My experience owning a Volvo XC90 has been nothing short of eventful, with numerous trips to the dealer with complaints, car out of service and virtually no support whatsoever from Volvo North Americas Consumer Affairs division. I purchased a 2003 Volvo XC90 in April from Gwinnett Place Volvo owned by Dyer & Dyer Volvo in Duluth, GA. The car had 36K miles on it at purchase. Upon receipt, I was granted a pre-owned bumper to bumper 100K mile warranty. For the last 3 years, I have complained of various issues with the car's performance related to the vehicle's transmission. Pulling and jerking of the car when I proceed to accelerate, slow acceleration from stop, not being able to put the car in reverse, car only wanting to drive in 3rd gear, high pitch noise the list goes on and on. From Oct (just 6 months after I bought the car) to March I made several visits to the dealer regarding these issues for which I was blown off and told that unless the "Service Transmission URGENT" light appeared they could not replace my transmission. Unbeknownst to me, these issues were never documented by the service manager in a comprehensive manner, other than stating that I reported issues that they could not duplicate or warding the issues on reasons unrelated. At 87K miles I had had it and took the car right to the Service Mgr at my dealership who in turn told me that "Volvo is aware of this factory defect on the 03 Volvo XC90 and regardless of whether I am in or out of my warranty, they would replace my transmission once the light comes on. A few months later, the dealership that I bought the car from (Gwinnett Place Volvo in Duluth, GA) went out of business. On Wednesday, Oct 7, the "Service Transmission Urgent" light came on with the car now at 116K miles. I immediately took the car to the nearest Volvo dealer, Dyer & Dyer Volvo of Chamblee, GA (owned by the same dealer for which I originally bought the car) who in turn told me that not only do I need to have my transmission replaced, the defect had ruined the radiator and fuel lines with costs totaling $7,500. The car is virtually useless at this point. Not to mention, I just paid $3K just 3 weeks prior to replace the Turbos. They've kept the car for 2 weeks sighting that they needed to request clearance to fix the car gratis from Volvo North America. On October 19th, Volvo North America REFUSED to fix the car sighting merely that it is now out of warranty with no consideration for my countless complaints. I escalated this issue to the Executive office at Volvo North America who told me that unless the car is RECALLED they will not fix my car. I feel that Volvo has offered no remorse whatsoever on this issue. You pride yourselves on Customer Satisfaction and to say the least, this is by far, the worst experience Ive ever encountered with a car to date as I have provided every opportunity to resolve the issue both prior to and after my warranty expired. I was told by 2 Service Managers that this issue is a factory defect however Volvo refuses to fix it. Volvo markets its cars as dependable, safe vehicles for families especially "kid-friendly and safe for kids." This is why I bought the XC90. It's a hard pill to swallow when you purchase a car for $40K to only be able to drive it 75K miles to it now being useless with countless issues and trips to the dealer for service. I was offered no loaner or any other alternate form of transportation while my car was in the dealers possession. I have filed complaints with Volvo Consumer Affairs both personally and through the dealer. I have filed complaints with the Better Business Bureau, Georgia Governor Sonny Perdues Office of Consumer Affairs, the NHTSA, the Center for Auto Safety and the Federal Trade Commission. I know that I am not alone. Yesterday I found approximately 1,973 complaints regarding this same issue on this make/model for years 2006 on various forum sites around the web including Edmunds, Car & Driver, and yes even Volvo's forum site.
Http://www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/volvo.htm
http://www-odi. Nhtsa. Dot. Gov/complaints/results. Cfm
http://volvoforums.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-11373.html
http://townhall-talk. Edmunds.com/direct/view/. F18a651/79
http://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/03/04/transmission-problems/
Since this morning, I discovered 28 unique complaints currently filed on the NHTSA website and 4 on the Center for Auto Safety website all sighting the same with the transmission. If youd asked me 5 years ago my thoughts on Volvo, I would have sworn by Volvo as both my parents drove Volvos throughout my childhood. When I became a parent, there was no other option in my mind. Now I realize, things arent what they used to be.
This car needs to be recalled immediately!
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