I’d originally posted my experience with a CPO 2023 S90 that I purchased in 2024. The vehicle had < 1000 miles and one owner, a clean record and was returned due to the owner wanted a XC.
Soon after purchase, the car began to have problems. It began with a faulty child safety lock on the rear driver’s side door, and also a window privacy shade mechanism that broke. I took it to the dealership, which kept the car for 2 weeks while they awaited parts.
A few months later, I noticed the engine intermittently racing and stalling while driving at low speeds. A ‘check engine’ light came on, and I took it to the dealership without scheduling an appointment. They reluctantly scanned for codes and came back with 15 or so hits. I was given a loaner and waited.
And waited. And waited. For three months, the dealership couldn’t find the solution, and neither could Volvo engineering. The resolution was to replace the engine on a car that had 7,000 miles on it, at a cost of $25,000 that was covered by the CPO.
During my 3 month wait, I contacted Volvo corporate to open a file. I was advised to allow the process to go through, and kept in regular touch with them and the dealership. In other words, Volvo corporate knew that the engine was going to be replaced under CPO.
When I got my car back, I found that I was bottoming out when going over speed bumps at 13 mph or making a turn while going uphill (like into a driveway). The car went right back to the dealership, who kept it for 2 weeks and couldn’t find a source for the noise. As a courtesy, they replaced the skid plate under car, which appeared to be slightly damaged. I had the lead mechanic drive around with me, replicated the noise, and was told that I was just not used to driving a long car.
At this point, I received an interesting offer from Volvo corporate: accept a one time payout of $3000 and keep the vehicle (with the CPO warranty intact) or accept a trade in with assist.
I went to an independent Volvo service shop, explained the situation, and had them look for an explanation as to why I was bottoming out. After 15 minutes, they found the problem: the front fender hadn’t been reattached properly when the engine was replaced.
Armed with this info, I decided to go with the trade in assist because I found that I couldn’t trust the work done at the dealership on this vehicle. After all, they had been the ones who did the initial CPO inspection, kept the car for 3.5 months, replaced the engine, and couldn’t identify an issue that an independent service shop found in less than half an hour.
The trade in assist process was very weird for me. Volvo corporate works through the dealer, but also won’t give the dealer any info about the process. As a result, I ended up spending time tying up loose ends and chasing down timelines. It began w the dealer asking me to name a price for my current car (the trade in value). I gave them the KBB value, plus a little more. Then Volvo corporate called me and told me to go to the dealership to pick out ‘any car I liked’, as long as it was a new Volvo. I found the car I liked, took it for a quick test drive, and the dealer slapped a ‘Sold’ sign on it.
A few days later, I get a call from the dealer to come pick up the new car. The dealer bought back my S90 at the KBB, Volvo gave them money to make up the difference between the KBB and what I had set as my trade in value, and I was to make up the difference between that and the price of the new car. Fortunately, I had a number of discounts that I was able to stack and use, which brought the amount I owed down quite a bit.
Overall, the trade in assist process was very disjointed and confusing. The customer service agent insisted that they had been trying to reach me for weeks, but I had no emails, missed calls or voice mail from them. They finally reached me just a day before the offer was to expire, but gave me a few days to think about it. Once I accepted the offer, I was never able to reach customer service again, despite having the agent’s number and leaving several VMs and emails. This was incredibly frustrating as neither Volvo corporate nor the dealership could provide info about where we were in the process, and I was driving a car that felt incredibly unsafe.
Still, I’m happy that this program exists for the rare one-off. Who knows if my issues happened because of manufacturing issues, or if the dealership mechanics just didn’t know how to work on this car?