NHTSA Complaint #10419955 — 2005 VOLVO XC90

PURCHASED USED 2005 VOLVO XC90 IN SPRING OF 2010. DURING THE NEXT YEAR EXPERIENCED VERY INTERMITTENT ELECTRICAL ISSUES. EXAMPLES ARE LOCKS NOT WORKING, BLINKER, RADIO. THESE ISSUES LITERALLY ONLY HAPPENED A COUPLE TIMES. IN APRIL 2011 HAD BIYEARLY SAFETY AND EMISSIONS DONE AT LOCAL DEALERSHIP (NON VOLVO) AND IT DID NOT PASS EMISSIONS. NEXT DAY TOOK MY VOLVO XC90 TO WEISS VOLVO AND IT PASSED EMISSIONS (WITHOUT ME KNOWING THEY CLEARED ERRORS ON THE CAR TO GET IT TO PASS. THIS MUST BE THE REASON IN EUROPE THAT DEALERSHIPS CAN'T INSPECT THEIR OWN MAKE OF CARS) ON JULY 17 2011 I WAS DRIVING DOWN THE HIGHWAY WITH MY 1 YEAR OLD IN THE BACK SEAT. RADIO WENT OUT. A FEW MINUTES LATER ALMOST EVERYTHING IN THE CAR SHUT DOWN EXCEPT FOR THE ENGINE. LOST A/C (IT WAS 110 THAT DAY), LOST POWER STEERING, BRAKING WAS INTERMITTENT, NO BLINKERS, NO HEADLIGHTS, NO LIGHTS IN INTERIOR, WHILE I WAS AT FULL SPEED ON THE HIGHWAY. I AM NOT SURE IF ENGINE WAS INTERMITTENT OR NOT BECAUSE I GOT OFF AS SOON AS I COULD. I WAS VERY CLOSE TO WEISS VOLVO SO DROPPED IT OFF THERE AGAIN ON THE DATE OF THE TOTAL FAILURE. CALLED VOLVO CUSTOMER CARE ON JULY 18 2011 TO FILE COMPLAINT. WEISS VOLVO CALLED BACK AND TOLD US CAR WOULDN'T START. CALLED BACK LATER IN THE DAY AND SAID THEY SAW THAT EVERYTHING WENT OUT AND CAR WAS FULL OF CODES. WEISS SENT IN AN ESTIMATE FOR $1500 TO REPLACE ECM. I ASKED WEISS TO PERFORM AN EMISSIONS TEST (BY MO LAW MANUFACTURER'S CARS MUST PASS EMISSIONS TEST UP TO 80K MILES AND MY CAR HAD 61K) I RESEARCHED ECM AND FOUND VERY SIMILAR STORIES TO MINE AND BROUGHT THIS UP TO VOLVO NA. VOLVO NA TOLD WEISS VOLVO TO "RESET" MY CAR (AGAIN WITHOUT MY PERMISSION). THE CAR THEN WAS FUNCTIONAL AFTER RESET. WEISS THEN "TESTED" MY CAR FOR ALMOST 3 WEEKS TO FIGURE OUT THE DESIGN FLAW FOR A TOTAL OF 451 MILES. THE MECHANIC TOLD ME IT WAS THE ECM BUT VOLVO NA SAID IT WAS VARIOUS OTHER REASONS AND WOULDN'T REPLACE IT. CAR STILL BROKE. REACHED LIMIT. *KB