Complete breakdown!

Faults and Technical chat for the Volvo XC40
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Kevh
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Mar 22, 2020 1:22 pm

Post by Kevh »

We took my 1 month old B4 auto for a spin on Thursday. Stopped for a hour for some lunch, however when we tried to start the car it had broken down! :shock:

The centre display keeps trying to reboot.
The drivers display doesn't initiate the usual system checks, most of the usual symbols aren't displayed.
Just the speedo/tacho needles and perimeter circles without any numbers.
Then the needles rotate up to maximum speed/rpm and back to zero before disappearing.
The engine is dead.

We rang Volvo Assist and they were excellent, to be fair.
A Technician arrived within the hour and spent over 90 minutes investigating the cause but he couldn't find one.
The car had to be taken to Volvo Cardiff, and I had to get home quickly to take my meds, so VA kindly arranged for a free taxi.

I haven't heard from the dealer but will keep you posted. Our faith in Volvo quality has been severely damaged!
September 2021 XC40 B4 auto, Onyx black, driver assist

charles_M
Posts: 51
Joined: Tue Feb 11, 2020 11:41 am

Post by charles_M »

As an engineer I can 100% assure you that 100% or 0% reliability don't exist. You are the 1 in a million (or 100k, 10k, 1k) that just hit bad luck, and you shouldn't judge Volvo on that. I'm in the same situation with a very expensive LG OLED TV, but I'll probably still buy another LG because I still think they are pretty good
RealGoneKid
Posts: 34
Joined: Sun Sep 06, 2020 7:15 pm

Post by RealGoneKid »

Hi

I’ve had what sounds like much the same issue twice. Wouldn’t start in my garage although displays were doing similar. Don’t suppose you were getting a fizzing sound from under the bonnet were you? Mine was & the near side front headlight was out.

First Volvo assist technician was similarly foxed at first, decided to ring one of the other technicians who just happened to have had something similar on a XC40, and the issue was a loose wire earthing on the wiper circuit. My guy asked what else was on the circuit, the reply was the headlights. Hence he discovered a loose earth wire under the n/s headlamp that was out. Tightened it up. Started the car.

However, we still kept getting the occasional error message on sensus about a headlight issue. But it never stayed on. Two weeks later same thing happened again. Car wouldn’t start. Out comes another VA technician. Told him the story. Wiggles the same wire. He gets it started again. This time he says sometimes they paint over the wire when in build and it can cause an issue, so he has given it a “good clean” and off he goes.

Next day my partner gets a random headlamp message on the display again. So we book it into the dealer. By which time no random messages, so they can find no other issues other than some sort of software issue which may or may not be related. Dealer says the mobile techs aren’t volvo techs and always wipe any error codes so they cannot see what problems they resolved. He tells us if it happens again if they fix it again not to wipe the error message.

So, at the moment, whilst we’ve had no error messages since, we’re not sure whether it has been resolved or not.

As regards what we think of the cars reliability. Well the first VA guy did make a point of saying the systems and wiring in the XC40 are all completely new, hence I guess we have to accept the consequences. Modern up to date tech doesn’t come without its risks.

Do keep us posted as it may be there are a few of us that have had this sought of issue. Especially when I booked it into the dealer the instant response was “oh we have had a few XC40s with headlamp issues so we will order the whole unit part just in case”. Mmm.
T5 Recharge PHEV MY21, R Design Pro, Glacier Silver, Lounge & Climate packs. New purchase from dealer stock Oct 20. Ceramic Coated after purchase.
Peter8642
Posts: 56
Joined: Tue Aug 25, 2020 12:22 pm

Post by Peter8642 »

We had a T5 twin engine delivered in June, having ordered the previous November and delayed by lockdown. We were sad that the new model Recharge was heavily advertised at the time but we were given a Twin Engine. The car broke down twice in its first 6 weeks- total electrical failure on both occasions, so we rejected it.

We now have a replacement car, T5 Recharge, delivered 2 weeks ago. So far it’s fine.

Hope you guys both get yours sorted.

Pete.
2021 XC40 Inscription T5 Recharge, Denim Blue + Blond.
Driver Assist, Lounge, Versatility, Towbar, Spare Wheel and Jack.
mac1776
Posts: 6
Joined: Thu Jul 09, 2020 4:02 pm

Post by mac1776 »

Hi All,
A bit late on the uptake, my local dealer had a similar issue, after much soul searching the issue was located, a broken earthing point, linked to the rear lights, had broken off, presumably overtightened from the factory.
The location was rear left internal side panel, just forward of the rear light assy. The insert had failed and the earthing cable was just hanging there..
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