Hi everyone.

I'm facing a service dilemma with my XC90, and as I'm not really mechanically inclined, I thought I'd see if anyone here has any advice or thoughts on how I should proceed.

I own a 2007 XC90 (3.2L engine model) which has a little over 111,000 miles. I've owned it since 2008 when I bought it as certified pre-owned from my local Volvo dealer. I love the car and have been hoping to keep it for many years, so I've meticulously kept up with the recommended service intervals for as long as I've owned the car and have the work done at my local Volvo dealer.

I dropped the car off for an oil change and regular maintenance earlier this week, and a couple of days ago I received a call from the service representative stating that the mechanics were hearing an unusual noise from the engine area. They thought it might be an issue with the AC compressor (I believe that was the part), so with my permission and what would have been approximately a $1500 repair, they tried installing a new AC compressor but found that the noise was still present. The good news is that I won't be charged for that repair, but the bad news is that they now think the issue may be something much more costly.

Apparently the XC90 engine is gear driven (as opposed to being belt driven), and their suspicion is that there may be an issue with one or more gears within the engine. The problem is that the process involved to assess the gear situation is quite labor intensive, and I've been told that there's a chance that the issue could be even worse than expected once they inspect the inner workings.

Bottom line, based on the labor involved (they're estimating 20+ hours) and parts, I'm being quoted an estimate of $3700, which could possibly even increase depending on what they find.

The car is driveable now, and they said that doing nothing is certainly an option, but there's no telling if or when this issue would render the car undriveable, so I have a bit of a dilemma. On one hand, I love the car and would like to keep it well maintained, but on the other hand I'm questioning whether it's worth putting at least $3700 of repairs into a 2007 vehicle which probably has a trade-in value now of around $5000. I suppose another option would be to get a second opinion from a different European car shop, although up to this point I've had all of my service performed at the Volvo dealer.

The sad thing is that the car really isn't that old, and this being my first Volvo, I was really hoping I could get 150K or more miles out of it without any major issues. So, what would you do? Would you proceed with the repair, or just keep the car running as long as possible without the repair and perhaps start looking for a new car? At the moment, I'm leaning toward the latter.

Thanks for any advice!

 

Sounds like they suspect the READ assembly. If it's been dealer services, call Volvo and ask for some goodwill assistance.

 

Thanks for the reply. Is asking for "goodwill assistance" essentially a shot in the dark, or is Volvo known to help out in situations like this? And which department would be best for me to contact? I'm assuming I would check with someone at Volvo US corporate as opposed to someone at my local dealer.

 

If it's been dealer serviced, I've seen Volvo help in cases like this. If it's been maintained at an indy shop, Volvo has no reason to help.

Ask the service manager at the dealer first. If that doesn't work, call Volvo Customer Care

 

Sorry for your troubles. For that you'd need a Toyota.

It's so adorable that Volvo installed some crappy underdesigned gear drive on your engine instead of a timing belt. Gives it a lot of character.

Exact same thing happened to this guy: Our XC90 3.2 engine was in for an oil change and the service manager called and said there is a noisy bearing going out, and said it was the "READ Assembly"...that drives the oil pump and alternator...and some other mumbo jumbo...

 

That's exactly what I would do. Put your car on Craig's List now. Disclose the READ assembly issue if you're an ethical person. Someone out there is willing to repair this problem themselves for an appropriate discount off Blue Book.

Then buy a Toyota. Or at least scour the back alleys of the internet for information on the known design problems of various Volvo vehicles. Some Volvos were built with fewer design errors, certain model years of S60s for example.

 

8000 Toyota complaints, almost 20,000 Honda complaints. Under 300 Volvo complaints on carcomplaints.com

 

The number of Honda complaints is surprising, but let's compare how many cars Toyota put on the road in the U.S. in 2014 vs Volvo. Toyota 2.373 million vs Volvo 39,184. Assuming a similar ratio Volvo would have had 18,000 complaints on 2.373 million cars. Don't get me wrong, I like my Volvo way better than a Toyota, but in terms of reliability and true cost of ownership my S60 is significantly more expensive than a Camry. Honda sold about 1/2 the cars Toyota did, so that 20K is way out of whack.

 

If Volvo won't help then get a quote from an independent. Unfortunately once a problem of this magnitude exists there is no cheap out if you are honest about the issue. The resale or trade value is pretty much reduced by the cost of the repair or more, and the ROI on the repair is usually 1-1, but at least it makes it more sellable because buyers generally want either a car that needs nothing or a project that they can improve their position more than their cost to repair.

 

I know. I'm just bustin ***** because he seems to think Honda's and Toyota's never have problems.


And I would not want an indy shop to even attempt to rebuild a READ.

 

They never have problems with READ assemblies that's for sure.

Nice.

 

Just accelerator pedals that stick and airbags that hurt you. No big deal.

A READ never killed anyone.

 

He's right, unless the have the proper instructions and the right special tools they shouldn't attempt a READ rebuild. If they mess up it can go from a READ rebuild to engine replacement.

 

Unfortunately, I too am now familiar with the READ Drive problem. Took my 2007 XC 90 for servicing to the dealer last August for a noise out of the engine compartment and an oil leak. The noise was diagnosed as a bad upper engine torque mount and the oil leak was from a leaking brake booster vacuum pump. Mount was replaced and brake pump was resealed. When I picked up the car from the dealer, I noticed a slight humming noise from the engine I hadn't noticed before. Didn't pay much attention to it. About a month ago, I noticed oil leak again and humming noise got a bit higher. Took back in to dealer and they have diagnosed it, preliminarily, as a bad READ drive bearing. Labor alone will cost about $1500. Currently, I'm having a "goodwill discussion" with the Dealer's service manager about the repair. QUESTION: Could the repair of the brake booster vacuum pump somehow contributed/caused the READ drive bearing to fail??? The coincidence is pretty remarkable.

 

No, the vacuum pump has nothing to do with the READ