NHTSA Complaint #10147688 — 2000 VOLVO S70

NARRATIVE DESCRIPTION: #1: IN MID/LATE 2003, THE INTERIOR LEATHER DOOR PANELS BEGAN TO "BUBBLE" OR PULL AWAY FROM THE DOOR FRAME. HAVING PURCHASED A FOUR DOOR MODEL, EACH DOOR HAD NOTICABLE DEFECTS WHICH BECAME SIGNIFICANT OVER A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME. #2: UPON FURTHER INVESTIGATION THROUGH LOCAL VOLVO DEALERSHIPS, THE "BUBBLES" WERE ACTUALLY DUE TO A POOR QUALITY ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY GLUE FROM EUROPE, THAT WAS USED TO ATTACH THE INTERIOR LEATHER DOOR PANELS TO THE DOOR FRAMES, WHICH VOLVO DID NOT APPARENTLY TEST IN THE UNITED STATES. AS FOR MY MODEL, THE CONSEQUENCE OF THE DEFECT RESULTED IN SEVERE FAILURE OF THE INTERIOR LEATHER DOOR PANELS. ALTHOUGH MY MODEL YEAR IS A 2000, I UNDERSTAND THAT THIS HAS ALSO HAPPENED ON BOTH EARLIER AND LATER MODEL YEAR VEHICLES. #3: VOLVO "IS" AWARE OF THIS DEFECT AND HOW EXTENSIVE IT HAS AFFECTED ITS VEHICLES INCLUDING THE MODEL YEAR 2000. IN SPEAKING WITH LOCAL VOLVO DEALERSHIPS, VOLVO MADE A SUBTLE ATTEMPT TO CORRECT THE PROBLEMS INCLUDING SUPPLYING THE DEALERSHIPS WITH A REPAIR KIT THAT EACH DEALERSHIP WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR COMPLETING. ALTHOUGH INITIALLY REPORTED TO VOLVO, MY COMPLAINTS WERE NOT IDENTIFIED AS SAFETY RELATED ISSUES BUT RATHER COSMETIC AND REQUIRED APPROXIMATELY TWO YEARS BEFORE FINALLY AGREEING TO A THREE WAY SPLIT IN THE COST TO REPLACE THE INTERIOR LEATHER DOOR PANELS. ALTHOUGH THE DEFECT IS COSMETIC IN NATURE, IT WAS TO OEM PARTS THAT VOLVO INSTALLED WITH THE VEHICLE AND NOT OPTIONAL UPGRADES ON MY PART. PLEASE HELP US...