Air Bag Problems of Volvo XC90 - part 2

While driving, the electronic panel all shut down and I got msg regarding brake failure and to stop safely. I was on left-most lane of highway and my signals and hazard lights would not turn on!!! even my power window would not work so I couldn't open for me to make hand-signals. Lucky my father-in-law next to me had window open so I told him to make motions to surrounding cars for me to change lanes safely. When I was able to stop, I turned off car, turned on again and got srs airbag urgent msg on panel. Since car started ok but with msg, I took side streets home but it shut off again 2 times. I did same thing (stop/restarted) and made it home. I had my in-laws with me and my 3 young kids when it first happened on 12/23/11. Because of holidays/vacation and since nearest dealer is 20 miles away (an hour drive with traffic) and service department only open on weekdays, we couldn't take to dealer right away. Since it was an airbag message, my husband not too concerned - he wasn't with me when it first happened so I don't think he realized the gravity. He used it few times and 2 wks later, it happened to him. This time when restarted, there was also check engine msg and noticed difficulty steering. He took to dealer, and both technician and manager could not diagnose problem! they just reset to remove the srs msg and did a software update. We thought/hoped it was fixed but then yesterday the same thing happened (all shut down)! last night we started checking on-line and found many similar complaints! we are devastated because we love/take care of this car, which we use primarily on weekends and trips. We thought it's safe for our family but now aren't comfortable that taking back to dealer will fix problem. I am very surprised there has been no recall. Something needs to be done because it's only a matter of time before there are fatalities.

See all problems of the 2004 Volvo XC90 🔎.

Was driving at highway speed when all electrical systems shut down. Dash panel indicated brake failure, stop carefully. No lights, turn signals, speedometer, tachometer, airbags, hazard lights, pwr windows, pwr brakes, radio - no power to anything. Clear, dry weather conditions. This had been happening for short cycles for approx. 2 months. Windshield wipers would turn on for one cycle and all power would shut down to dash, radio, lights etc. But would last for only a second or two. This might happen 2-3 times on approx. 20 mile drive home on highway. This only happens at highway speed. But the incident on Thursday 05. 26. 11 no power lasted for 10 miles until I got the vehicle home. Had the car sit for an hour and then started again and the dash indicated srs system failure but all power was restored to car.

Driving from phx to tus at 75 mi out of phx at about 2200hrs. The car completely failed for fraction of a second then resumed normal operation until arriving at destination 10 mi. Later. The second time a week later was traveling to phx at 1800 hrs. 70mi out of tus. The car failed like the first time then a few seconds later did it again reached destination about 15mi. Later. When this happens the lights, radio, windows, dash light and gauges all stop working the mess. Comes on abs,srs. Its happened 5 or 6 times now with the worst being yesterday 16 June 2012 . I got off loop 202 and pulled in a parking lot and shut down the car and then attempted to restart 4 times before it restarted. The a/c,windows, lights, gauges,turn signals all failed. The mess. Abs, srs, check engine came on. I drove about 5 mi to destination. I'm now scared to drive it if the srs, abs warning are on are they working? if in an accident will the passengers and driver be protected ?.

Instrument cluster goes black if turn car off comes back on. Message center say srs air bag failure.

See all problems of the 2003 Volvo XC90 🔎.

While driving our Volvo xc-90, the entire electrical system shuts down (dashboard display, lighting, ac, power windows, power door locks, everything electrical etc. ). Additionally, for a split second the engine/transmission jerks and/or stalls before resuming. The first time this happened was in 2010 and never occurred again for several years. Then suddenly on a recent trip in August 2014 this happened repeatedly and the electrical system never returned to operation during that trip. In that August 2014 occurrence we were traveling down narrow state highway 1 in big sur, California. Had we lost control of the vehicle during the jerking episodes we could have gone off the narrow road and down the steep cliff side to our deaths. This put our family in a very perilous situation. Additionally, since the above incident in late August 2014 the vehicle has experienced numerous other flashes/jerking incidents while at highway speeds. This occurrence seems to be increasing. This is a very dangerous situation and needs to be addressed with a national re-call.

While driving on the highway, my wipers came on for one cycle. A few minutes later the same thing. Then a few minutes after that the wipers came on, stayed on, and my intire electric panel shut down. No dash board instruments, no power in the windows, no turn signals, no stereo. Car still ran, and headlights still worked. Pretty scary. When I stopped the car, turned off the engine, and turned it back on again, everything returned to normal except for a srs message. This seems to happen when the car is stuck in traffic or is hot. My daughter was going 65 mph on a highway after being stuck in traffic for a while. She panicked because all lights and dash went out and she thought the engine had stopped. She could have had an accident!!!! last time it happened we got an error code for airbag failure. This is not good!.

The vehicle is intermittently shutting off while driving on the private roads or freeway, all electrical equipment (dashboard, gauges, stereo, some windows, driving tranny changer - can't shift), and all other items are going out. The power of the vehicle will stall for 1/2 second in as many as 3-5 times during an episode. Ultimately resulting in all electrical power failing. This appears to also be causing the batter to not be charged. The battery is new, purchased a few days ago to see if this would resolve the issue, which it didn't. Thus the car cannot be started after a few days of driving without trickle-charging the battery. The srs baggage warning has not become engaged. I am the second owner of this vehicle, it doesn't appear through carfax or other records history that the previous owner had repaired these issues. This is very concerning, because this could cause an accident, leave me or my family stranded.

2004 Volvo xc 90 and transmission is failing, as well as motor mounts, wheel bearing boots, etc. Dealer knows about these recurring issues with others of same year, but claims it is only my issue. Purchase price was ~$55k and with only 90k miles I should not now have to spend ~$5k for a new tranny. Rip-off.

Operating vehicle since oct '08, since that time there has been a noise emanating from front pass-side wheel area. Purchasing dealer(hall chevy, chesapeake, va) performed wheel-alignment to "fix" the noise which did not remedy. Volvo dealer in arvada, CO diagnosed it as failed, or failing wheel hub, to be replaced at cost of $500. This vehicle also had trans failure at appx 76k miles, and throttle control module failure in oct '09. I believe there are many concerns about operating and having confidence in its ability to operate "safely and reliably" the vehicle has been in the shop nearly as much as on-the-road since it's I purchased it in oct '08.

When working on the audio/cd/radio of the car, this generates an srs service urgent message to be displayed on the dash. This appears to be a common problem with Volvos if you check the message boards. People should be able to work/change out their stereos without the fear of the airbags working after words.

While driving in heavy traffic on April 25, 2009, my 2004 Volvo Xc90 began jerking and then there was a sudden loss of power, the instrument panel swooped to the far right and then back to left with no other movement, the radio shut off, the windshield wipers began wiping, and the door locks and windows would not work. Shortly thereafter, the message box displayed "brake failure-stop safely", and then changed to "srs airbag _service urgent". Once we stopped, the vehicle would not start again. I disconnected the battery in hopes of resetting the computer. Once this was done the car started again. Messages are still displayed. We contacted Volvo corporate and have an appointment with a local dealership tomorrow. This is a serious safety issue and it is not the first time I have submitted a complaint for this same type problem. I have been a faithful, repeat Volvo customer, and would like to continue to support Volvo. My loyalty is slowly fading, especially after reading several complaints of the same nature. Volvo please don't let a death occur before you take action.

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.

On August, 26, 2004 there was a major malfunction in our Volvo Xc90 (2004). While driving with 2 small children in car seats and 2 adults on a major highway; suddendly, there was no acceleration in the gas pedal and the stearing wheel did not function. We managed to slowly move to the side of the road from what momentum was left in the car, and avoid an accident. We were obviously very shaken up, and find this car completely unsafe. It has been 3 weeks now getting the run around with the cherry hill, new jersey Volvo dealer. They said "there's nothing wrong with the car". The car is unsafe for our family, and presents a danger for others on the road. We are afraid it will stop dead again on a major highway with death or injuries occuring to either ourselves or others. The dealer asked us what we wanted "we finally said, (after they said they'd get us a new SUV and did not) that we want our money back ($3,000 deposit) and we don't want this car they sold us. Today, they made us take this car back and they are refusing our request to refund our money. Also, the car was towed on a flat bed truck in to the dealer on July 13th, 2004 as the car did not start. . "relays were loose in the icm and cem etc. ," [we have the service order] on this day, the message on the car said something to the effect "urgent malfunction in SUV air bags. . . " and we unloaded the family and it was towed to the Volvo dealership. And the car's 2 side mirrors work one day and not the next. Tomorrow I take matthew to his first day at pre-school, and I'm half thinking what if something happens to the car when we're driving. It's amazing to me that Volvo can let me leave their parking lot with this car this evening, and the aren't taking safety seriously at all. So, at 11:00 pm I am up letting the NHTSA know what's going on. We are willing to help in anyway we can. Sincerely, the lawrence family.

While backing put of a parking lot power steering failed, vehicle smoked then caught on fire. Driver suffered from smoke inhalation. Prior to the vehicle catching on fire the consumer was involved in an accident the year before (July 12, 2003). The consumer was pressing on the horn when the crash occurred. The consumers hand was on the when the air bag deployed. The driver sustained several broken ones in her right hand which required 2 surgeries, extensive physical therapy and many other medical procedures.