general problems of the 2011 Volvo S40

Driving down the highway at 55 mph when instrument panel went completely blank I heard a sizzling noise behind the dash board. I lost the speedometer, gas gauge, light indicator, blinker indicators, all of the instruments you depend on while driving down the road. I immediately pulled over and shut the car off, it continued sizzling sounding like it was burning. After a few minutes I started the car and nothing on the instrument panel works, I turned on the flasher and limped to a local mechanic, as an elderly female this was very nerve racking as I did not know if my flashers were working nor what speed I was traveling. The mechanic told me that he knew exactly what it was something called the dim had went bad and that only a Volvo dealer could replace which will cost over $1800. He said I should feel lucky that the car had not caught fire as that was usually what happened in these situations and Volvo had ignored this problem for years so they would not have to spend money on a recall. This part is not something that is a wear and tear item it is faulty from the manufacturer yet they continue to charge people outrageous amounts to replace them. I now have to drive an unsafe car as I cant even tell if I have a working blinker over 40 miles to the nearest Volvo dealer, I am not sure what will happen after that as I do not have the money (social security) to fix something that Volvo should be repairing for free. I do not understand why this problem has not been recalled as I have researched and see this has been an issue with Volvo for many makes and model year cars not just 2011.