Disappointed New Volvo V90 Cross Country Owner... issue after issue.

ChancethePitbull · Feb 3, 2020

Forgive me if I post this in the wrong forum as I am new to the community.

In May 2019 I purchased a new 2018, yes 2018, Volvo V90 Cross Country T5 from a Volvo dealer in Pasadena. The car had 200 miles on the odometer and was marked almost $10,000 down off MSRP. I figured because it was 2018 model year and it was almost mid 2019. Buying process was excellent and I was really happy that I was able to get such a beautiful car. Fast forward two weeks...

After driving for two weeks, the automatic start stop feature randomly kicked on. To my surprise I did not even know this was a feature on the car. I did some reading in the manual and realized that the dealer sold me the car with the battery for the start stop feature completely dead. I call the dealer, take it in, they completely replace that battery and I get the car back.

I turned the car back on and the entire boot up animation on the dashboard has completely changed which leads me to believe they also did a software update. So not only did they sell me the car with a dead battery, but also outdated software. Really disappointed that a supposed "luxury brand" would do something like this. Now fast forward to late summer, early fall...

The brakes on the Volvo start squealing like crazy. At this point the car has 4500 miles on it. I do some digging online and see that this is a recurring issue across most new Volvo. Yet another disappointment... Around this time the mechanism for the sunshade also starts making a grinding noise every time it is activated.

Now we are in December and the brake squeal is so bad that I'm worried it's actually damaging the brakes. I make an appointment, bring the car, and the service advisor sits me down and tells me that Volvo is aware of the issue and currently there is no fix. So you're telling me a $55,000 is just going to have squeaky brakes? I ask them to inspect the brakes for damage, they do and they're fine. I leave the dealership disappointed again. Fast forward to this morning on January 24...

I sit in my car and turn it on and the transmission light comes on. The car has 6600 miles on it.

So in the 7 months and 6600 miles I've had the car the secondary batter was replaced, software updated, the brakes squeal like there is no tomorrow (you should hear them in a parking garage), and now the transmission is acting up.

I am beyond disappointed with this car especially with how much money it cost. My wife drives a Lexus and it is literally perfect in the three years she has owned it.

Do any other V90 owners have similar experiences?

hudi82 · Feb 6, 2020

I too had several issues with my car that stood on the lot for over a year. I'd look past the battery, software update, since they're kinda expected when you get a new old car. The brakes should be fixed, seems like they could just replace the pads (my rotors were warped when I took it back home). I'm not really sure about the transmission, but again, it's a car that sat on the hot lot for a year so thing invariably go wrong. BTW, I also had my leather dash replaced because the leather shrank.

Iamhives · Feb 6, 2020

ChancethePitbull said:
Forgive me if I post this in the wrong forum as I am new to the community.

In May 2019 I purchased a new 2018, yes 2018, Volvo V90 Cross Country T5 from a Volvo dealer in Pasadena. The car had 200 miles on the odometer and was marked almost $10,000 down off MSRP. I figured because it was 2018 model year and it was almost mid 2019. Buying process was excellent and I was really happy that I was able to get such a beautiful car. Fast forward two weeks...

After driving for two weeks, the automatic start stop feature randomly kicked on. To my surprise I did not even know this was a feature on the car. I did some reading in the manual and realized that the dealer sold me the car with the battery for the start stop feature completely dead. I call the dealer, take it in, they completely replace that battery and I get the car back.

I turned the car back on and the entire boot up animation on the dashboard has completely changed which leads me to believe they also did a software update. So not only did they sell me the car with a dead battery, but also outdated software. Really disappointed that a supposed "luxury brand" would do something like this. Now fast forward to late summer, early fall...

The brakes on the Volvo start squealing like crazy. At this point the car has 4500 miles on it. I do some digging online and see that this is a recurring issue across most new Volvo. Yet another disappointment... Around this time the mechanism for the sunshade also starts making a grinding noise every time it is activated.

Now we are in December and the brake squeal is so bad that I'm worried it's actually damaging the brakes. I make an appointment, bring the car, and the service advisor sits me down and tells me that Volvo is aware of the issue and currently there is no fix. So you're telling me a $55,000 is just going to have squeaky brakes? I ask them to inspect the brakes for damage, they do and they're fine. I leave the dealership disappointed again. Fast forward to this morning on January 24...

I sit in my car and turn it on and the transmission light comes on. The car has 6600 miles on it.

So in the 7 months and 6600 miles I've had the car the secondary batter was replaced, software updated, the brakes squeal like there is no tomorrow (you should hear them in a parking garage), and now the transmission is acting up.

I am beyond disappointed with this car especially with how much money it cost. My wife drives a Lexus and it is literally perfect in the three years she has owned it.

Do any other V90 owners have similar experiences?

Your bought a 2018 in mid 2019 (for what I assume you thought was a good price) so the fact that the battery wasn't in good condition after likely sitting that long largely unused is hardly surprising - and the dealer replaced the battery - so issue closed. Could happen with any car.

Boot animation changed - I've never seen the boot animation change after multiple updates but assuming it did, I wouldn't complain about getting updates - there are many threads here with people complaining about not getting updates - so Volvo can't win.. You have the latest updates so be happy or ask them to revert you to older software (JK)

The brakes are a more legitimate complaint. I had the same issue and the dealer replaced the rotors no questions asked - so push them to address that. They said that is was because the car had sat on the lot so long (not sure if true but don't care since they addressed with no issues). Many others on these forums have had this addressed and subsequently had no problems.

Transmission light - Obviously worrying and an issue which needs to be addressed. I'd bet its something like a sensor vs any fundamental transmission issue.

So while perhaps frustrating - the sky is not falling. What were the reasons your bought the Volvo and are they still valid?

ru1 · Feb 6, 2020

I would say that you are having bad luck with that car.. or the car had known problems and thus the discount price.
Regarding the start/stop battery, I would say that it is normal for the battery to go bad (or get weaker) because of long time parked.

Today it makes 1 year since I bought my V90CC T6 VOR (2019 model).. and I'm super happy with the car.. zero problems and it rides wonderfully. But I bought my car "fresh".. I mean, when I order it, it was not even yet built.. I had to way +3 months for it to arrive from Sweden.

My advice.. go to the dealer and demand that the car is fully checked and fixed.
Best of luck!
Rui

alfredsun · Feb 6, 2020

I too have the brake squealing issue. I thought it was normal. I guess I will ask the dealer to fix it when I take it in for the 10k maintenance.

ChancethePitbull · Feb 7, 2020

I bought the car because my wife and I are going to have a baby soon and I wanted something with room that wasn't an SUV, a minivan, or a Subaru. I have family in Sweden who all swear by Volvo.

I understand what you are saying about the battery. I just assumed (and it was wrong to assume) that a brand like Volvo would make sure everything is in working order after I agreed to buy it instead of letting me drive home and then having to come back two weeks later to address the issue.

To their credit the dealership did fix all of the issues. They even went ahead and replaced the mechanism on the sunshade because it was making a grinding noise upon activation. I've noticed it pulls back a lot more smoothly now.

The brakes though... that's another story.

The service department told me that Volvo is aware of the brake squeal issue and there currently is no fix for it. The service advisor came out and explained to me that it seems to be a problem with cars in southern California (where there is a lot of dust in the air). He said that Volvo has had engineers out in Southern California to see what is causing the issue. My front pads are at 8mm and 7mm in the rear. The service advisor told me (no joke) to hose down my brakes and wheels to help alleviate the issue. He said Volvo is going to put out a new brake pad that should fix the issue in the near future... I honestly do not know to believe this or not. They have not offered to replace the brake pads because they still fall within Volvo's standard of quality control (according to them).

I am going to call another Volvo dealership in the area to see if they will replace the pads because a car with 6800 miles on it shouldn't have brakes that make that much noise. You can hear them with the windows rolled up.

Don't get me wrong, I like the car, but these first few months of ownership were not what I expected.

cloud9blue · Feb 7, 2020

Issues you are having are mostly due to incompetent service department at your dealer, which is an industry wide problem not specific to Volvo.

The dealer I got my car from didn’t even remove the shipping blocks from the front suspension and left a good gash on the passenger rocker panel when I took delivery of my car in last December.

Cars are getting incredibly complicated while the talents of your average techs are certainly not improving.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Tech · Feb 7, 2020

The battery and software issue isn't a Volvo issue, it's a dealer issue. The battery should have been checked prior to delivery and the software must be updated as well. The dealer did not follow proper procedure.

There are various bulletins for brake noises. Not sure if any apply to your car.

GRUENDIG · Feb 8, 2020

ChancethePitbull said:
I bought the car because my wife and I are going to have a baby soon and I wanted something with room that wasn't an SUV, a minivan, or a Subaru. I have family in Sweden who all swear by Volvo.

I understand what you are saying about the battery. I just assumed (and it was wrong to assume) that a brand like Volvo would make sure everything is in working order after I agreed to buy it instead of letting me drive home and then having to come back two weeks later to address the issue.

To their credit the dealership did fix all of the issues. They even went ahead and replaced the mechanism on the sunshade because it was making a grinding noise upon activation. I've noticed it pulls back a lot more smoothly now.

The brakes though... that's another story.

The service department told me that Volvo is aware of the brake squeal issue and there currently is no fix for it. The service advisor came out and explained to me that it seems to be a problem with cars in southern California (where there is a lot of dust in the air). He said that Volvo has had engineers out in Southern California to see what is causing the issue. My front pads are at 8mm and 7mm in the rear.

The service advisor told me (no joke) to hose down my brakes and wheels to help alleviate the issue.

Click to expand...

He said Volvo is going to put out a new brake pad that should fix the issue in the near future... I honestly do not know to believe this or not. They have not offered to replace the brake pads because they still fall within Volvo's standard of quality control (according to them).

I am going to call another Volvo dealership in the area to see if they will replace the pads because a car with 6800 miles on it shouldn't have brakes that make that much noise. You can hear them with the windows rolled up.

Don't get me wrong, I like the car, but these first few months of ownership were not what I expected.

That's right - it's no joke.
I blow out my brakes with compressed air on a regular basis.Never a sound. (on any car) I have been doing this with all my cars starting with drum brakes.
I don't think water would be as effective but your SA might think you don't have a compressor but you do have water.

Iamhives · Feb 8, 2020

I bought a V90 that sat on the lot for a while and it developed a slight brake sqweak and minor braking vibration after a few thousand miles. The dealer changed the rotors (not pads) and the problem was fixed and brakes have been fine since then. They didn't have the excuse of SoCal dust to fall back on since I'm in the DC area. Try another dealer.

DFrantz · Feb 8, 2020

FWIW the transmission was used by Lexus before it was used by Volvo. I think Lexus was the first brand to use it actually.

I do think most of the problems you experiences are from the car sitting. If they weren't revealing themselves as problems at time of delivery it would have been difficult to catch. Imagine rebuilding an entire car every time for delivery, they are already rather expensive. If there are no obvious problems the car ships! Now, Volvo does have a requirement for software updates within 5 days of delivery (before or after). But it's also possible a software patch came out since your purchase, that happens pretty often.

I do agree with others, the brakes are the big one to push to get fixed just to eliminate the annoyance. I've never experienced that myself but I've seen the complaint online.

xSpecBx · Feb 8, 2020

I had the sunshade issue on my car. They wound up replacing the entire cassette to fix the issue. I had a squeal, but it has since gone away. We had a squeal on our 2016 XC90 and the dealer replaced the rotors, pads and calipers to resolve he issue in accordance with the Volvo repair guidance. We also had a bad stop/start battery that was replaced and hasn’t been an issue since. Don’t get discouraged. The car sat for a while and there have been some known issues that can be fixed. While it may be an annoyance, get the stuff fixed and you’ll be happy you did. Push to get the brakes fixed, go to another dealer if you have to. Good luck.

ChancethePitbull · Mar 18, 2020

I wanted to give an update as of March 2020. I had two more issues develop with the car.

The first was an issue with the auto hold function. I parked the car, went to work out, came back, turned the car on and the car threw an error on the auto hold stating that service was required. As a result of that, a second issue popped up: the parking brake was temporarily disabled. I acknowledged both messages to clear them from the dashboard, but the word BRAKE was displayed in orange font.

Heeding everyone's advice on here (thank you all again) I sought out a different Volvo dealership. I called South Bay Volvo in Torrance, CA and they got me in first thing in the morning. I mentioned to the service rep the issue I've had with the brakes and he stated that they will take a look and swap them out if needed. Fast forward 8 hours, the rep calls me and not only did they fix the auto-hold and parking brake issues (it turned out to be a software glitch), but they also replaced my rear pads and rotor. No stories and lack of action like the dealer that sold me the car.

The car is at 8,200 miles and FINALLY seems to be running as intended aka everything functions as it is supposed to and the car doesn't sound like a 25 year old Ford Taurus when braking.

For what it's worth, the dealer I bought the car from is Rusnak Volvo in Pasadena, CA. It's safe to say that my future service needs will now go to South Bay Volvo instead. It's sad that there is such a discrepancy between franchises, but lesson learned.

Thank you all who contributed to this post.

sdedson · Mar 18, 2020

I avoid three Volvo dealerships near me in SoCal and use Volvo Cars of Mission Viejo. Of these four VCofMV is the furthest away but seems most competent and honest. Unfortunately, I can't say that about other three dealers. And VCofMV is more upscale which supports the luxury line...

nbvolks · Mar 19, 2020

Glad you go everything sorted out!

gobluetwo · Mar 19, 2020

ChancethePitbull said:
The first was an issue with the auto hold function. I parked the car, went to work out, came back, turned the car on and the car threw an error on the auto hold stating that service was required. As a result of that, a second issue popped up: the parking brake was temporarily disabled. I acknowledged both messages to clear them from the dashboard, but the word BRAKE was displayed in orange font.

FYI there is now a recall on this, with the fix being a software update.

https://www.autoblog.com/2020/03/19/volvo-recall-automatic-emergency-braking/

MyVolvoS60 · Mar 19, 2020

ChancethePitbull said:
I wanted to give an update as of March 2020. I had two more issues develop with the car.

The first was an issue with the auto hold function. I parked the car, went to work out, came back, turned the car on and the car threw an error on the auto hold stating that service was required. As a result of that, a second issue popped up: the parking brake was temporarily disabled. I acknowledged both messages to clear them from the dashboard, but the word BRAKE was displayed in orange font.

Heeding everyone's advice on here (thank you all again) I sought out a different Volvo dealership. I called South Bay Volvo in Torrance, CA and they got me in first thing in the morning. I mentioned to the service rep the issue I've had with the brakes and he stated that they will take a look and swap them out if needed. Fast forward 8 hours, the rep calls me and not only did they fix the auto-hold and parking brake issues (it turned out to be a software glitch), but they also replaced my rear pads and rotor. No stories and lack of action like the dealer that sold me the car.

The car is at 8,200 miles and FINALLY seems to be running as intended aka everything functions as it is supposed to and the car doesn't sound like a 25 year old Ford Taurus when braking.

For what it's worth, the dealer I bought the car from is Rusnak Volvo in Pasadena, CA. It's safe to say that my future service needs will now go to South Bay Volvo instead. It's sad that there is such a discrepancy between franchises, but lesson learned.

Thank you all who contributed to this post.

Just like many fast food chains, dealers are franchises. Meaning Corporate hands down a set of guidelines, and any actions falling outside the mandate, are up to the individual owner. Which is why two different Volvo may offer varying level of service, pricing, and competency, even though they are both branded "Volvo".

V90CCDAD · Apr 30, 2020

I purchased a 2018 V90CC from Volvo South Bay in Torrance, CA in 2nd quarter 2018. Currently 12,500 miles I really enjoy the car, but I have had a few setbacks that have left me frustrated.
It had been sitting for months. I as well dealt with a bad battery. They replaced when asked.
Within the first two weeks the passenger front door would not open. The door handle cable became disconnected, the dealer fixed within a day.
After 1.5 years I heard a contiuous clicking from the left front quarter panel. Brought to dealer and diagnosed as a loose engine mount and the replaced within two days.
I also have trim along my sunroof that is not aligned. Taking to dealer tomorrow.
I had the top rear bumper metal protective trim starting to come off. The dealer fixed within a few hours.
I as well have been having off and on squeaky breaks, I will be taking to dealer tomorrow to preform my 2 year service and will add to list of concerns.
I also had something happen twice that was concerning. From a cold start and initial press of accelerator I noticed drop in RPMs twice, almost to a shut off like the auto start stop kicking in but my foot was on the accelerator.

The customer service has been excellent at Volvo Cars South Bay. They remember my children's names. I am thankful for that, but a little disappointed in a car with a 59K MSRP. There are a few other things I may be forgetting. Let me know what you think. Thanks.

Skallawa · May 2, 2020

ChancethePitbull said:
Forgive me if I post this in the wrong forum as I am new to the community.

In May 2019 I purchased a new 2018, yes 2018, Volvo V90 Cross Country T5 from a Volvo dealer in Pasadena. The car had 200 miles on the odometer and was marked almost $10,000 down off MSRP. I figured because it was 2018 model year and it was almost mid 2019. Buying process was excellent and I was really happy that I was able to get such a beautiful car. Fast forward two weeks...

After driving for two weeks, the automatic start stop feature randomly kicked on. To my surprise I did not even know this was a feature on the car. I did some reading in the manual and realized that the dealer sold me the car with the battery for the start stop feature completely dead. I call the dealer, take it in, they completely replace that battery and I get the car back.

I turned the car back on and the entire boot up animation on the dashboard has completely changed which leads me to believe they also did a software update. So not only did they sell me the car with a dead battery, but also outdated software. Really disappointed that a supposed "luxury brand" would do something like this. Now fast forward to late summer, early fall...

The brakes on the Volvo start squealing like crazy. At this point the car has 4500 miles on it. I do some digging online and see that this is a recurring issue across most new Volvo. Yet another disappointment... Around this time the mechanism for the sunshade also starts making a grinding noise every time it is activated.

Now we are in December and the brake squeal is so bad that I'm worried it's actually damaging the brakes. I make an appointment, bring the car, and the service advisor sits me down and tells me that Volvo is aware of the issue and currently there is no fix. So you're telling me a $55,000 is just going to have squeaky brakes? I ask them to inspect the brakes for damage, they do and they're fine. I leave the dealership disappointed again. Fast forward to this morning on January 24...

I sit in my car and turn it on and the transmission light comes on. The car has 6600 miles on it.

So in the 7 months and 6600 miles I've had the car the secondary batter was replaced, software updated, the brakes squeal like there is no tomorrow (you should hear them in a parking garage), and now the transmission is acting up.

I am beyond disappointed with this car especially with how much money it cost. My wife drives a Lexus and it is literally perfect in the three years she has owned it.

Do any other V90 owners have similar experiences?

I also bought a 2018 at the end of 2018. I had to get the software updated, battery replaced, and the brake rotors and pads replaced. Works like a dream now for over a year.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Jewoods · Apr 9, 2021

I have a 2018 V90 CC T5.... has anyone had their V90 stall out while waiting to turn at a traffic light?? My v90 has 30,000 miles & has given me no problems until now. I have a call into the dealership. It sure was a scary experience to have my car completely STOP!

Disappointed New Volvo V90 Cross Country Owner... issue after issue.

ChancethePitbull

hudi82

Iamhives

ru1

alfredsun

ChancethePitbull

cloud9blue

Tech

GRUENDIG

Iamhives

DFrantz

xSpecBx

ChancethePitbull

sdedson

nbvolks

gobluetwo

MyVolvoS60

V90CCDAD

Skallawa

Jewoods

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