Ok, after lurking about here for years, I finally have to post because this is just baffling. Took my 2005 XC90 in for regular 90,000 mile service earlier this week. Picked it up yesterday. On my way home after running an errand last night, the fun really began.

First, I got a message that I had a low beam bulb out. No big deal. Then, I got a message that said "Brake Failure - Stop Safely." Thanks for telling me before I crash into a pole! Brakes, however, seemed to be working fine. I was less than a mile from home, so I drove the rest of the way slowly (and uneventfully) with hazards on.

Got to the driveway, put the car in park, then more warnings came on, including something about ABS maintenance and a bunch of panel lights. Turned the car off, took the key out, and the wipers stayed on. I put the key in, turned it back on, and all the panel lights came on, plus a couple of new warnings. I made sure I had wipers in off position, which they were, then turned off the car and took out the key. All seemed quiet. No wipers on. Nothing else on. So I went inside and went to bed with plans to call the service department in the morning.

Came out this morning and guess what? The wipers were on again. And, no surprise, so was the battery light. I tried to start the car. A message appeared that said "Immobilizer - Check Manual." Ok. Car would not start. I took out the key. Wipers stayed on. Went back inside.

While waiting for the service department to open, I thought I would go check the messages again so I could tell the service guys what they said and what lights were on. This time, the car started. Only message I got was something about ABS requiring maintenance. Ok. Moved the car so that it was not blocking our other one. Turned car off. Wipers stayed on, as did AC. New message popped up about airbag service required.

Talked to service department and they recommended we not drive it (wasn't planning to), but that we get it back to them to find out what was going on. Which was going to happen anyway.

Called AAA. AAA came and loaded the car. The driver told us that this was about the 15th XC90 he has towed this week with similar issues. Brake failure warning, immobilizer, wipers and AC staying on when you take out the key. So what's up? Bad software upgrade? Anyone else experienced this or know what the heck is going on?

Is my car really Christine?

 

YIKES!!

Please keep us updated as to what caused the issues and what the dealership did to fix it. We have a 2005 as well with 66,000 miles on it. Not ready to have it self-destruct.

 

I got nothin but a stab in the dark....Maybe battery on it's way out, that has been known to cause extremely odd electrical behavior in Volvos.

 

The update.....

So, they kept the car until yesterday. They claim the problem is that water got into the main computer unit. Their fix? A non-CPO warranty covered plan of "drying it out" (i.e., letting it sit in their garage five days), then sealing it with some sort of spray. Cost? $250-ish. They also offered to replace the unit for a mere $1800. Yeah, ok. Hmmmm, the car had been driven in the rain before this and was just fine before I got it back from their service department last Wednesday.....

So far, so good, but we'll see what happens. Will update if anything funky happens again.

 

Oh, one other thing - they deny that they did a software update last week.