2006 Volvo XC90
This year drew an ordinary 53 complaints for a Volvo XC90 — the model's median is 51. What they were about is the unusual part: 20.8% of them mention replace, against 5.9% across the model's other years.
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 | 53 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 51 |
| Involving a crash | 4 |
| Involving a fire | 4 |
| Recalls | 3 |
| EPA combined | 17 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- replace — 20.8% of this year's complaints, against 5.9% across the model's other years (3.5×).
- second time — 7.5% of this year's complaints, against 2.6% across the model's other years (2.9×). Owners wrote it as: second time, contact took, time ignition, ignition switch.
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.
What owners wrote
THE VEHICLE WAS LEAKING FUEL FROM THE FUEL PUMP ASSEMBLY. THE CONTACT STATED NO WARNING LIGHT WAS ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC TO BE DIAGNOSED. THE CONTACT WAS INFORMED THAT THE FUEL FILTER AND FUEL LINE NEEDED TO BE REPLACED.…
WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 50 MPH, THE FRONT END OF THE VEHICLE SHOOK UNCONTROLLABLY. THE FAILURE RECURRED NUMEROUS TIMES. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A MECHANIC AND THE STEERING COLUMN WAS REPLACED. THE FAILURE RECURRED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE [VIN]…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 06V155000 STEERING Fixed free of charge.
- 10V566000 EQUIPMENT Fixed free of charge.
- 06V144000 VISIBILITY
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 2006 Volvo XC90? What happened to yours?
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