Owners have filed 778 complaints on the Volvo XC90, covering 2003–2014. The system named most often is Electrical System (187 reports). Worst years by volume: 2004, 2005, 2003; cleanest: 2012, 2014, 2009. 14 reports describe a crash, 17 a fire. On average the car was 6.9 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Volvo XC90
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 778 XC90 complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Electrical System 187 Read
94,000 miles 2011 volvo xc90 purchased 4 months ago. Vehicle was parked stationary in driveway. In the middle of the night water intruded the front passenger cabin and dashboard of the vehicle through a sunroof drainagedefect in this year and model of volvo xc90. Six inches of water pooled in the front passenger floor…
In a nutshell: at approximately 8:35 wednesday morning (october 28th), my volvo xc90 spontaneously caught fire in the pouring rain. I was in the car at the time. Thankfully nobody was hurt. Toronto fire services and toronto police services both attended the scene. The most frightening part of this incident is the fact…
After 30 minutes of highway driving exited onto secondary road to add oil for low oil light indicator. Engine began smoking in two minutes and lifting hood caused engine to burst into flames. Chemical fire retardant sprayed within three minutes. Result was incinerated alternator and all codes alarmed. Car turns over.…
Power Train 178 Read
Purchased 2014 xc 90, 5,200 miles on it march 2018. Steering wheel vibration issue reported by me 5/2018 .it doesn't matter if it is in neutral,drive,reverse with the brake depressed. When turning the steering wheel left or right,it vibrates. Now feeling more vibrations from engine/steering wheel when accelerating.…
There appears to be an intermitent defect with the transmission when the vehicle gets wet. When wet the vehicle lock up and not easily go into forward or reverse. This occasionally occurs after going through a car wash or when the vehicle is driven in wet weather and then, parked. After a few hours, when it is…
From the beginning this vehicle has delayed acceleration, very dangerous to drive when pulling out in front of on-coming traffic, or making left hand turn with on-coming traffic. Brakes make loud cracking popping sound when braking and turning the wheel, do not feel safe with it making such awful sounds
Engine And Engine Cooling 64 Read
I first experienced the delay in re-acceleration one morning on my way to work. After coming to a complete stop @ a stop sign, I stepped on the gas to take a turn and the car hesitated at a very slow pace to take off. I chalked it up as the car being cold early in the morning. It continued to happen periodically until…
Took delivery of volvo xc90 on feb 4, 2008. On feb 11, 2008 with 435 miles, the car lost almost all its engine oil and the computer displayed "low oil level" message. All the time, it was spewing bluish/white smoke during initial start up and acceleration. Was flat-bedded to the dealer and it took 11 days to repair.…
While driving on interstate 40 at 80 mph my car began shaking violently and shut off. It was trailored to the nearest volvo dealership where it took 3 weeks to repair , 1 week to identify the problem). They found that the valve spring" on the 2007 volvo xc90's engine had broken, causing the car to operate on only 4 of…
Fuel/propulsion System 51 Read
The xc90 I just bought from a dealer as is two days ago has some leaking of fuel. I suspect something is wrong with the fuel pump. The previous owner did not bring the car to volvo dealer to replace the fuel pump under the extended warranty. Now I have to pay thousand dollars to repair it
Drove volvo one day ago and while driving on rural highway road early morning in the dark, vehicle without warning totally shut down in middle of road and stalled out. Had to veer off road and coast on incline with not much momentum due to cars behind me. Was dangerous situation, but luckily got vehicle into small…
The vehicle gets a strong gas smell inside the driving area when gas tank filled. No fuel found to be leaking. Smell comes from under floor by backseats
Fuel System 50 Read
The contact owns a 2010 Volvo XC90. The contact stated while driving 70 MPH, the vehicle stalled with the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact attempted to restart the vehicle, but the failure persisted. Due to failure, the vehicle was towed to the residence. An independent mechanic arrived at the…
My 2006 xc90 has been stalling while driving on the freeway. It is very alarming and dangerous. The fuel pump and multiple electronic components have been replaced three times
My volvo xc90 (2006) abruptly stalls and dies on freeway when using cruise control (typically at 70-75 mph). Have had two repeated incidents, so far lucky have not been hit. Dealership found no problem., car died again. First incident was at about 59,000 miles, second was next time I used cruise on freeway. I always…
Steering 39 Read
While backing put of a parking lot power steering failed, vehicle smoked then caught on fire. Driver suffered from smoke inhalation. *ak prior to the vehicle catching on fire the consumer was involved in an accident the year before (july 12, 2003). The consumer was pressing on the horn when the crash occurred. The…
3 hours into a 3-1/2 hour weekend road trip there was a clunk in the engine compartment. Thinking I hit a pothole, I continued on cautiously. While continuing on these unfamiliar 2 lane windy roads going 43mph (the speed limit was 55) about 2 miles from where the clunk happened my entire dash cluster stopped working.…
The automobile is still at Jim Ellis Volvo Mall of Georgia not being repaired because Volvo USA has declined to assist. The problem with the steering has been vocally delivered to me by service department as the Universal Joint in the steering column has failed. This is a large expense which I should not have to be…
Engine 33 Read
The contact owns a 2006 Volvo XC90. The contact stated there was an abnormal odor of fuel detected in the vehicle. The local dealer was contacted however, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified however, no further assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 160,000.…
When cranking it stalls and cuts off and after doing it around 10 times it finally cranks then I have to hurry to put in drive to get the motor going in order to keep her crunk and couple weeks ago because this problem she stalled out and I hit a hole in the road and busted the oil pan so she has been parked every…
I was driving the vehicle down the highway when it started to stall and then the engine just cut off. This happened in the middle of the road with traffic in both directions leaving me and my wife vulnerable in the middle of traffic. I made several attempts to restart the engine and it would not start, it started to…
Suspension 27 Read
Brake Vacuum Booster: P/Q BRAKE BOOSTER. P/Q BRAKE FLUID $3271.36 Other]: P/Q ENGINE VACUUM PUMP SEAL KIT Front Suspension vibration and while vibration
Spring broke on front strut and sliced into the inner sidewall of tire causing the tire to blowout. Vehicle has being driven on a dirt lane when this happened (10 mph). If this would have happened on a main road, the volvo xc90 would have been out-of-control !
Volvo 2007xc90 broken ball joint causing accident-. Authormessage janice g mazurek dds jan 24,2008 location: ventura california volvo 2007xc90 broken ball joint causing accident- ________________________________________ without any warning while driving my xc90 with 14,000 miles the right front ball joint fractured…
XC90 years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Air Bags | — | — | |
| 2013 | Air Bags | — | 1 | |
| 2012 | Electrical System,equipment,back Over Prevention | — | — | |
| 2011 | Air Bags,seats,unknown Or Other | — | 1 | |
| 2010 | Air Bags,structure | — | — | |
| 2009 | Electrical System | — | — | |
| 2008 | Electrical System | 1 | 1 | |
| 2007 | Air Bags | — | 3 | |
| 2006 | Electrical System | 3 | 3 | |
| 2005 | Air Bags | 1 | 3 | |
| 2004 | Air Bags | 8 | 3 | |
| 2003 | Electrical System | 1 | 2 |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 264 |
| Average complaints per series | 2.9 |
| Worst single series | 26 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 6.9 years |
A model average of 2.9 hides a worst series at 26. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
- The original window sticker and factory options
- Full research report as a PDF for the pre-purchase inspection
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- No ads, no tracking — and much more
How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the XC90?
By complaint volume, 2004, 2005, 2003 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which XC90 years are the cleanest?
2012, 2014, 2009 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Volvo XC90 have?
778 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2003–2014. Of those, 14 describe a crash and 17 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.