii over the past few weeks. But the XC90 was in a garage and my wife drove it outside just a little bit under the rain before it stalled. Anyway, now I am told by Volvo rain was not the problem...
Am I wrong to believe that loss of power while driving is a major safety hazard? Any mechanical problem or design flaw can potentially be a safety hazard. Stalling can happen for many reasons and the circumstances have a lot to do with the safety. I'd be concerned but not upset, certainly not a feeling of betrayal. It's too bad the dealer's service department is not more sensitive to your concerns, though.
I owned a Jeep--a much simpler vehicle--that had an intermittent loss of power that one of the best Jeep shops on the West Coast had a hard time fixing. I had to pull over on the freeway a couple of times, and I was very uncomfortable when it acted up in a remote area on a tricky trail. I think we sometimes take these complicated machines for granted and it is a shock when they let us down. Best not to get too wrapped up in them.
I cannot comprehend Volvo’s handling of the stalling problems I have read about on the internet over the past few days. It seems they hope the problem will get away. They are wrong. People are the ones running away. I read sales in US were overall down 11% in 2005 over 2004 and another 11% 2006 YTD compared to YTD 2005. Is this why? If you are referring to the ETM posts, I'll stay out of that. Every brand has had glitches in some models and I don't see that Volvo has done anything unusual or outlandish.
As of March the YTD sales are down 4.5% from last year. The entire auto industry seems to be in uncertain waters, although there sure are a lot of new Volvos where I live.
D 11 - Got the car back this afternoon - Service replaced the fuel pump. They showed me a kink in a fuel line. Everybody is nice but nobody at Volvo ever said sorry for the problem. That would have helped a lot!
P.S. All sales info. can be found at http://www.volvocars-pr.com/index.asp?par=company&pag=sales&lang=1&flash=0&year=2005&month=12
bigtomhammer
04-06-2006, 05:42 AM
D 11 - Got the car back this afternoon - Service replaced the fuel pump. They showed me a kink in a fuel line. Everybody is nice but nobody at Volvo ever said sorry for the problem. That would have helped a lot!
P.S. All sales info. can be found at http://www.volvocars-pr.com/index.asp?par=company&pag=sales&lang=1&flash=0&year=2005&month=12
Sorry to hear that you have had a problem this earily in ownership. I can understand how you feel. We had our 2.5T AWD CEM (central control mod.) go out at about 1500 miles. I went through a car wash and the tail lights wouldn't shut off. (come to find that going through the car wash wasn't the problem, just a fluke) Of course it was on the weekend so no service. When I finally had time to bring it in on Tues of the next week, the service dept tried about 10 different things (so they say) and they finally called Volvo HQ and requested a new CEM. It did fix the problem and haven't really had a problem since. Luckly, this didn't happen when we were in Germany on the Autobaun going 115 MPH. ;) Hope things will work out for you from now on.
Tom
My parents bought a car and it died as soon as they pull out of the lot. Took a bit to find it also.
They should have communicated better with you, no question about that.
D 11 - Got the car back this afternoon - Service replaced the fuel pump. They showed me a kink in a fuel line. Everybody is nice but nobody at Volvo ever said sorry for the problem. That would have helped a lot!
P.S. All sales info. can be found at http://www.volvocars-pr.com/index.asp?par=company&pag=sales&lang=1&flash=0&year=2005&month=12 11 days to diagnose the problem and replace a fuel pump--not good. :( I take it the kinked fuel line and the pump are one unit which would explain why the pump had to be replaced. Not a problem I would have guessed on a new car and I'm unclear as to why it would run for awhile and then stall; perhaps it was getting a enough fuel at low demand and would cut out only when the engine required more? I had a fuel feed problem in the gas tank on a Jeep so I can see it happening. Anyway, good to hear it was a simple problem.
You keep referring to "Volvo" not being sorry. I assume you mean the dealer? More specifically the service writer? They represent Volvo to you but they work for the dealer which is its own business. They see scores of customers every day and should be sympathetic if they are good at what they do but don't count on it. If you know the service manager that can help but they generally try to keep a low profile. The technician who works on your car is the one you really need to be friends with. ;) Few of these people make enough money to even afford a Volvo for themselves.
As for the sales, if you look through March 2006 it has rebounded a bit. Volvo is in the process up upgrading many models, some of which are around 6 years old, and there is typically a sales slump during this period. The old models don't look as good compared to the newer competition and people hold out for the next year. Even the XC90 is being "refreshed" next year.
I hope no other weird problems pop up for you. Post some photos of your ride in beautiful Hawaii when you get a chance. A funny story... My wife and I went to Hawaii less than a year after getting the XC90 so I was on the lookout for them. I saw one in Honolulu and exclaimed, "There's a 90!" My wife who is an avid birder thought I said "Nene." For a moment she was impressed I could identify the native goose. :rolleyes:
Sunday 4-9 AGAIN!!! The XC90 stalled while I was driving it, while I was turning left at an intersection.... I was lucky there was little traffic and I was going downhill or otherwise I would have been a sitting duck waiting to be hit by another vehicle. Losing power is indeed scary, and all of the sudden you have to muscle 4500 pounds. If you want to know the feeling, turn off your ignition key while driving... NOT recommended by the way. Good thing I was the driver and not my wife (who is very small) or my 16 year old son. The dashboard lit up like a Christmas tree with a number of totally useless messages. I tried to re-start the car several times. Nothing. Exactly like 2 weeks ago. I called Volvo-on-Call and the car is back to the service dealer.
The car has a grand total of 169.5 miles on it and twice it stalled while being driven... 94.5 miles since the 1st stall... after spending 11 days at the Volvo service dealer.
It would be too easy to blame the service dealer. I still have not heard from Volvo (the maker of the car) regarding the first stall. I would have thought Volvo would know about it thanks to their monitoring of Volvo-on-Call where the first thing they ask you is the model, year, milage, VIN. Or may be they don’t monitor the performance of their product. Or maybe they don’t care.
Tell me, if you were in charge of Volvo (NOT the service or sales dealer, I am talking about the manufacturer which built that car and got a big chunk of my money) , what would you have done in regards of the first stalling incident? And what would you do now?
Any suggestion on how to terminate this nightmare would be appreciated!
:mad:
Tell me, if you were in charge of Volvo (NOT the service or sales dealer, I am talking about the manufacturer which built that car and got a big chunk of my money) , what would you have done in regards of the first stalling incident? And what would you do now? I would not expect Volvo to do anything at this point. You work with the dealer. If they can't fix the problem after 3 tries or 30 days you can return the car for refund or replacement. It sounds like they are on the 3rd try so the pressure is on them to fix it. Good luck.
Lemon law depends on where the vehicel is, sounds like the UK.
m1964
04-11-2006, 05:39 PM
It is the 2nd try, and he is in Hawaii - I would demand another replacement vehicle from the dealer. I would also report this problem to NTSB because it is clearly something that NTSB should be aware of.
Unfortunately I could not request a replacement as I have not intention to be a test pilot and I have no time to tinker with a vehicle. I left the XC90 with the dealer, requested my money back and I have already bought another SUV (Not a Volvo). Too bad, I really liked the concept of the XC90. I will look at it again in a couple of years, hoping that by then Volvo will have fixed these defects. In the mean time we are keeping my wife's car, a 2004 S80 Turbo which as performed as you would expect from cars in this price range, i.e. well!
Unfortunately I could not request a replacement as I have not intention to be a test pilot and I have no time to tinker with a vehicle. I left the XC90 with the dealer, requested my money back and I have already bought another SUV (Not a Volvo). The XC90 is in the 4th model year so there is little to test or tinker. You appeared to have had an unusual problem the dealer had a hard time solving. That is a reflection on the dealer, not the car.
What was the dealer's response to your request for refund? I don't think they are under any obligation unless they were unsuccessful in fixing the problem after 3 tries.
I will look at it again in a couple of years, hoping that by then Volvo will have fixed these defects. Well, by then the XC90 will be 6-7 years old and due for a redesign.
Volvo USA bought the car back. We got the check a few days ago. Despite what Big seems to think, I believe the problems with the XC90s are not dealer/service issues but deficient management control of growth! Volvo should have produced fewer XC90s and made sure they were top quality. Well, I hope they do better the next time I look for a car, which should be in a couple of years. Good luck to you all.
P.S. We are still very happy with my wife S80 (2004 Turbo) and say many good things about it.
Despite what Big seems to think, I believe the problems with the XC90s are not dealer/service issues but deficient management control of growth! Quality can always be better, especially when it affects us, but the dealer is the one who must fix random problems that inevitably develop. Did the dealer ever find out what was causing the stalling?
AWD*V70XC
06-02-2006, 05:12 AM
I have heard it all before, blame everyone else, Nobody says 'sorry'.
I think it is time for some hard hitting facts (again)
The dealer buys the right to sell & service Volvo Vehicles
The dealer is responsible for all problems you have, regardless of how serious.
The dealer can only liaise with Volvo national who in turn will speak to Volvo corporate.
Moaners like you (and me) are in the minority, most people put up with the problem.
Employees from Volvo dealerships read these pages
Employees from Volvo National read these pages
Employees from Volvo HQ read these pages
Boss's from PAG read these pages
It is very unfortunate that you had such a problem with a car like the '90 and it is even more unfortunate that Volvo have had another vehicle slapped back in their stock, all because of a lack of lip service. Volvo wants wants wants, or take take take from us all the time, at no stage have I see any generosity coming back from Volvo, it is all dealer driven as per their (dealer's) contract. I am still waiting to hear something on my ETM, still. I am in the market place for a new car and I want another XC70 or maybe a XC90 but I am holding out for the deal I want, not the deal they want to offer me. You and me are private buyers and in no way tip the balance of private buyers and company buyers, so some action needs to be demonstrated to the bulk buyers to hit back at Volvo to drive the message home.
Here is one idea that has caused some problems to a volume Volvo user, so put your thinking caps on and see what problems you can do in a similar vein. One such volume Volvo user is a limo company that ferries business and first class passengers to & from the airport - when offered a lift in their Volvo, refuse to go in it for the following reason - a relation of mine was killed in one of these cars due to it catching fire for no apparent reason, they were trapped when the doors locked and they were unable to get out in time before the rescue services arrived, so I said I would never go in one of those cars again - boy have you now caused a problem because you didn't know what car the limo company would turn up in and they still have to get you to the airport in time to meet your flight - PANIC if this was to happen day in and day out I think the limo company might review the use of such cars, which in the long run would harm the sales of Volvo cars because these cars are turned into second hand sales to keep the market buoyant.
Take a new Volvo out for a test drive and half way through the drive pull in and say you don't like the feel of it as it feels ????? and you suggest the sales guy drives it back, make no small talk about the car and make the sales guy feel uncomfortable about the journey back.
Little things like this will filter back and someone might start to take notice of us, genuine private buyers who put our hard earned cash into their cars.
This sort of action works, it's called bowing to public reaction as the public know only how. First class citizens treated to second class vehicles/treatment/service is not acceptable, remember what I said above -
Employees from Volvo dealerships read these pages
Employees from Volvo National read these pages
Employees from Volvo HQ read these pages
Boss's from PAG read these pages
Let them know how you feel.
As for you jsy I can only sympathise with your ordeal and hope that one day Volvo can make up to you, even if you don't want them to, at least it will show they do have a human side. Can't be too difficult for them to find out who you are from what you have said. BTW good luck with your new SUV which is a what? just for interest.
Interesting rant. I don't follow your logic entirely but you certainly express yourself! ;)
Corporate greed and uncaring towards consumers (and employees) is common and ranges from the outlandish and illegal to the pleasantly surprised. Volvo is somewhere in the middle I reckon. No doubt they could do better but in the big picture they are not the worst, either. I could go on and on--as I'm sure any of us could--about the crappy quality and service I have gotten with other cars, appliances, electronics, computer software, building projects, medical care, and so on. I have dealt with my dealer and also Volvo NA Customer Care on several occasions and found Volvo somewhat responsive--not as much as I would like of course--but in the end we work it out. In the OP's situation, a replacement XC90 seems like it would have been a good result although there may have been familial or peer pressure involved.
As for getting the message to Volvo to do better, my approach is to talk with my dealer first and then Customer Care when necessary. Depending on the situation, if a dealer doesn't work for me I may take my business to another one. If there are no other dealers (which is the case in my area and in Hawaii, too, I believe) I may look at other brands. At this point I really like Volvos and do not sense I would get better treatment elsewhere but I try to keep my eyes open. [pico]
AWD*V70XC
06-02-2006, 10:18 AM
I have dealt with my dealer and also Volvo NA Customer Care on several occasions and found Volvo somewhat responsive--not as much as I would like of course--but in the end we work it out. [pico]
Isn't that the way we all have to do it, but I think that Volvo should be a little bit more Pro-Active towards our needs instead of us running to them all the time. As much as I do rant on, I still have my cross country, albeit not in the condition it left the factory but considering the major parts that have been replaced, it running as well as could be expected, it's still a safe car and like all cars I don't expect it to run & run & run like they did in the old days. :(
Isn't that the way we all have to do it, but I think that Volvo should be a little bit more Pro-Active towards our needs instead of us running to them all the time. Definitely, if they want repeat business. Volvo for life after all...
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