I lease a 2024 S60 T8 recharge and while driving I received the “Propulsion system requires service” with an amber turtle symbol. This message was shortly followed by another message that stated, “acceleration performance of the transmission is reduced,” and again, an amber turtle. At this point, the vehicle did not behave any differently, and I was less than 50 feet from my private drive. I live on a two-lane (one lane in each direction) mountain road where there is no shoulder on either side, so the safest thing to do would have been to pull into my drive; however, before I could do this, the car came to a rolling stop (the engine continue to run), the steering wheel locked up, and the car would not let me put it into neutral, in fact, the display for the PRND had disappeared from the display. I was now sitting on the road on the back side of a blind hill with no way for cars to get around me safely, where the speed limit is 55 mph. I attempted to turn the car off and on to no effect so I called Volvo roadside assistance. My main priority was moving the car to safety, so I asked for a way to put it into limp mode or neutral so I could roll it down the hill and out of the blind spot. Roadside assistance told me they did not think there was a way to do that, so they dispatched a tow truck. At that point, a car attempted to go around me and almost had a head-on collision, so I told the Volvo roadside operator that this was a real emergency and I needed to call the police for assistance. At that time, I called 911, and I was told that highway patrol would be dispatched to assist. While I waited for the tow and highway patrol, I witnessed another near-head-on collision, So I got out of the car and ran up to the top of the hill to direct traffic. I also called Flow Volvo of Burlington service department and Volvo of Greensboro to see if they knew of a way to get the car into limp mode or neutral, but they did not. At this point, I also recorded the messages on the info system that stated, “The propulsion system requires service. Bring the vehicle to a workshop.” After the highway patrol arrived, they directed traffic while I waited for the tow.
When the tow truck arrived, the vehicle had to be dragged onto a flatbed because the steering was still locked up, and the PRND still did not work.
The service department determined that the fuel pump was the cause of the issue and fixed the fuel pump. I asked if the car was supposed to lockup as it did in response to a fuel pump failure and why none of the follow-on effects of the fuel pump failure were addressed in the service record (Steering lockup, PRNDL system not working) and in an email the service manager stated that they were aware of the steering lockup and PRNDL system failure because they had to deal with it when moving the car from the tow truck to the service area, however, that the vehicle responded to the fuel pump failure the way it was designed to. I do not find this to be a satisfactory response, and throughout this ordeal, the service manager gave me contradictory information.
We have not driven the vehicle since it was delivered to us (November 20th) because we have safety concerns.
I have also tried to get a resolution from Volvo Car Customer Support but was told they base their findings on the service report (which did not state any issue beyond the fuel pump).