Volvo XC90 problems: recalls, complaints and what they cost
Pick a model year below for the Volvo XC90's open safety recalls and the components owners complain about most — then, for each of those, whether it is safe to keep driving and what the repair should cost.
Choose a year to load recalls and complaints.
What goes wrong with the Volvo XC90?
Across 6 model years sampled between 2010 and 2019, NHTSA records 27 recall entries for the Volvo XC90, counted once per model year covered. Complaint records for this vehicle are incomplete in our latest retrieval, so no total is shown rather than an understated one — use the year selector above for live figures.
By model year
| Year | Recall entries | Complaints |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 6 | not retrieved |
| 2018 | 3 | not retrieved |
| 2017 | 7 | not retrieved |
| 2016 | 8 | not retrieved |
| 2014 | 0 | 4 |
| 2010 | 3 | 12 |
Model years 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015 are not in this retrieval, which means no records were returned for them — not that there were none. Use the year selector above to query those years live.
Older years accumulate more complaints simply by being on the road longer, so compare a year against its neighbours rather than against the newest one.
Recent safety recalls
Steering
The power steering fluid May leak from the oil pipe connection at the steering gear valve housing.
Free remedy: Dealers will replace the oil pipes on the power steering rack free Of charge. The recall is scheduled to begin during June 2011. Owners May contact volvo at 1-800-458-1552.
Fuel System, Gasoline
A leak May develop in the fuel line between the line and a connector.
Free remedy: Dealers will inspect the date code printed on the fuel line and replace the fuel pressure line if it falls within the recalled range free Of charge. The recall began on April 23, 2010.
Equipment
Free remedy: Volvo advises owners to please stop using the garmin portable gps device immediately, and visit the garmin website to determine if their unit is affected.
Engine and Engine Cooling
Exposure to heat and humidity may cause the engine coolant bleeder hose to crack, resulting in a coolant leak.
Free remedy: Volvo Cars will notify owners, and dealers will replace the engine side coolant bleeder hose, free of charge. The recall began June 12, 2019. Owners may contact Volvo customer service at 1-800-458-1552.
Recall repairs are free with no mileage or ownership limit. Take the campaign number to any franchised dealer. How recalls work.
Recall text above is abridged from the NHTSA record. Search the campaign number at nhtsa.gov/recalls for the full notice, affected VIN ranges and dealer instructions.
Source: NHTSA (US Department of Transportation), public domain, retrieved 2026-10-08. Use the year selector above for the current live figures.
How does a luxury or performance car typically fail?
The failure profile of a premium car is less about frequency than cost. More electronic modules, more actuators, air suspension instead of springs, adaptive dampers, complex cooling — every one of those is a part that a simpler car does not have and therefore cannot break. Labour is higher too, and access is frequently worse, so the same nominal job costs more hours.
What should I check first?
For a luxury or performance car, the systems worth ruling out before anything else are air suspension, electronic modules and cooling system complexity. Match what the vehicle is actually doing to the guide below — each one opens with a safety verdict, not a parts list.
What is the difference between a recall and a complaint?
A recall is a defect the manufacturer must fix free of charge, forever, with no mileage limit and regardless of how many owners the car has had. A complaint is one owner’s report filed with NHTSA. One complaint is an anecdote; two hundred naming the same component is a pattern, and patterns are what you want before you buy or before you authorise a large repair. Read the complaint list by concentration, never by total — a model that sold three times as many units collects roughly three times as many complaints while being no worse.
What should I check before buying one?
Price the depreciation curve against the repair curve. These cars become cheap to buy long before they become cheap to own, and the gap between purchase price and annual running cost is where people get caught. Budget for a specialist independent rather than a dealer.
Beyond that, the checks that find expensive problems are the same on any vehicle: see it started from stone cold, look under the oil cap, smell the transmission fluid, and scan it for stored and recently-cleared codes. Our used car inspection checklist walks through each one, and why cars fail explains how systemic defects emerge in the first place.
Check one before you buy it
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Does the Volvo XC90 have any open recalls?
Open safety recalls for the Volvo XC90 are listed on this page, pulled live from NHTSA's public database. Recall repairs are free with no mileage or ownership limit, so an open campaign is money the manufacturer owes you rather than a repair you pay for. Check by VIN for certainty on one specific vehicle.
What are the most common Volvo XC90 problems?
The complaint list on this page groups owner reports by component, which is the useful view: one component dominating the list is a pattern, while complaints spread evenly across many systems usually just means the model sold in volume. For this class of vehicle, air suspension, electronic modules and cooling system complexity are the areas worth checking first.
Is the Volvo XC90 expensive to repair?
Cost depends far more on which system fails than on the badge. Each symptom guide linked from this page carries a parts-and-labour range for US independent shops, so you can price the specific fault rather than the car in general.