9000 miles on my V90 CC. love the car. 1 inch of water showed up last weekend in the passenger footwell after a rain storm. OMG!!!!!! called the dealer - lot of silence from the service guy, but have an appt to "fix" the problem. reading about this issue (now - post-buying the car of course!)....does the forum think this is truly fixable?

 

of course its fixable. a couple of possibilities come to mind - sun roof drain tube has become disconnected or the cowling pan (up top the firewall) has a missing plug etc. Given the age of the car, its likely a manufacturing/assembly defect and something just needs to be reinserted. Try to keep the car dry in the mean time since you don't want any water on any of the connectors or electronics

post up how you make out

 

The sun roof has a drain that travels along a tube in the A-pillar. It can get clogged and/or it could have become disconnected. The dealer can check for this and clean it, if necessary. Also, IMO it would be worthwhile to ask the dealer to check the roof glass rubber gaskets to insure that they are positioned properly. Lastly, I'd ask the dealer if they have any concerns about mold potentially forming and, if so, how they and/or you can work to mitigate this from forming. The dealer will document your questions/concerns, along with their actions taken. Keep this for your records, just in-case anything down-the-road becomes an issue. As an example, I believe the A-pillar drain on the front passenger side travels near the interior fuse panel, which is located behind the kickpad wall in the passenger side foot area.. Obviously, one does not want water to travel there, otherwise electrical problems could result.

 

HI. I had a brief but similar water rush over my open toed shoes. New 2022 V60 no further "interior rain" but I now have a persistent but intermittent problem.The doors lock up and won't let me in from the outside. Usually it's the driver's door but all 4 have the issue. If I'm inside the car the switch on the driver's door will not unlock to let in a passenger.The hatch pops open while driving down the highway.While parked, it has come down on the heads of 3 people trying to get things out of the trunk. It has not been activated by the foot switch.There seems to be no sensor to stop the hatch before it hits the back of my head. (unlike my garage door which stops for a leaf 3 feet away.) 3 times when I have used the hatch button to close it, the door has only come down 1/3 way and had to be pulled down to close. The dealer has now had my car for over 3 weeks trying to troubleshoot. I am aware that this meets MD lemon law but I'd like to know if anyone else is having this problem or has a solution. It has been suggested by VOLVO that there may be water incursion causing my issues. Thanks.

 

IMO, at least two things can influence erratic electronics; a low battery charge and cabin water intrusion. Both can be easily checked by the dealer. Regarding water intrusion, there are 4 roof drains in my 2020 V90, and I suspect they are the same in your vehicle. Two are at each A-pillar and two are at each C-pillar. The A-pillar drain ends at the front wheel wells, while the C-pillar drain ends at the rear wheel wells. By placing some water at the drain areas, the dealer can see if the water drains as it is supposed to. FYI. The interior fuse panel is located behind the passenger seat footwall kickpad. I believe the A-pillar tube drain has a connection point just above the fuse panel, which has caused water to enter the panel for some when the drain tube disconnected. Since the problems you describe include door locks and rear hatch issues, perhaps it might be worthwhile to ask the dealer if they checked to ensure that no water is entering this fuse box. I'm not a mechanic, but IMO battery voltage and water on electricals could be likely sources. With this said, since our cars are now, basically, computers-on-wheels, who knows whatever else could cause the issues your mentioned. One would think that, possibly, your vehicle might throw off some codes that could help detect and fix the issues you noted.

 

Thank you for the advice. I'll be giving it to the service department.

 

IMO, when speaking with the dealer, rather than suggesting what they should do, just ask them what they have done to diagnos the problem. Then, if they haven't done something you feel might help with the diagnosis, if them if, in their opinion, it might be worthwhile to check. Following this approach may get a better response, plus they are the experts, while we have far less knowlege and experience. From reading your post, your car seems to have two issues, which may or may not be directly related. The first is water intrusion in the cabin. The second is electrical issues related to the door locks and the rear hatch operation.

Regarding the water intrusion issue, this should be rather straightforward to determine, and I can't see the dealer taking much time to correct. Yes, it could be from the pillar drains. However, it could also be from an improper front windsheld installation or rubber gaskets somewhere else. Electrical gremlins can be more difficult to find, however.

Last comment ... You mentioned that the dealer has had your car for 3 weeks. If this were me, I'd ask if the dealer has placed a ticket with Volvo to request assistance.

 

Thanks for your advice. I have asked them what they've done. If it doesn't fit into a computer generated assessment of malfunction, they don't know what else to do. One guy actually told me they don't look any further .They also told me they've been in contact with Volvo in Europe for advice and it was Volvo who suggested water. They have been driving my car to see if it continues but it's now been 3 weeks since they even spoke to me. That's on next week's TO DO list for me. Call and get a printed list of what they have checked out.

 

Dealer service can be spotty. One may be very good, while another no so much. Also, particularly warranty work, Volvo reimbursement to the dealer and tech may not be properly rewarding for time-consuming proper analysis of an erratic and/or intricate problem, and thus the "best" dealer techs may not be assigned to work on your car. At the end of the day, it's all about people. When I decided to purchase my V90, as part of my buying research, I did what I could to check out the dealers in my area. Being in NJ-USA, there's easily 10 new car Volvo dealerships anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes of my home. When I decided to purchase, the dealer I bought my car from had a competitive price, but was not the cheapest. Over the years, I've found that it is equally important to select the right dealership to do business with as it is to purchase the right car. Although I've had only minimal issues with my car in 3 years of ownership, my dealer service has been first-rate.

At some point, you'll get the car back. The dealer may or may not have "fixed" the problem. Once you get it back, my advice is to video any issues that arise. Once, my BLIS (blind spot side warning) function became irratic. When I took my car to the dealer, of course it functioned properly and no codes were found. However, I gave my dealer a video recording, which the dealer found helpful to contact Volvo and establish a service ticket with them. This resulted in more direct assistance from Volvo, and they guided the dealer in fixing my car's issue.

With the level of computerized and electronic sophistacation our cars have, unfortunately the techs at the dealership are not always capable, by themselves, of fixing some issues that arise. Plus, time is money, both for the service department and the techs, and hard-to-diagnose warranty work (that Volvo may restrict reimbursement on) may take a back seat to other more lucrative repairs and/or the work may be given to a less experienced tech. It may ultimately be that your car's issue requires a more experienced service department tech, but Volvo's warranty reimbursement may not make it advanteagous for a more experience tech to spend the proper time needed to diagnos the issue. If this is true, I can't blame the experienced tech not wanting to lose money working on a hard-to-diagnose warranty claim, particularly if Volvo may not reimburse properly for the techs time, which the dealer properly won't wish to assume, either. As you can see from my reasoning, this probably all goes back to Volvo ... Has a ticket been established requesting their assistance? If it were me, I'd ask for a Volvo contact to discuss next-steps to resolve the matter, and start having a dialog directly with them, as well as the dealer. Three weeks is long enough ...

 

Thank you for your input, MAGGS. ! I did know most of the facts as I had been having ongoing discussions with the service manager. He claims to have put his most experienced person on it and they definitely have had a dialog with Volvo corporate trying to fix the issues. Good idea to ask for a Volvo Corporate contact. I will do that today.

It never occurred to me to shop for a dealer and I wish I had. Except for the service manager, my dealer's people are useless. I pointed out that there are many other ones (12) in the DC/Baltimore metro area and that got me a bit more attention. Their tech guy must have some personality disorder as he's really nasty and a liability to them. My husband had a tech question and the guy told him gruffly, "Read the manual." Then he told me that I probably just didn't like the car and was trying to return it. He tried to tell me I just didn't know how to open the door! When he tried to open the door, it malfunctioned again. (gotcha!) He then said well all cars have quirks. I was amazed that he'd treat a new customer that way and did report him to his manager. Same tech guy told me that if they don't have a diagnostic code and can't find the issue easily they just quit looking. He's still there but the manager is not so he must have some needed tech skills.

Yes thanks I am going to video each time I use the car. It's the only way to document the problem as it's intermittent. No way to video the hatch popping open on the highway though LOL. I am going to NTSB to report that issue and the hatch coming down on our heads when unloading groceries. I know I could not have accidentally activated the foot thing because I am 5'2" and my leg/foot is not long enough to ever reach it. My dog's crate is on that side of the car so I was standing on the passenger side to get the groceries out.

Thanks again for all your good advice.

 

Suggest also becoming a member of the Swedespeed Owners's Forum and asking the members for their recommendation on a good Volvo dealership in the DC/Baltimore area. Assuming your car is within factory warranty, it can be serviced at any dealer. Particularly if the dealer you are dealing with, provided you have been respectful to them (what-goes-around-comes-around) has been discourteous, I would bring my car to another dealer .... but I'd do this with a Volvo contact already established. I also have a Lexus. They don't take kindly to less-than-excellent customer service. Lexus dealers do whatever they can, within reason, to address customer issues. From what I've read, my guess is that Volvo does not monitor and address dealer service customer issues nearly as well.