2005 Volvo XC90 T6 review from North America

My Volvo dealer's service department detected a broken front-right strut at 36,000 miles, which required replacement and was not covered by Volvo's standard warranty.

Anti-skid and traction control "warning" and "service required" messages began to flash on and off intermittently at 36,000 - 39,000 miles. The service manager said the problem was due to a glitch in the XC90's central computer and required a software upgrade. The dealer upgraded the software, which was covered under Volvo's warranty.

At 47,000 miles the service department detected two cracked wheel rims, front-left and rear-right, both which required replacement. These were not covered by Volvo's standard warranty.

The same "warning" and "service required" messages began to recur again at 49,000 miles. This was worrisome as I was 600 miles into a 3,000 mile cross-county, winter road trip, and the car's warranty was due to lapse at 50,000 miles.

At just over 51,500 miles my XC90 suddenly refused to go into reverse. The service manager at the nearest Volvo dealer said this was a tricky problem to diagnose, but they would begin by replacing a "valve sleeve." A week later the manager phoned to say that they'd decided instead to replace the entire transmission. He also said, after reviewing my car's service records and history with the service manager at my original Volvo dealer, that it was very likely Volvo would give me "a new, free transmission" under "Volvo's goodwill policy." Three days later the manager phoned again to say that the local corporate rep, under this policy, had indeed signed-off on a "new, free transmission" for my XC90.

I'm scheduled to pick up the my early next week, and am curious about three things: 1) If "new, free transmission" also includes free labor, as these costs would be significant; 2) the prospect that the new transmission will follow the same problem-ridden pattern as the old one; and 3) if any Volvo owners have had similar experiences or maintenance problems, especially with 2005 XC90/T6s.

The XC90/T6 is a beautifully-designed and appointed car, and it drives like a dream. I've also found that it gives me far better MP-G's than listed, although this could be due to the fact that 75% of my driving occurs on interstate highways. I use cruise control a lot, and whenever possible prefer to rely on the cruise control deceleration and shut-off buttons rather than the brakes.

As a consequence I didn't need new brake pads until 47,000 miles.

However this car has given me more maintenance and repair problems than any car I've owned, including two previous Volvo's. This hasn't been a big problem while the XC90's 50,000 mile warranty was in effect, but I'm now concerned -- at 51K-plus miles -- that future repairs and maintenance will begin to get very, very expensive.