Lifetime Toyota/Lexus owner but decided to change things up little over a year ago, after the worst year of my life. The final incident was my 1st ever accident at age 51 that totaled my ’05 Lexus GX470 I was just about to dump money to transform into a true off-road fun vehicle. Had the $$ still, plus insurance money so went shopping. Ended up at CarMax and fell in love with my new ride, a 2018 Volvo V90 Cross Country. The thing about buying from places like CarMax is the sales team do not know the cars they sell since they have everything on the lot. As a result, it was not until at least 6 months after purchase, I took it to local shop to check out some error codes and was told I have the Polestar engine! And I just thought Volvos were all basically street racers. This things drives incredible and the pickup is ridiculous. I am too old to challenge drivers to a race while on the road but the other day I was in a big hurry and I have a long commute, so I was hitting 100 at times and passing cars (safely). As I crept up on what I think was a souped up Mustang or some “rice rocket” I noticed they stepped on the gas and didn’t want me to pass. I did n’t expect that nor was I trying to race but I thought, let’s see if I can blow their minds with my wagon. Task accomplished. Let’s just say after their initial burst that caught me off guard, I gave it more juice and in not much time passed it by. They actually “won” as I backed down to make my turn and they sped off. This car moves!
1 previous owner and 51K miles with regular service completed. The car was immaculate and all it took was 1 test drive! I know this is not a popular car being a wagon and all, but it is perfect for stashing my surfboards and gear and is unofficially known in my family as the “surf wagon”. (The Subarus are fairly popular here in San Diego among the surf crew so rather than be one of the crowd, I figured I would stand out)
Being a 1st time Volvo owner has been an experience though. Toyota/Lexus are fairly easy to work on and I did all of my general upkeep and even began work on suspension. With the tech involved with the Volvo, I am much less confident. Furthermore, just my luck, within the past 5 months, it seems many error codes are now popping up. In order this is what I have:
1. Trailer Hitch malfunction (I will tow eventually but no time soon.
2. Suspension Failure – this concerned me but going through same issue with Lexus I have not investigated and it still drives fine after 4 months of the error light on. I am concerned though but wondering if this is a SOFTWARE UPGRADE ISSUE and not actually a suspension one?
the rest of the codes are minor (wiper fluid refill, etc). Interestingly my rear brakes are practically gone but I have not received 1` code on that?
The 1 time I took it to an independent Volvo mechanic with very high reviews, he thought it was quite possible the suspension was fine but I just needed the software upgrade but would need to take to a dealer for that. So I took to the local dealer here in Carlsbad CA and they were absolutely worthless!!! They kept my car for 3 days and IO honest to God believe they did NOTHING to it! The same error codes still come up.
Anyone have any experience or thoughts on this? I appreciate all of you in advance! Hoping to learn a ton and become skilled at my Volvo as I was my Lexus.