Front Suspension Upper Ball Joint problems of the 2000 Volvo S80

The contact owns a 2000 Volvo S80. While driving 5 mph, the left ball joint assembly detached and caused the front axle to fail. The contact stated that the left front wheel collapsed. The vehicle was towed to the local mechanic and was sold to him. The current and failure mileages were 73,000. Updated 09/18/07.

The contact owns a 2000 Volvo S80. The contact experienced two failures listed as recalls for the suspension and vehicle speed control. The manufacturer stated that his VIN was not included in the recalls. He is very upset with being excluded from the recalls because the failures are identical. While proceeding to make a left turn at approximately 5 mph, the tire detached from the front driver side of the vehicle. The contact felt that this was a very serious safety hazard. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic and the wheel axle, lower control arm, and upper ball joint were replaced. The contact also observed the failure of the speed control mechanism. While driving between 55-60 mph and applying pressure to the accelerator pedal, the vehicle decelerated and hesitated. This failure occurs only during highway driving. The vehicle has not been repaired for this failure. The recall numbers were unknown. The failure mileage was 53,000 and the current mileage was unknown.

- the contact owns a 2000 Volvo S80. The contact stated that there was safety recall 00v238000 that did not apply to this vehicle due to the VIN. The contact stated that the problems he had currently with this vehicle was directly related to the safety recall. There was front suspension noise prior to taking the vehicle through inspection, and the response time when making a turn was not as tight as it once was. The tie rods had an excessive amount of play in them, and he believed that it was directly related to the problem with the ball joints. The current and failure speed were both 92,000 miles. Update 05/04/tr.

Without any prior warning, the left front ball joint separated and damaged the axle. No odd noises before hand. No unusual tire wear. We do all scheduled maintenance. No work had recently been done on the front end. The technician said he did not think the vehicle had ever been in a prior accident--he saw no indication of that. My daughter was on her way to work--going 40 mph--no one around her, and not yet on the freeway where she was headed, thank god. The technician called it a "catastrophic failure" and said he was not exaggerating when he used that term. Both front ball joints were replaced (and the one that did not fail was not in good condition either) and the axle and 2 new tires. There had been a campaign to replace the original ball joints. This vehicle had the ball joints replaced in 2001.

Ball joint separated causing the passenger weel assembly to disoldge and bring the vehicle to a sudden stop.

My wife was driving our car and the right front wheel fell off. She had just pulled out of a driveway and was not going very fast. The consequences were that the suspension was damaged and the ball joints, which had failed and caused the collapse, and the cv joints had to be replaced and some other body work and repairs had to be done. The ball joints were subject of a recall in 2001, then our accident was caused by a subsequent failure and now I am told the front suspension is loose and the ball joints need replacing again. Something is seriously wrong with that system on the car.

The vehicle experienced the same problem as stated in recall 00 v23 8000. Regarding the upper ball joints.

In the year 2000 consumer stated the upper ball joints were replaced under recall (00v238000), however on Aug 12, 2002 while driving, the driver side front ball joint failed, which caused other damage to the vehicle, also when the vehicle was in the dealership having the recall performed, there was a noise coming from the front suspension, the dealer installed o-rings and bolts to the subframe.