2005 Volvo XC90
Complaints about this year name shaft far more often than the other years of this generation — 17% of them, about 44× the usual rate of 0.4%.
Generation 1 of the Volvo XC90, which began in 2003 and ran to 2014. Everything below compares this year against the others in that generation, not against a different car wearing the same name.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 223 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 51 |
| Involving a crash | 1 |
| Involving a fire | 3 |
| Recalls | 6 |
| EPA combined | 16.5 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- transmission — 26.5% of this year's complaints, against 0% across the other years of this generation (132.3×).
- driving approximately — 9.4% of this year's complaints, against 0% across the other years of this generation (47.1×). Owners wrote it as: driving approximately, approximately mph, diagnosed central, module needed.
- faulty — 8.1% of this year's complaints, against 0% across the other years of this generation (40.4×). Owners wrote it as: faulty, some research, doing some.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
Also unusual this year
- design — 14% of complaints, 35× usual
- about — 14% of complaints, 35× usual
- need — 14% of complaints, 35× usual
What owners wrote
2005 VOLVO XC90 V8 - ENGINE NUMBER 6163 - COUNTER BALANCE SHAFT FAILURE DUE TO ENGINE DESIGN DEFECT. NO RECALL BY VOLVO DESPITE VERY HIGH VOLUME OF INCIDENTS AND THE SAFETY RISK TO DRIVERS AND PASSENGERS OF THEIR VEHICLES. NO CHECK ENGINE LIGHTS. VOLVO KNOWS A…
THE TRANSMISSION FAILED AT LESS THAN 85,000 MILES. THEN THE SECOND TRANSMISSION'S OUT-PUT SHAFT BEGAN LEAKING WITH LESS THAN 40,000 MILES ON IT, BECAUSE ACCORDING TO THE DEALER IT IS "OUT-OF-ROUND/TRUE". THE TRANSMISSION NEEDS TO BE REPLACED. THIS TRANSMISSION…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 06V155000 STEERING Fixed free of charge.
- 05V529000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
- 10V566000 EQUIPMENT Fixed free of charge.
- 09V483000 FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE Fixed free of charge.
- 06V144000 VISIBILITY
- 07V221000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Volvo XC90 was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2005 Volvo XC90? What happened to yours?
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