2018 Volvo XC90
Complaints about this year name inspected far more often than the other years of this generation — 17% of them, about 43× the usual rate of 0.4%.
Generation 2 of the Volvo XC90, which began in 2016. Everything below compares this year against the others in that generation, not against a different car wearing the same name.
| Complaints filed | 141 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 51 |
| Involving a crash | 6 |
| Involving a fire | 3 |
| Recalls | 3 |
| EPA combined | 24.5 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- causing — 19.1% of this year's complaints, against 6.7% across the other years of this generation (2.9×).
- operate — 6.4% of this year's complaints, against 0% across the other years of this generation (31.9×).
- running — 6.4% of this year's complaints, against 0% across the other years of this generation (31.9×).
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
Also unusual this year
- water — 13% of complaints, 32× usual
- replaced — 28% of complaints, 3× usual
- known — 19% of complaints, 4× usual
What owners wrote
CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON, DEALERSHIP INSPECTED AND DETERMINED THE FUEL FILLER PIPE HAD A LEAK WHICH WAS REPLACED UNDER WARRANTY (23K MILES). I WAS INFORMED THIS IS A COMMON ISSUE WITH THE XC90 AND THEY TOO WERE SURPRISED A RECALL HAS NOT BEEN ISSUED.
The car starting leaking water into the rear view mirror in June. This wouldn’t be much of an issue, but the cars computer system for drive assist is located in this area and has caused the car to malfunction in all areas. This XC90 pilot assist is now malfunc…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 21V273000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 18V800000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 23V827000 SEAT BELTS Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Volvo XC90 was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2018 Volvo XC90? What happened to yours?
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