I purchased a S40 2.0d Sport in March 06 for the reliability and safety. Since I have a two year old daughter the safety aspect was my main reason for purchasing the car.

I have had problems with the car the first was I was on the motorway and all the power in the engine failed, I had no power and was in the fast lane.

I put the hazard warning lights on and pulled over 3 lanes which was a very scary experience. The car had not done 2000 miles. I called the dealership where I purchased the car and it was over a week before the car could be seen.

Prior to purchasing the car I was told if I had any problems I would be given a car to ensure I could get to my place of employment. This was not the case when I took the car to the dealer and I had to leave the car with the dealer and get the train.

The dealership told me it was a software problem and upgraded this, I also told them their was a lot of black smoke from the exhaust.

When I got the car back the problem still was not resolved and again the car had to go into the dealership another week later, during this time my young daughter was in the car and I felt unsafe with my experience prior. The fault was then diagnosed as I think the EGR valve.

This was complete but on picking up the car oily hand prints were on the front seat of the car, I found the saleman who sold me the car and showed him this. I was also given another owners manual telling me I have to put my foot on the footbrake prior to pulling on the handbrake to ensure the brake is applied.

I have also got another problem with the car this week when opened the car and I noticed a warning message stating steering system failure service required with the key not in the ignition, when I put the key in the ignition another message stated immobilier see user manual. The steering lock is still on.

I again contacted the dealer who have stated I have to call volvo assist. I done this and explained all the faults and was told that a recovery would be organised. 90 mins later the recovery agent came and due to where the car is parked in a multistory car park he could not get his vehicle into the car park.

He tried forcing the key into the ignition etc to try and get the steering lock undone without any success. He then stated I should contact the volvo assist again, which I did on numerious occassions and explained that their was a height restriction on the car park, the steering lock was on and the car park was very tight in space.

Another recovery vehicle arrived after 3 hours in total along with the first vehicle to assist again the vehicle was too large and the recovery company wanted to charge me an additional £150 since they did not have the correct equipment.

After numerious discussions with volvo assist it was decided to leave the car to the next morning and it would get resolved. The car has been parked in the car park now for over 55 hours and still has not been recovered.

I again contacted the dealers and explained I felt that I was not receiving the customer care I was expecting, they started to blame the recovery company and I explained I am the customer and I did not care about the polititics just to get the car repaired. The explained they has sent someone out to replace the steering lock so the vehicle could be moved, but this was after 48 hours of the vehicle sitting and it still has not moved.

I explained again about the previous problems I have had and he stated he is not going to discuss the previous matters and "he is the technical guy", I do have a great depth of electronics and technical knowledge, since spending years studing these subjects and also work in this industry.

I have now explained all the problems I have with the car and the dealership and I need advice on whether to keep the car, since now my confidence with the car is at an all time low.

Should I contact Volvo directly with my concerns due to the customer care and also the reliability with the car? I do like the car my main concern is something happening with my young daughter in the car.

 

What year is the vehicle made?
When did the original issue occur?

 

The year of car is a 2006, and the car was purchased in march 06, the original faults occured after 1900 miles. The latest fault I have been informed it an ignition module fault, I expressed my concerns that if this could happen while I was driving as it would be a major safety issue. I was told that this could not happen and "he is the technical guy" from the main volvo dealer.

I explained that I have a great techincal knowledge and can they confirm that this fault could not happen when the car is moving.

This is the list of faults I have had:-

1. Engine power loss - Was told Software Upgrade would resolve problem. (1900 miles) First visit to main dealer.
2. Engine power loss - Was told EGR Valve faulty. (Second visit to main dealer)
3. Black Smoke Exhaust - Was told EGR Valve was the Fault. (Second visit to main dealer)
4. 2nd gear sync - was told no problem was found, was told it was my driving (second visit to main dealer)
5. Steering lock Failure (without key in ignition) - told it was the ignition module. (9400 miles)
6. Immobiliser - As above but with key in ignition.

I have received the car back today and two of the allow wheels have been damaged during the recovery of the car from the multistorey car park, I cannot say I am surprised as this was one of my concerns that this would happen at least it doesn't look like any body work damaged, but will be required to examine this in daylight.

I have contacted Volvo customer services and will await their response.

 

i had the same problem with the key... i left the key in for about 5 minutes and it got fixed somehow, that probably wouldnt work for u... but try it anyway, u never know wut vodoo magic is gona work

 

fish, hope you resolve all of this, let us know what happens.

 

The dealership needs to replace your car. A similar situation happened with my sister's new mustang. She had an attorney type a letter to the the dealership, and the dealership immediately replaced the car with a new one. Good luck.

 

Certainly ask for a replacement!! A nice friendly letter from Lawyer always works!