[CarsAndCaffeine]

Hello all! I just purchased my dream car, and I should be ecstatic about it, but I'm having some really obnoxious issues with the car and the dealer I purchased it from. No dealers in my state had a V90 available, so I drove to another state to purchase it. On the drive back, I noticed a few things wrong with the car that should have been addressed by the CPO inspection and reconditioning process.

1. The 2nd key that they gave me does not work with the car. It doesn't unlock the car via proximity or button, it doesn't start the car, and the key blade does not open the driver door lock. It's also a cheap-feeling plastic key, while the primary key that they gave me is leather. All these things point to the fact that they just gave me a random key because the 2nd one that originally came with the car was lost.
2. The front brake rotors are definitely warped, and there is a very noticeable pulsation/vibration when coming to a semi-quick stop at highway speeds. The CPO inspection report doesn't have a line item for brake pulsation, but I would not expect a one year old car with 18k miles to have warped rotors already. I'd be willing to let this one go since it's not on the inspection report.
3. The rear passenger side wheel is pretty heavily gouged from being curbed by the previous owner. The CPO inspection report suggests that this should not be acceptable either.

I've tried reaching back out to the dealer, but they keep giving me the run-around basically saying that I am wrong and the key/brakes are fine. I'm honestly not surprised by this, because the purchasing process as a whole was extremely unpleasant and pushy. In hindsight, I should have just walked away but didn't, so here we are.

Do I have any options for contesting the validity of the CPO inspection and/or getting these items fixed under warranty? The key is the main concern for me, as well as the possibility that they just fudged the CPO inspection in order to sell the car as CPO. I've also read other posts about warped rotors, and people saying that they were able to get them replaced due to premature warping.

 

[Wayne T5]

I think Volvo now warrants rotors up to 30k miles so you may want to contact a local dealer.

Regarding the key and wheel damage I'd get in contact with Volvo Customer Care if the dealer is not being responsive.

 

[CarsAndCaffeine]

I think Volvo now warrants rotors up to 30k miles so you may want to contact a local dealer.

Regarding the key and wheel damage I'd get in contact with Volvo Customer Care if the dealer is not being responsive.

Thanks for the advice. I tried calling a local dealer to see fi they would help yesterday, but they could not guarantee anything would be covered under the warranty. Maybe I will try again armed with this knowledge. Has Customer Care been helpful in your experience? I've heard that they aren't very responsive.

 

[Wayne T5]

Thanks for the advice. I tried calling a local dealer to see fi they would help yesterday, but they could not guarantee anything would be covered under the warranty. Maybe I will try again armed with this knowledge. Has Customer Care been helpful in your experience? I've heard that they aren't very responsive.

I think it's been mixed with some things for Customer Care but for at least the key issue, that's pretty cut and dry - it should work. The wheel may be more of a "reasonable wear and tear" thing but it's at least worth bringing up, as is the brakes.

 

[CarsAndCaffeine]

I went ahead and contacted Customer Care about the key and the wheel damage, and they're reaching out to the dealer for me. They've been very friendly, helpful, and understanding so far.
I also went ahead and scheduled an appointment for a local Volvo dealer to take a look at the brake rotors, and I'm hopeful that they will be covered under warranty. I know Volvo put out a service memo last year saying that they were extending the warranty on brake pads. It also had a blurb in the memo about rotors being covered until 50k.

I'll keep this thread updated on how those both pan out just for documentation's sake.

 

[mhyer]

The dealer you bought the car from seem quite frustrating. Personally, I would be surprised if they did anything for the curb rash on the wheel. If I had to guess, the argument would be either: a) unless you can prove it was that way when you bought, then it may well have been you who did the damage; or b) it was there when you bought the car and thus, they are not responsible for fixing wear and tear that existed when you bought it. When I was in the market for a new(er) Volvo, I distinctly remember looking at 2 different CPO S90s, one of which was pretty beat up with small dents all over the car and some pretty bad curb rash on one of the front wheels and a little on a rear wheel. As it happened, that same car was a good bit cheaper and was told the condition of the car influenced the sale price. I wouldn't at all be surprised if eventually they take that stance.

That said, maybe there is some rule with Volvo that CPO cars can't have curb rash but I just for S's and G's I looked up a few CPO Volvos in my area and there are several with some damage to the wheels. Perhaps the two Volvo dealers in town are similarly not taking care of this particular issue when they should but it feels more likely that they don't have to so they won't.

I ended up buying my S90 from a non-Volvo dealer and have thus far had great interactions with the service department of the closer of the two Volvo dealerships. The first time I took it in was for the free maintenance check and I had them check the alignment of the car and do a solid once over as well as install the Polestar optimization. That first trip was a little costly but the second time I took it in was free and pain free when I noticed a piece of trim that was loose and a clicking sound on the highway. Both times I dropped the car off in the morning and drove home in a free loaner, to return in the afternoon with everything sorted. All in all, they've been very accommodating even though I didn't buy the car with them.

I hope you have similarly painless experiences and get your issues sorted out soon.

 

[CarsAndCaffeine]

I was able to get in touch with the dealer's general manager, and he got me set up with the service dept to make things right. I'm taking it up tomorrow, and they are going to try to get the brakes, wheel, and key all fixed in the same day so I don't have to drive up and back twice.

If it all works out, I'll be thoroughly impressed and a happy customer once again. It's still pretty obnoxious that I had to go to these lengths in order to get the car in CPO condition though when it was advertised as CPO.

 

[Wayne T5]

That sounds reasonable. Just ask them who's going to work on the wheel because there are specialty shops that fix them - just wouldn't want them to make it worse. Maybe yours isn't that bad and can be handled by a decent detailer.

 

[CarsAndCaffeine]

That sounds reasonable. Just ask them who's going to work on the wheel because there are specialty shops that fix them - just wouldn't want them to make it worse. Maybe yours isn't that bad and can be handled by a decent detailer.

They have a wheel shop that they work with, and the guy comes by on certain days. They were able to get him to come in tomorrow. So hopefully it’s a legitimate operation. The wheel isn’t too too bad anyways.

 

[CarsAndCaffeine]

Ok so I went up there on Friday, and they were able to take care of both the rotors and the 2nd key. It turns out they had just given me a random key, as it was definitely not the key that came with the car originally. Unfortunately, I learned that the guy that does the wheel repair for them "called in sick" that day after I had already driven up there, so that did not get done. I'm just going to let that one go, since either my wife or I will probably end up curbing the wheel at some point during the car's lifetime anyways.

Thanks for the help guys. I'm looking forward to just enjoying my V90 now that all this is done with!!

 

[Rich.S]

I'm glad this worked out for you. Having purchased several CPO cars out-of-state over the years (including 2 Volvos) I would encourage any buyer to arrange for an independent inspection before closing the deal. Things get missed in the certified inspection. And when it comes to accommodating the buyer's wishes, my hunch is the dealer has more say in the transaction than the manufacturer. The best time to make sure the 'is' are dotted and 'ts' crossed is before paying for the car.

 

[DFrantz]

It's hard to follow my advice of always shopping local when you're looking for a fairly rare car. It's a shame the dealer did such a poor job going over the car. Wheel rash isn't hard to find. The brakes sometimes only show on higher speeds so I can see that slipping by. The key... was the car a previous lease? Unfortunately Volvo does not check the keys when the cars get turned in, they just count them. So long as there are two keys and the car starts it's all good. We have had it happen a few times when we buy cars off lease at auction where either the customer found a spare online, or the dealer may have had one sitting around and gave it to them to have the customer avoid the expensive replacement. While two keys should be checked by the CPO dealer, who then has to eat the cost, it's honestly not unusual for that to be missed. Either the keys might always be together, or the 2nd is stored with the books and paperwork.. there is a decent chance it's never checked (despite the fact that it should have been).

Also, and I really doubt this is the case here... I once had a Ford shipped to me from the factory with the wrong emergency key. It was part of a big fleet deal I had and all the cars were parked out of the way for a few months and the battery went dead on a few cars. I discovered one of the keys did in fact go with the car and work, but the metal key they had shipped with it did not. All the rest I then checked and were fine, but I wouldn't have known until a customer had the car and needed to use it. I suspect it's rare, but it's probably not the only case of that.