2003 Volvo XC90 T6 from North America - Comments

June 24 2008.

I have a Volvo XC 90 2003, third owner, and the transmission failed at 65. I sent it to the dealer and says it costs 5,200.00 US dollars to repair, so I picked up and looking what to do, find this site.

I saw many people ask, but no one gives a definite response or organize all of them or contact a lawyer or something similar, so I will check this site and see if somebody can advise something effective.

Thanks.

I am in Australia & have a 2003 XC90 T6 & just had the transmission go at $157,000kms. Volvo for life... I think not! I have had no end of hassles in my dealings with the dealership (apparently first they have heard of the problem!) and Volvo customer care volunteered to pay half - what does that mean, that only half of the transmission is faulty? I have now been speaking with the General Manager of Volvo australia demanding it be replaced at volvo's expense. Of course this has happened once the car is out of warranty so it is a fight all the way.

I have also written an article to go in the Wheels & Motor car magazines here in Australia so that others can also know what a poor quality built car it is & how difficult Volvo are to deal with in even acknowledging there is a systemic problem. The faulty transmission is a GM 4T65EV/GT for your dealings with Volvo. They can't keep getting awaiting with this fault & having customers pay out ridiculous amounts of money when the car was so expensive in the first instance and clearly not what we thought we were paying for.

Well here is the story of another failed transmission in a 2005 XC90 T-6 with 76,500 miles. Luckily my XC was a C.P.O and had coverage till 100,000 miles or Feb of 2011.

Same story; had multiple tranny shift issue's. Mentioned it to my service dealer 2xs. Finally after my wife and kids almost got crushed by a truck in a busy intersection, because the transmission had decided to take a rest: (then slamm itself into gear in just enough time to avoid a fatal collision)

I politely told the dealer one of two things were going to happen

1.) New tranny or

2.) I would be out to retrieve my plate and personals.

Well tomorrow is the big day. I will pick up the XC with new rebuilt tranny, but after hearing the other stories here on this blog, I have a knot in my stomach: (I have a funny feeling that I will be re visiting this issue again).

I have had the dealer inform me that the rebuilt transmissions are built better to handle the T-6 power plant. I don't know, but I know when the warranty is up I can tell you it won't be sitting in my driveway. I don't care; even if I lose my shirt, safety is not a game! Sad to say because I had such high expectations, and now they have been failed miserably.

Well good luck to you all. I will check back in a day or two with a update.

Another 2004 T6 transmission problem. My wife has owned the car for five months. At approximately 62,500 miles the transmission went into limp mode. Taking it to the Volvo dealer, I got what appears to be the standard "you need a new transmission, that will be $4200 please". I told the service manager that I had done research on the internet the night before regarding this transmission's numerous failures. I mentioned that I would rather spend the $4200 on an attorney than a rebuilt transmission. He asked me to wait for a moment. He came back about five minutes later and told me that Volvo would pay 70% of the charges and guarantee the new transmission for one year/unlimited mileage. We'll see how this year goes, but I'll more than likely trade it in before that year is up.

We have a 2004 xc90 T6 and with only 35,000miles, the transmission suddenly failed. No warning, no lights, just stopped working. I was able to limp into a local dealer and was cited $5400 for a replacement since the car is out of warranty. The car is now at the dealer of purchase. Hopefully volvo will step up and cover this work even though the car is out of warranty.

After sending a certified letter to the CEO and director of marketing, Volvo North America, I was refunded $1,150.00 in out-of-pocket expenses related to replacing the transmission in my 2004 XC90 T6. Luckily, I had an extended after market warranty in place to cover the remaining $5K.

I'm glad to report (and read from other consumers) that they are stepping up and contributing to the cost to repair this mess.

The good news: with the new Volvo transmission in place, the car is running beautifully!

Good luck to all.

Hi all.

I have the XC90 T6, and I'm utmost worried reading all these comments. Does anyone know or heard about fitting different gearbox than the 4-speed GM on the T6? I don't want to sell my car, just bought it (45K miles) but if there is no solution to this, I'm gonna sell it.

2001 S60 2.4t. Tranny failed at 60K. No responses from corporate yet. Quote on new tranny $4500. Sunk costs $1000.

Somebody start a class action lawsuit against these people.

2000 Volvo XC90 T5. Transmission Service Urgent went off 8 months ago at ~46K miles, a year past warranty.

Dealer suspected leak of grease from a broken boot into the transmission, replaced the axle and flushed the transmission, said most likely the light will not come back on, but it might... In which case, a new transmission will be necessary.

Well, it did not come back on until last week, 8 months later.

There are no issues with the way the car handles, just the light. I'm taking the car to the mechanic now to read the codes. It is very tempting to just turn off the warning code.

I have a 2004 XC90 with 67,000 miles and the transmission is making noise on and off, and I was told today it needs to be replaced at $5,000. Dealer said they will pay nothing as it is out of warranty. I have heard nothing but bad things about this vehicle since I bought it. I have also replaced the tires 3 times and a rear wheel bearing. I will never buy another Volvo and I tell everyone what a hunk of junk it is. I have a Toyota with 192,000 miles that has never had a major repair. I will only buy Toyotas from now on. My new mechanic told me the angle gear is the next to go on this vehicles and costs about $2,300. This controls the all wheel drive. Looking forward to that too! New mechanic worked for Volvo for 20 years and says they know about these 2 problems and they do not care. The dealer has 3 angle gears in stock because there is such a high demand for it!

I have a '05 XC-90 with 70k miles, and the transmission just went out of the blue. No prior problems with it at all. $5k to replace it with a rebuilt Volvo transmission. Of course there is no warranty with 70k miles.

I paid $56k for this car three years ago ~ it is ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS that I now have to pay $5k for a transmission! Especially since Volvo OBVIOUSLY knows there is a problem and needs to step up and do the right thing by Volvo owners ~ FIX the problem at THEIR expense, NOT OURS!

I am livid. Is ANYONE organizing some kind of class action suit or any other action? I will participate wholeheartedly. As a matter of fact, I know an excellent attorney who specializes in class-action lawsuits. I'm calling him today.

I spoke to the Volvo Mechanic at the dealership near my home. I explained my concern about this transmission problem I've read so much about online. I asked him if my transmission was likely to have such problems. He asked what motor I had. I told the master tech that I had the 5 cylinder engine. He said that I will have no problems. That the 5 cylinder and the 8 cylinder are both very durable motors with robust and long lasting transmissions. And that the problems with the transmission is exclusively on the 6 cylinder twin turbo model. It's an overpowered motor for the GM transmission Volvo used.

This is not something that Volvo chose to do. This is Ford's choice. Ford, who is a part owner of Volvo, wanting to save money, made an agreement with General motors Corporation, to use their 4 speed automatic transmission, and it's a problem that many people have. Personally, I don't understand why Ford would do this to Volvo, and how and why Volvo would allow this to happen.

And furthermore, now that it's a known problem, why Volvo and or Ford has not made a campaign that offers to fix this problem for anyone owning the T6 XC90. It just makes me sick, and I will never trust Volvo again. Though I love my T5 XC90, and now know that I will continue to have no problems, I sure feel angry and upset to hear that so many people are suffering with their T6 XC90's with no hope in sight. Shame on you Volvo/Ford.

And Volvo, why would you let Ford buy your company, you should let someone like Toyota buy your company and be partners with you. This move would improve your line of vehicles beyond the reliability that you once were known for back in the days of your 240 series. Those cars last well beyond 500,000 miles and are still running good.

Come on Volvo, drop Ford and start making cars for people, and not with profit at all expenses, as your first priority. That's just my estimation of what has happened here.

But what the master tech at Volvo has told me, is undoubtedly true. Stay away from the Six Cylinder XC90. Its transmission is not built to handle the power and weight of the T6(6 Cylinder Turbo Motor) XC90, and is almost certain to prematurely fail.

I have a 2007 XC90 T6. I am in Malaysia, where this model was continued until early 2007, as the V8 would be prohibitively expensive in road tax. My T6 has covered 34,000km (21,000 miles) and my tranny is already making noises under heavy load. So I assume that one is on its way out too. Whilst I am covered by warranty, I wonder whether I could dump this useless transmission and get one of the newer 6-speed ones from more recent models. Does anyone know, whether they fit the T6 engine?

I just found out my 2003 XC90 T6 needs a new transmission at 55,000 miles reportedly due to "axle grease contamination". The service person did not let me know that the true problem is due to an inadequate transmission for this size engine. Plus, they are trying to charge me $6,000 (in northern Virginia) to repair the transmission which is more than anybody else on this site seems to be paying. We have also had the tires and brakes go out a couple of times. I find this shocking from such a reputable brand.

I am also a lawyer and would like to start a class-action suit if Volvo does not take accountability for it.

Any interest or ideas?

Regarding the post from the lawyer on July 22:

From the little research I had time to do, I did find out that a class action suit was started at some point. There is a Web site with a dead link: http://volvoxc90classaction.com/. When I finally hunted down the law firm, they said they didn't have any information as to why it never went forward.

With so many people posting on this forum -- all with the same exact problem, I find it hard to believe that we can't, collectively, get our voices heard.

What do we do to get started?