Headlights Problems of Volvo XC90

My 2005 Xc90 (odometer approx. 178,000 miles) throws check engine, reduced engine performance and engine service required dashboard warnings intermittently, despite the fact that it has a new cem and a second new throttle body in less than two months. It also issues a low beam headlight bulb failure warning, even when the bulb is lit, and the left turn blinker is sticky. Sometimes, the driver's seat and passenger side rear view mirror readjust simultaneously upon opening the driver's side door, with no key in the ignition and no one sitting in the seat. Recently while traveling on an expressway at 65 mph, the car abruptly lost speed (a terrifying experience) and struggled to accelerate to 40 mph. A few days later, it lost power in heavy city rush-hour traffic (also terrifying) as a red light turned green. It barely made it to 10 mph and came close to causing a chain reaction crash with the cars behind it (also terrifying). Luckily I was able to steer into a nearby bank parking lot, turn it off and restart it. It drove normally but the warning lights remained. I have taken the vehicle to the Volvo dealership multiple times, citing electrical system woes, which resulted in the two previously mentioned repairs. They identified a wiring short as the cause both times, yet act mystified as to why the problems have persisted despite those repairs. I reported the seat/mirror shifts and the ongoing low beam bulb failures to the service manager, who replied (without examining the car) that the bulb was either burnt out or loose in the socket, and that the seat shifting was simply the way the memory function works. I get the sense that Volvo does know what's wrong with this vehicle, and they don't want to tell me. I am extremely disappointed and frustrated with the lack of answers, and am afraid to drive this car.

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I had this problem a few times a year ago and now it has returned. I was driving my car at night in the rain on a two lane freeway when all of a sudden I lost the headlights, dash lights, speedometer, radio, power windows, electric transmission, and much more function of the car. The engine is still running but it seems to almost reset or something then start shutting stuff down. I see on your website someone put this in as a complaint also this is very dangerous you cant see at night the car is hard to drive its obviously this same problem with water getting into the ecm. I read through your information and it seems like Volvo knew something was up with ones produced before or after March. It seems like they have been well aware of the problem and still want to charge you $2000 to fix it! people shouldn't have to pay to fix a problem Volvo has been well aware of and has had a cheap and easy solution for years. I called my local Volvo dealers and not one of them had any information or knowledge of this problem. When Volvo has a service notice about this problem and has obviously spent a lot of time looking into it. The problem seems to be really bad when it rains or I use the wipers further leading me to see that it is the same thing in investigation pe-10-025. These are only the people who are complaining to you this seems to be a very common issue that Volvo is sweeping under the rug to make a buck. It's disgusting.

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After rainfall we began experience power failures in our Volvo. No windows were left open and the interior was not exposed to any water. But while driving the dashboard went out the needles for the fuel, miles per hour and everything went out. It came on shortly after then off again this time with the radio and windows could not roll down or up. Once the car was off it came back on only to repeat the same issue the dash and radio come on and off while driving and at one point will shut off everything until the car is turned off again. The headlights will flicker as well from time to time. This is extremely frightening considering I have a toddler and small child and while driving on a highway to to have everything shut off was beyond frightening and extremely worrisome. I have been told it has something to do with the cem and I have read many forums with people with the same problem and even a friend whose car did the same thing. I am extremely frustrated that I don't feel safe driving my car and that I have to pay a lot of money for something that does not seem like a normal failure especially since my car does not even have many miles on it. Please investigate and look into this please. Thank you.

We purchased this 2005 Volvo Xc90 used in October 2011 and since that time have had to replace the headlamp module 3 times. The left headlights would sometimes work and other times not. Each time we took it in for diagnosis, we were told that the headlamp module needed to be replace. This is a $460 part, one that has a long history of failure. My wife is afraid to drive this vehicle at night, for fear that the headlights will go out. I can understand if the module failed once, or maybe even twice, but three times in only 2. 5 years and less than 20,000 miles. It appears that this is a recurring problem with other Volvo owners as well, yet Volvo has not taken steps to remedy the issue. I consider this to be a significant safety issue, one that need to be addressed. I am very disappointed with Volvo's lack of action to correct this problem. Checking online, I see that many other Volvo Xc90 owners have been experiencing the same problem. Any assistance will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

While driving back from work the passenger low beam went out. I bought a new bulb and the light still did not work l then checked. The wiring going into the headlight and there was no power for the low beam how does this happen itxwas bad enough I had to replace the whole transmiton just 3months ago and now this I also read nonlinear they had problems with the trannys.

I purchased a 2005 Volvo Xc90 for $16,000. 6 months later the engine freezes up. That cost $10,000. 00 to replace the engine. Looked on google, very common for these v8 engines to freeze up. Now the headlights are acting up. Looked on google and found the headlight issue is very common. This will cost $3,000. 00 to repair. This car is going to cost me almost as much to repair it as I paid for it!! Volvo is loosing control. I would like you to issue a recall for these engine issues and issue a recall for these headlight issues. Please google 2005 Volvo Xc90 v8 engine and google the same year and model about the headlight issue. You will be astounded by all the pages of complaints about what is supposed to be a great car. These cars where $62,000. 00 brand new, what a joke they can sell this car with so many problems. Please issue a recall. [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

Driving in pitch black night on backroads of charleston, SC. Lights went out after left headlight flickered for a few days. Lights went out and car went off road as we were in a curve. Regained control after spinning on wet grass. I need the headlights repaired by Volvo at their expense and reimbursement for the failed engine I had to replace.

The left headlight will suddenly go out, sometimes while driving and other times the headlight will not light when the vehicle is started. At times it remained off for only a few minutes and other times it will be for days. I'd taken the vehicle in for service, but each time I did, the left headlamp was again working. I'd also replaced the headlamp in question, but still the headlamp worked only intermittently. I just returned from my 4th visit to the dealer, at which time they replaced the left front light ballast ($440. 00). The headlamp is currently working. My wife has been reluctant to drive the vehicle at night, for fear that both headlamps would go out. In researching online, I'm finding that this has been a recurrent problem with 2004 and 2005 Volvo xc-90's. I understand that the NHTSA has been investigating this problem with the Volvo xc-90 and a recall is being considered. We purchased the vehicle primarily due to it's 5-star safety rating, but we are not convinced that Volvo has adequately addressed a known problem.

The headlights started to flicker a few months ago. At first I thought I was imagining it until they started to briefly blink, I still was not sure it was happening. Tonight, as I was driving home, the lights abruptly turned off. I stopped the car as I was driving with no headlights and noticed a warning light that said low beam failure. I turned the car off and back on and the headlights started to work again. On the 30 minute drive home, the headlights would blink off and on; sometimes one would work, sometimes neither would work. Very unsafe!!! I'm very upset to read that this is a known complaint and Volvo has not addressed the problem. When the headlights turned off in the dark, I had both of my children in the car with me. It's horrible they would allow this known problem to go unresolved. That's playing with people's lives.

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The contact owns a 2005 Volvo Xc90. The contact stated that while driving approximately 35 mph, the engine stalled without any warning. The vehicle failed to restart and was towed to an independent auto shop for diagnosis. The technician stated the counter balance shaft bearing was frozen and the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. In addition, the headlights would intermittently operate and had not been repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 88,000. The VIN was not available.

The driver side low beam headlight keeps melting the plastic connector. I have replaced the connector and had all the wiring and other components checked on 3 different occasions. The dealer says nothing can be done to fix this issue. It is ridiculous that a luxury brand like Volvo is very aware of this issue and does nothing to alleviate the problem.

Headlights go on and off, don't work consistently. Sometimes both work, sometimes 1 works, sometimes neither work. Dealer wanted me to replace bulbs but at almost 200. 00 per bulb I think the problem is somewhere else since the bulbs do work sometimes.

Hello Volvo, for the record, we love our Volvo SUV (2004, Xc90). Over the years the service from michelle balside at Volvo on plainfield road in cincinnati has been truly excellent, her contact information is attached. However, we have has an issue since 2011 that has not been resolved, which is so uncharacteristic of Volvo. I am hoping you can help me change the outcome. For years my husband’s right headlight has been turning on and off intermittently. This is very dangerous when he drives to and from work at night on an old 4 lane highway (columbia parkway) that has no separation between east and west bound lanes, which means cars travel head-on at 70 miles an hour. Our dealer looked at the issue several times and said they could not fix it; so we lived with the dangerous issue because we thought the problem was unique to us. Recently, someone told us they were having issues with their Volvo headlights and they found a blog on edmonds which listed a lot of other Volvo owners with the same issue. I have attached the blog for your reference. The blog refers to a repair kit. Please let me know if Volvo corporate can send a repair kit to our dealer in cincinnati. We have been loyal customers and we are thinking of giving our used Volvo to our daughter when she turns 16 next spring, and buying a new Volvo for my husband, bill. Please show your customers that you care and you will resolve the headlight issue, it could save a life someday. For now, we “hope and pray” on a daily basis that the headlight functions as it should.

The contact owns a 2006 Volvo Xc90. The contact stated that the headlights had malfunctioned and would not illuminate. The vehicle was inspected by a dealer and they advised her that the comfort electronic module (cem) would need to be replaced. In addition, the vehicle stalled several times without warning. After the diagnosis, the technician advised that the cem also was the cause of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 52,000. The VIN was unavailable.

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This has to do with faulty headlight system on this car. I have had repeated failures of the low beam on both sides. The connector that the headlight plugs into overheats to the point where the plastic connector melts and no longer works. To fix it requires that a new connector be purchased and spliced in to replace defective part. It appears that the wire gauge is too low thus creating both a fire hazard as well as a safety hazard from having head lamps fail. I have spoken to both my local dealership and Volvo corporate about this problem and they both say that there is no recall thus there is nothing they can do to help fix it at their cost. Of course, they are more than happy to have me pay them a ridiculous price to repair it for me. They seems to care not that this is a safety issue. From research I have done, it appears that this is and has been a known issue for Volvo and yet they do nothing about it. The service person I spoke to today at the nally Volvo dealership in atlanta, GA admitted to me that they have all sorts of issues with headlights so this was not a surprise to him at all. . . But said they would not be able to do anything to help fix it. I would like to see NHTSA place serious pressure on Volvo to issue a recall to fix this serious safety hazard.

Main headlight system failure due to electrical system defect. In 2006 both vehicle head lights stopped working. On 07/03/06 main beam fuse replaced by dealer to correct problem. In 2010 right-side headlight stopped working. Customer replaced bulb per dash warning light but did not correct problem. Customer inspection of bulb contacts and bulb holder showed evidence of high heat due to melting of metal and plastic. On 07/16/10 Volvo dealer replaced headlight ballast, control module, contact unit and bulb. Right headlight problem corrected at cost of $435. 09 - ballast & control module; $108. 90 - contact unit; and $162. 00 - bulb, plus labor. Current problem is left-side headlight not working and appears to be a repeat of previous right-side problem.

2004 Volvo Xc90 headlight failure. Headlights failed Monday, August 30th in the evening. I have yet to take it to the Volvo dealership, but searched online and noticed that this is a concern for other owners and the NHTSA.

The contact owns a 2005 Volvo Xc90. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the driver side headlight would shut off intermittently. The vehicle was inspected by a dealer where the contact was informed that they would have to replace the cem unit. The vehicle had not been repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 70,000.

There is a low beam failure intermittently on the driver's side regardless of whether I'm using the daytime running lights or the bi-xenon headlights. The bulb has been replaced, fuses checked, wiring connections checked and the failure continues. The only incident this has caused has been a warning from a police officer about getting it repaired. I have taken it back to the dealership twice and they indicate that everything is running fine, however the bulb failure typically happens after the car has warmed up and has been driven for a while.

Vehicle has driver's side headlight failure. Replaced bulb with certified Volvo replacement and still did not work. Certified Volvo mechanic traced fuses and all electrical components (5 hours paid service) and found that a plastic part designed to keep water out of the interior (via windshield) was defective, therefore, causing water leakage to damage the central electrical module .

On our 2004 Volvo Xc90 the headlights suddenly went dark, no low or high beams at all. I am now being told it is a module and the repair cost is in excess of $1200. The car has hid headlights. This outage created a very serious safety issue in that we were driving up highway 395 at night when the complete failure of the headlights occurred. In researching the issue on the internet it appears it is a relatively common failure.

Passenger side headlight bulb (philips d2r 85126 xenon hid) on my 2004 Volvo Xc90 had to be replaced. After inserting a new replacement bulb identical to the original bulb, I am paying more attention to that headlight. It shines brighter than the driver's side headlight, and it blinks once for about a second after turning the car on. After reading on autoblog. Com that Volvo are under investigation for faulty headlight circuitry, I suspect this is the case with my car, and that this replacement bulb will fail soon.

2006 Volvo Xc90 headlamp failure. Wa. State Volvo rep. Denies intermittent headlamp failure exists. This is a huge safety issue. The Volvo headlights just fail when the vehicle is being driven! I and many others approx. 93,487 owner's of this vehicle have spent thousands of dollars having Volvo service dealer's unable to correct the serious problem. This should be a priority safety recall and Volvo should immediately send out a service bulletin to all dealerships. Apparently Volvo does know this problem exists and has purposely chosen to not correct the problem or to acknowledge the serious safety issue. Volvo owner's are at risk of serious injury or death. While driving the Volvo the headlamps flicker and fail . The driver usually a mother with children in the car is suddenly plunged into darkness at any given speed and at night. Please help all of us mothers who believe we made the best decision to provide" safety first" for our family's . This needs to be a priority safety recall . Having the headlights fail while driving is putting innocent lives in grave danger.

While driving my 2004 Volvo xc-90 at night I experienced a momentary loss of control, followed by the headlights pausing and then going from high beams to low. The instrument cluster lost some of it's displays and the door locks became inoperative. The data display warned me of an "urgent srs failure". I was at low speed a block from home so I crept home and the next day sent the car to triad Volvo by roll-back wrecker. Problem was failure of central electronic module. I called Volvo corporate and they seemed disinterested.

The plastic headlight lenses of my 2004 Volvo Xc90 have become cloudy and appear to prematurely aging. This is a safety issue and both the dealer -- don beyer Volvo in falls church, va -- and Volvo refuse to acknowledge the problem or repair it under the vehicle's warranty. . Read more...

We purchased our Xc90 2005 from gengras Volvo in meriden, CT on Dec 24, 2006. It is now oct 11, 2007. Since we've had the car we've put around 8,000 miles on it. It is not our primary vehicle and sits parked in our garage most of the time. On 10/10/07, upon leaving work and getting into my SUV I saw a rather large puddle of water on the floor of the driver?s side of my Xc90. The car obviously had been parked outside and it was raining that day. Since we were bringing the car into stamford Volvo on 10/11/07 to replace the front headlights - the seal on both headlight were cracked and needed to be replaced (these parts were under warranty and I figured it was best to do that), I also requested stamford CT Volvo to look at the water problem as well. On 10/11/07, stamford CT Volvo informed me and my husband that the sunroof drains were clogged and have been for sometime. We were led to believe that the problem was in fact a pre-existing condition. In fact he elaborated to say that this is a common problem on this car. It is probably the reason why the car has always had a musty odor to it. In fact, we noticed this odor at time of purchase from gengras Volvo in meriden, CT and the sales man (matthew martin at gengras Volvo in meriden, CT) had also noticed the odor as well and at our request was going to looking into it more. On 10/11/07, I called paul smith the general manager and supposed owner of gengras Volvo in meriden, CT to notify him of the drain problem and damage to the interior and to let him know that this probably should have been dealt with at the time of purchase since it is a common problem with this car and there was an musty odor his salesman had acknowledged. He immediately said it was my fault that the drain was clogged and he was absolutely not going to pay the $150. 00 to unclog the drain and the $800. 00 to repair my interior damage.