Volvo XC90 Maintenance and Repair

kari4

I had issues. 04 xc90 T6 (yikes) the bearings went out right around 60000 as well. I thought the same as you. For the cost of this vehicle, I would not expect to be dealing with some of the things I am dealing with. Since then have replaced the ball joints on both sides. had new engine mounts installed and had the sway bars replaced. I have never in my life had a car cost me more money than this one has. Volvo definitely designed this one with making money in mind. They make a swack of money at the point of sale and they keep on making it when you have to buy parts from them and get it serviced and repaired non stop. I am kind of sad because I really wanted this car and was so excited to get it. The driving experience is not so much fun when you are constantly waiting for the "next" thing to go on it. Unfortunately for me having the T6 most likely means I will be replacing the transmission at some point. :sick:

K.

chiefstoner

welcome to the club! :mad:

barbara16

We have a 2003 xc90 that is back at the dealer again! This time it is the fuel pump, last month the rack & pinion steering was entirely replaced. Last year the transmission was replaced. The extended warranty has paid for itself.
We have been lucky that the fuel pump and transmission did not leave us stranded, but we have concerns about its reliability.
Not to mention Purchasing a SECOND set of tires on a car that has 43,000 miles. The last set of tires should have been repalced last year but I could not bring myself to buy tires every other year. I am a carpooling mom and do not drive the car in a manner that chews up tires.

Has anyone had to have the transmission replaced more than once? Should we be expecting another major problem? Computer or electrical?
Has anyone tried NOT filling up with high test? 13 mpg with super is becoming more difficult with these ridiculous gas prices.

The volvo dealer is also a buick dealer. We took a peek at the enclave that is another first edition suv.
Never drive the xc90 out of the showroom without a warranty!

elias

hi Barbara. my 04 xc90 2.5t was fine with 87 octane, no noticeable affect on mpg, but power-loss with 87 octane can be noticeable except in cold weather.. sounds like the tire wear on yours is normal. best regards...

nealgold

I'm on 28k only on my 2005 xc90 and am on my third set of pirelli's.
Thought it was normal until I saw this forum.
They said pirelli would pick up 75% of cost but it still cost me $515 for my share.
Volvo / Pirelli should own up to defect and replace tires for free. Not that I want terrible Pirelli's on again. I have an M3 which is still on its original continental tires at 20k

barbara16

It seems the this car destroys tires at an unusually fast rate. You have nothing to lose by purchasing a less expensive tire. We did! This is not a new problem and Volvo and pirelli have not done anything to fix it. They offer discounts, no thanks!

adorn

My 2006 cx90 is back in shop the 3rd time for electrical failure.
Volvo replaced the computer system 5 weeks ago but it has happened again.
First the car lurches and there is loss of power, then the check engine light comes on then Brake failure lights Abs light car overheats and I have to be towed. I am afraid to drive this car on the freeway.
Has anyone else had these problems. This car was leased thank goodness I did not buy it. Also had to replace tires at 20,000 miles.

pinkydog

Where are you from? Is it too late for your state's lemon law to kick in?

nicevision2020

How do i know whether my Volvo xc 90 2007 equipped with TPMS system (Tire Pressure Monitoring System). I tried as per the booklet. But I dont't see TPMS.

jim314

The window sticker on my wife's 2007 XC90 3.2 base model states that it has TPMS, and the warning light (tire outline with ! in middle) does illuminate when the ignition is first put in position II.

The owner's manual states that TPMS is an option. The manual states in footnotes that the "Canadian models only" allow the TPMS to be recalibrated or deactivated. Therefore this very nice feature is not available on US models. Evidently in the US model the TPMS system only makes its presence known when a tire is low. So you would have to deflate a tire to the threshold below the correct pressure and drive the vehicle over 20 mph and see if the indicator light would come on and a message appear in the message field.

I keep the tires inflated on this vehicle with a manual bicycle pump, so it would be easy for me to test this system, but I have not bothered to see what level of underinflation would trigger a warning. There may be different warnings in the text box depending on the level of underinflation.

elias

Hello Barbara. My understanding differs from yours. I understand that the xc90 consumes tires at a normal rate and that certain tire types can wear much faster than others. Such as the pirellis that shipped on lots of early XC90s especially.
I found that Michelins & Hanook tires wore at less than half the rate described by the xc90 owners who had the stock pirelli tires.

peppergurl

I don't think that tire brand really matters. I am currently shopping for my third set of tires with only 52K on my XC90. I had Perellis, from the factory, that lasted me only 22K and I replaced them with Michelins. They both lasted about the same amount of miles. This time, I'm going with something a little less expensive because I am tired of shelling out $1,000 plus for tires that do not last. My guess is I'll probably get as many miles out of a cheaper set of tires because this car burns tires like crazy.

jim314

What is the model and size of Michelin tire currently on your XC90?

Is it the tires on the front wheels that you think are wearing excessively? Is there any pattern to the wear, for example, are they wearing on the outside edge, both outisde and inside edges, or in the middle?

jpix

Has Volvo fixed any of the recurrent problems I'm reading about here? Are 2008's any better? What tires come on new XC90's? Hopefully they have stopped using Pirellis.

I was planning on buying one, but after reading these posts, I'm changing my mind.

peppergurl

The front wheels wear very fast. I have been roatating them every 7,000 miles. Sooner would probably be better. Also they wear on the outside edges the most. The model and size of the Michelins on my XC90 are Pilots, P 235/60 R18.

jim314

Maybe your XC90 needs a wheel alignment. These are not cheap, but it may save you money in the long run, if out-of-spec wheel alignment is causing excessive wear.

I know the following Tirerack article on wheel alignment is a little long and involved, but reading it may be a benefit to you.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=4

jim314

Just checking the wheel alignment on a modern laser alignment machine is not very expensive, maybe a little over $100, but if it would need alignment adjustment, then this can get a little pricy if extensive alignment adjustment is needed. And it depends on the vehicle. I don't know about the XC90.

If this is your first SUV, then you might be comparing it to regular passenger cars which are lighter and lower. All SUVs wear tires faster than regular passenger cars. SUVs are heavier and have a higher center of gravity, both properties contribute to faster tire wear.

I would summarize the basics of the Tirerack article as far as front wheel alignment and what could be a cause of excessive war on the outisdes of the front tires. There are three axes that the front wheels are aligned along, called toe, camber, and caster. Except for wrecked cars, nearly all alignment adjustment is to toe and camber so I'll explain those first. You might have thought that the wheels should all be straight and vertical, but there are control reasons why this is not the case.

Toe is the direction the wheels are pointed down the road viewed from above the car. The front wheels are often aimed not straight ahead, but aimed in at the front toward the center line of the vehicle. This is called "toe-in". And often this is not symmetric--one wheel may be specified to be aimed in at a slightly different angle than the other. My understanding is that if the front wheels have excessive toe-in, then this will cause the outsides of the front tires to wear excessively. Evidently some cars are designed to be set with the front wheels pointed sightly out, called "toe-out", or maybe straight ahead.

But when front wheel drive (FWD) vehicles are under strong accleration, the front wheels tend to pull themselves into an increased toe-in configuration, especially if the vehicle is heavy and the suspension is soft (sounds like the set-up of most SUVs), so frequent strong acceleration would be expected to cause tire wear on the outsides of the front tires.

When rear wheel drive vehicles (RWD) are under strong acceleration the rear driving wheels tend to push the front wheels into a toe-out configuration, which, as I understand it, would cause wear on the insides of the front wheels. I suppose an AWD vehicle which is biased toward FWD would, on good pavement, act like a FWD vehicle.

Now consider the camber adjustment. Viewing the vehicle from the front, the front wheels are not "plumb" or vertical, usually they are farther apart at the top and closer at the pavement. This is called positive camber. This means that the front wheels are contacting the pavement more on their outside edges. If there is excessive positive camber, then this will cause excessive wear on the outsides of the front tires.

jim314

There are different Michelin models under the Pilot model designation, and these have very different UTQG treadwear estimates. Your Pilots may be a model with soft tread material. Go to the Tirerack.com site and look at the different tires sized for your XC90. If you see tires that you like, but aren't comfortable getting them mail order, then copy the full model and details and ask Discount Tire to order them for you.

jim314

My wife has a 2007 XC90 3.2 FWD with original equipment Michelin 4x4 Syncrones in 235/65-17. The ODO is at about 8500 miles, the tires have not been rotated, and they show no uneven wear. I do keep them inflated to about 40 psi which is more than the vehicle tire plackard recommends, but I think the US recommended pressure is too low for pavement use. The max infl pressure on these Synchrones is 51 psi so this is not close to the limit for the tire.

I also use 40 to 42 psi in my 2004 V70 which still has the original Michelin MXV4 plus Energy 195/65-15 (max infl pressure 51 psi). The ODO is at about 34,000 miles and the original tires still have quite a bit of tread. One of the OE tires was replaced due to a puncture in the sidewall.

Perhaps you should try the Michelin 4x4 Synchrone, or you could try a less expensive tire like a Khumo, which are probably a better value. Looking at the Tirerack prices I see that the prices of the 235/60-18 size is a lot higher than the 235/65-17, and the selection is much more limited. It might be cost prohibitive to sell your 18" wheels and get new 17" wheels, but you might consider it. Maybe you could sell or trade your 18" wheels. The total outside diameters at the tread are the same for these two wheel/tire combinations.

jim314

How about these Kumhos below (info copied from Tirerack site) which have a max infl pressure of 51 psi so you could inflate them to 40 psi to 42 psi with no problem. This might give you longer tire life. The Tirerack prices may not include shipping, and do not include mounting and balancing, but you could ask Discount Tire to get these from their supplier, if they don't have them in stock. Kumhos have a good reputation.

Let us know what you ultimately decide on.

Kumho Road Venture APT KL51
(Highway All-Season)
Overview | Specs | Warranty | Reviews
Sidewall Style: Blackwall

Size: 235/60VR18
Serv. Desc: 103V Load Index 103 = 1929lbs (875kg) per tire
Speed Rating “V” = 149mph (240kph)
UTQG: Treadwear: 600 Traction: A Temperature: A
Price: $109.00 (each)
Estimated Availability: In Stock
Optional Road Hazard Program: additional $13.08 per tire

Here's one review:

Initial Review, 3,000 Miles on Tires
March 06, 2008

Great tires, bonus is savings over big brands. Much better than Bridgestones that were OEM. If I drove in hardpacked snow and ice, I would probably go with all terrain tires. On a recent trip I found myself stuck twice. In regular snow, no problems. However, they are great on the road. Price was less than half what the dealership wanted to sell me Michelins for!

bands

Hi All,
New to forum, & have seriously considered a brand new '08 xc90 3.2L
From Canada, & wondered if anyone's had any issues with a recently
purchased XC from 07/08?
- sounds like the extended warranty should be purchased at the end of the
factory 48mos "bumper-to-bumper" transmission excluded warranty
- sounds like bearings & electrical are also issues.

Love the style, concerned with the reviews & hope things have been adressed
by the MFG regarding the common 04-06 complaints.

This will be our ONLY car.. making repair trips painfull.

TIA for any current model complaints/issues.
Buying in Hamilton/ Oakville Ontario area...?

jim314

My wife is coming up on 1 year with her US base model 2007 XC90 3.2 FWD. It has performed flawlessly except for the CD player not working. The dealer ordered a new one and that one too did not work for the dealer--won't play and won't eject the CD. They have reordered.

She declined all extended warranties and is self insuring against expensive repairs.

bstarbird

I'm having the same exact issues with my 04. I brought it in for its 52,500 service, and had to have the rear ball bearings replaced ($500) and I have to have the steering rack replace (over $1700). I feel like driving the thing into a brick wall. Anyone else out there with the steering rack issue???????

bands

Thanks Jim.
What's your mileage if you don't mind me asking?

We don't have the same option to self insure here, so we'll likely take the basic 48mos warranty, keep if for another year or so without payments & roll the dice on that time frame after warranty..
cheers!

jim314

We have only 8941 miles on this 2007 XC90 3.2. I am not suggesting that everyone forgo extended warranties, but for my wife (and I agreed) the cost of them seemed like too high a fraction of this vehicle, a straight base model.

By "self insure" I meant we would pay for any out of warranty repairs. I didn't mean that we arranged outside insurance. I'm all in favor of insurance for health and life, but I figure I can budget for auto repairs.

tatilija

My 04 XC90 Transmission went out at 108K and although that may sound like a lot of miles my expectation of the Volvo was that I would not be replacing a transmission when the car was only 4 years old. Especially since we still have a 1988 Nissan pathfinder with 250K original miles and it runs fine. I commute to work 50 miles round trip plus grandkids live in WA (I live in CA) so I travel to see them. I called directly to CEO Anne Belec in Irvine California, they agreed to have someone call me from Customer Care. Bottom line is, they ended up paying for half of the transmission replacement, total cost was $4200.00. Unfortunately our problems didn't end there. They ended up putting a second transmission in ... and we still had problems, barley made it home from Washington at Christmas. Volvo finally sent "tech support" to look at our car because the dealership couldn't figure out what was wrong with it. He concluded that now we had a bad Turbo ... that would cost $5000.00! Don't you know I told that dealership that they had two options, give me high blue book or fix it at no charge to me because I did not have any problem with my turbo AT ALL before I brought it in here. If they did not do either one of those things I told them I would park the car on the street in front of the dealership with a sign on it and I would be walking the sidewalk on weekends with a sign and pass out all of these comments from edmonds to everybody who walked on the lot. Volvo agreed to fix at no cost to me. Sorry for the long response, but my advice to you is e-mail and call and don't give up. A new transmission at 45K is outrageous and unacceptable! I'm getting rid of my lemon! :lemon:

hypnosis44

Congratulations!! Great work. My 1982 Volvo 240 had 200K on the original trans. when I sold it. It is still going strong for the new owner. The XC90 has been nothing but disappointing from the beginning. The new six speed may be a solution, but time will tell.

qbrozen

I wish folks posting tranny troubles would state what model XC90 they have. According to other sources I have read, it is the T6 that is the problem. I just want to see if that holds true here.

thas9469

It is the T6 model - my tranny went at 75,000 miles and Volvo didn't back it at all and neither did the dealer. Never will I drive another Volvo with all of the problems that I had.

barbara16

We just had the power steering rack replaced at 42,000. The following week was the fuel pump.
The good news we replaced the tires again, but this time we got Cooper and stopped using premium gas. Now for the good news................... the best gas mileage in five years. We have no idea if it is due to the lower octane gas, different make tires or both. But who cares. For the past five years I have never seen the mpgs go up to 16 (approximately 12). This is very exciting when gas is just a few cents away from $4 a gallon.

I hope this can help someone else out! Ease the pain at the pump and stop buying the crappy Pirelli tires!!

13chris

Hey everyone, recently became a first time owner of an XC90 and I can honestly say I'm impressed. I was very lucky to find a 2006 with only about 3800 miles on it, so the car is pretty much brand new. This leads me to a problem that seems to have developed over 3 short days of my owning this car. It appears that my passenger side door will not unlock or lock, save for when it wants too. For example, this morning when I left the house, the door unlocked when I pressed the unlock button. When I got to work and pressed the lock button... Nothing. In the meantime, all of the other doors are responding to the button press.

Also, when I pressed the door lock button on the drive and passenger side door, nothing happens with that door. Is this a fairly common experience or am I just that unlucky? We have the balance of the factory warranty and we purchased a 6 year warranty for the car, so the maintenance is merely an inconvenience at this point.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

jim314

You could try cycling that door lock with the stem on the door and see if that does anthing to improve the situation, but probably you'll have to take the vehicle into the dealership for service.

13chris

Strangely enough, I kind of slapped it down as I gave up and heard something click, then it popped back up and seems to be working. I'll have to keep an eye on it. Appears something may have just popped out of place.

Thanks for the tip.

13chris

Unfortunately, the door has decided to continue it's rebellious behavior and I was forced to make a service appointment. Nothing like having the car back in the shop a week later.

elias

13chris, in 2004 my xc90 had similar issue. Wires were pinched both in center console and leading to doorway. It took dealer two tries to fix it. In our case it was drivers door, and a way to see the problem occurring is that the window would also stop working, and the tiny lights in the lock/window switches would go out.

db2814

Has anyone experienced engine noise on cold starts that goes away when the engine gets warm? I was told it could be the hydrolic lifters. I had the oil changed and a thicker oil put in as well as some kind of additive. Are there any other remedies for this problem? The noise is better since the above was done. What else can I do for this problem?

elias

ticky tick until engine gets warm is not necessarily an indicator of a problem. could be a noisy lifter -> not a problem. also some vehicles have low restriction exhaust th hear normal lifter noise which has a little ticky tick. not sure if T6 exhaust is like that.
thinner oil actually lubricates a cold engine quicker. such as "zero-weight" oil available now. there's an oil additive in there. beware!? please just use the recommended oil (I think volvo recommends synthetic for your vehicle now even though it did not when your manual was printed!). volvo often recommends a thicker weight for summer >100F or >90F temps, not sure if that's true for the T6 engine too, but is summer is the time when you would want the thicker/recommended oil.

jvo

Hi,

I have a 2004 XC90 3.5L T6 with 67,000 and recently had a 65000 service. The dealer told me that the car had an oil leakage at the head gasket with a repair cost of $4,013.22 and a faulty power steering rack needs to be replaced for $2065.70! I told my service advisor that it should not happen at this mileage at all and asked if Volvo should cover the repairs. Of course they told I'm out of luck and these problems happen every now and then. I believe this should be covered by lemonlaw. I'm very dissapointed with Volvo and will never own another Volvo again. I'm concerning about the transmission is potentially at risk next after reading a few owners had tranny problems with the T6 at lower mileage. Best of luck.

qbrozen

There is no such thing as a 3.5L T6, so it sounds to me like you've got much bigger problems with that vehicle than a bad head gasket. ;b

Have you noticed an actual oil leak? spots on your garage floor? having to add oil periodically? running rough at all? And what is with the "faulty power steering rack"? Have you noticed any problems in that area? If the answer to all of the above is "NO," then I suggest you take it elsewhere for a second opinion.

lspod

I have a 2004 XC 90 2.5 liter 5 cylinder with 45,000 miles on it. My original warranty expires in a couple of weeks, and I'm trying to decide if I should purchase either a 3 yr/ 75k, 4 yr/100k, or no extended warranty. Reading all these messages still leaves me indecisive!

peppergurl

I would by the warranty. The 2003 and 2004 models were the first years the XC90 were made and have had lots of problems. My 2004 XC90's transmission had to be replaced at 48,000 miles!!! Volvo paid for the parts but I had to pay the labor, all of $1500. The warranty is worth it. Believe me. Good luck.

qbrozen

well, your 2.5t model is proving to be much more reliable than the T6 models. But, regardless, it is something you have to decide for yourself. Some folks like the insurance, but some folks feel (and rightly so) that the warranty companys are in business for a reason. They aren't LOSING money. So the odds favor the fact that your vehicle won't need warrantied repairs that exceed the cost of the warranty itself. Its all up to you.

I'm going to inquire at my dealer how much they want for an extended warranty, but unless I feel its a good deal, I'm playing the odds and not buying one.

hypnosis44

No one driving a high problem car like the XC should play the odds on out of warranty failures unless they are lucky in Vegas - (and the luck holds!)

If you do buy a policy the best bet may be through Volvo itself rather than the "privates" as a large number of them have gone bankrupt of late leaving policy holders holding "nothing". Remember that insurance companies are all in the business of collecting premiums and denying responsibility. Volvo is not likely to go bankrupt, and also has a reputation (of sorts) to try to maintain.

hypnosis44

Check out the Edmunds discussion site on extended warranties - there is some pretty good information there. Also, Consumer Reports did a piece not long ago. I don't recall their conclusions but it should offer some guidance. My feeling is that any problem prone car, like the XC, should carry an extended warranty, or be sold when it comes quit of warranty. Buying the Volvo factory warranty is probably your best route to go. Shop around; like cars the dealers can sell the same warranty at whatever the market will bear. You will probably find 100% variations in the asking price.

Good luck, and let us know what happens.

stever

Here's a couple of links:

Extended Warranties (the CarSpace discussion)

Extended car warranties - don't be a pushover (a recent Consumer Reports article summary)

tatilija

BUY IT! Our 04 XC Transmission went out 8K over the extended warranty, I have to give credit to Volvo Customer Care (after I pitched a fit!) they paid for half of the $4200 bill... too bad our problems didn't end there...the Turbo which we were not having ANY problems with developed a problem after the transmission was replaced. Once again I would not budge on that one and the Turbo was replaced at no charge to me. These cars are a problem and Volvo knows it, I recommend to everyone out there if you have a transmission problem at an unreasonable amount of mileage call Volvo customer care and don't take no for an answer. :lemon:

qbrozen

and, once again, you probably have/had a T6, correct?

13chris

My door lock issue is finally resolved. Turned out that the needed to replace a motor in the door and they told me that this is a fairly uncommon problem in the XC90, but it does happen in the XC70 and S80 a lot. The irony is, most of the day the car sat there, they could not get the lock to malfunciton. It was working prefectly fine. Which is crazy, because it hadn't unlocked for the 4 days prior to dropping it off!

kylechoffman

All the talk seems to be on the T6 so wanted to open a discussion on the 2006 2.5T and see if anyone sees common issues (outside of the brakes and tires going about 25K miles or less.

tatilija

Yes it was a T6 however I know somebody that just got a brand new XC and came out to the parking lot at work only to find oil leaking from it. So no I don't own that piece of junk anymore and will NEVER buy another Volvo! It was the worst experience I have EVER had with a car. :lemon: