Purchased and XC60 and have 8,700 miles on it. The rear tires were already at their wear marks measuring 1-2/32 tread. The front tires, according to the dealer and my eyes, have perfectly normal wear. The dealer thought maybe the alignment was off and so they checked.

As you can see, the rear wheels were completely out of spec and the front wheels were within spec. If the car would have hit something, all wheels would have been out of spec. The dealer could not explain how this could happen unless it was delivered that way and maybe from the transport rig tying the car down improperly. The dealer paid for the alignment but charged us for the tires, mounting, and balancing to the tune of $678.00. They told us that we would have to talk to Volvo USA to get reimbursed since these were inventory items and not just labor. OK, whatever. Filed a claim and was told that "tires are a wear item and not covered under warranty". After explaining to them that the tires only wore out because the car was delivered out of spec, they insisted that there was no warranty claim on wear items.

We have both an XC60 T8 and an XC40 Recharge and now neither my wife or I will purchase another Volvo product. I told them that it wasn't about the money, it was about doing what is right. The car was delivered in poor condition, and now they do not want to take responsibility for it. Volvo USA continues to ignore our request to speak to someone on the phone about this matter and only answers emails with their "wear item not covered" response.

Is it me, or is this something that I should be a little peeved about?

 

Not sure If I'd agree with your assumption that if you hit something the fronts would go out of spec but it does seem plausible that the car was delivered to the dealer out of spec. Seems you have a bit of a he said/she said issue here. I'd keep working with the dealer to see if they are willing to offer some good will, ie cover the labor for the alignment or sell you the replacement tires at cost. Note that some models are more sensitive to wheel alignments and tire wear than others due to suspension geometry. I happen to own a VW CC which is well documented for needing alignments every 5-10K and eating Conti's for breakfast so I live with getting alignments done every 5K or when the snows come off.

PS, $678 for tires mounted and balanced with a wheel alignment sounds like the dealer already comp'd you some good will. That's a very good price for the whole service.

 

Someone may also be short-cutting the alignment procedure. The vehicle needs to be resting without a load on the suspension. Lifting the tire, then back down, can create a side load on the tire. Rolling the vehicle back and forth relaxes the suspension.

Hitting a bump should not ruin the alignment unless you have damage.

In 20 years of selling Volvos, we had very few that ever needed an alignment other than replacing major suspension components.