Wipers simply stopped working - V90 CC

[crashbarrier]

The other day my wife jumped back in her car after driving somewhere and the wipers refused to work. Wiper Service Required was the message on the instrument display. She went through the usual thing of turning off the ignition, then ignition off, get out and lock doors and finally, stopped just short of inflicting physical harm to it but all to no avail.
Wiper Service Required it screamed and the wipers refused to work.
Luckily, she was very close to the dealer so in the light rain she crawled there to be told that it requires a 3-hour software update to sort it out.

What kind of manufacturer designs a car where a simple software glitch kills such a safety-critical item as the wipers?
This car seems to be one software update after another(Sensus crashing update due on the 14th June) and we are seriously tiring of it. I can see it being got rid of in the very near future because if this is what it's going to be like then Volvo is not the marque for us.

[amadan]

Originally Posted by crashbarrier

The other day my wife jumped back in her car after driving somewhere and the wipers refused to work. Wiper Service Required was the message on the instrument display. She went through the usual thing of turning off the ignition, then ignition off, get out and lock doors and finally, stopped just short of inflicting physical harm to it but all to no avail.
Wiper Service Required it screamed and the wipers refused to work.
Luckily, she was very close to the dealer so in the light rain she crawled there to be told that it requires a 3-hour software update to sort it out.

What kind of manufacturer designs a car where a simple software glitch kills such a safety-critical item as the wipers?
This car seems to be one software update after another(Sensus crashing update due on the 14th June) and we are seriously tiring of it. I can see it being got rid of in the very near future because if this is what it's going to be like then Volvo is not the marque for us.

Yup I feel your pain. I’ve had the same on my v60 - and my headlights refused to work with a similar issue.

Just FYI I “fixed” my issues with turning off the car, locking it and leaving it for a while. Not a great fix but something.

A software update later and it appears not to have come back.

I’ve been offered an old of a family member who has owned it from new. As I’ve done 4k miles last year I’m seriously tempted to sell my Volvo and clear the finance for a couple of years while covid sorts itself out as I’m getting sick of my “60k car” acting like it was programmed by a 2nd high school student.

[techwatcher]

I had a software issue related to headlights on our last XC60 which threw an error something like 'headlight system - service required'. Fortunately the lights continued to function. According to the Volvo Master Technician at my dealer the lights had 'lost their calibration'. Fixed by a software reset.

As amadan as said, sometimes glitches can be resolved by turnoff off, locking the car and leaving it for 30 minutes or so - rationale for leaving it is that the car's systems don't all shut down immediately but gradually over a period of time.

These glitches are annoying but given the complexity of the car's systems are perhaps not too surprising. There are literally dozens of computer subsystems, each with numerous sensors and potentially thousands of lines of code, all of which has to work correctly, which it does almost all of the time.

I suspect that this kind of thing happens across other marques and not just Volvo.

[amadan]

Originally Posted by techwatcher

I had a software issue related to headlights on our last XC60 which threw an error something like 'headlight system - service required'. Fortunately the lights continued to function. According to the Volvo Master Technician at my dealer the lights had 'lost their calibration'. Fixed by a software reset.

As amadan as said, sometimes glitches can be resolved by turnoff off, locking the car and leaving it for 30 minutes or so - rationale for leaving it is that the car's systems don't all shut down immediately but gradually over a period of time.

These glitches are annoying but given the complexity of the car's systems are perhaps not too surprising. There are literally dozens of computer subsystems, each with numerous sensors and potentially thousands of lines of code, all of which has to work correctly, which it does almost all of the time.

I suspect that this kind of thing happens across other marques and not just Volvo.

My old 2016 BMW X3 had far superior lights and wipers (imho) and never had an issue with them refusing to run. Of course that’s a sample of one.

I agree with crashbarrier - Volvos lack of software QC is unacceptable. I would begrudgingly accept an issue with the stereo or heating etc but as far as I’m concerned wipers and lights are in the same category as brakes - if they fail they MUST fail safe not just refuse to work.

[techwatcher]

Originally Posted by amadan

My old 2016 BMW X3 had far superior lights and wipers (imho) and never had an issue with them refusing to run. Of course that’s a sample of one.

I agree with crashbarrier - Volvos lack of software QC is unacceptable. I would begrudgingly accept an issue with the stereo or heating etc but as far as I’m concerned wipers and lights are in the same category as brakes - if they fail they MUST fail safe not just refuse to work.

I don't know the details of Volvo's software QC but they will certainly have done extensive testing. Ideally these issues would not happen but it is (literally) impossible to test any piece of software for every possible situation. Sensors can also give anomalous readings on occasion.

Wipers and lights aren't quite in the same category as brakes. If your wipers and/or headlights fail you could still drive the car safely depending on conditions.

[crashbarrier]

Originally Posted by amadan

My old 2016 BMW X3 had far superior lights and wipers (imho) and never had an issue with them refusing to run. Of course that’s a sample of one.

I agree with crashbarrier - Volvos lack of software QC is unacceptable. I would begrudgingly accept an issue with the stereo or heating etc but as far as I’m concerned wipers and lights are in the same category as brakes - if they fail they MUST fail safe not just refuse to work.

I couldn’t put it better myself. Wiper failure renders the car dangerous and unusable. You cannot drive the car safely if it is raining which, lets’s face it, is the time when you actually need them to work. In conditions of precipitation they are in exactly the same category as brakes(always) or lights(if dark). I could accept that a software issue will render the rain sensitive function u/s or the intermittent system but not simply working, even at a single speed.
Strange how my BMW seems to run perfectly and never has issues with wipers failing or total infotainment system crashing continuously. The same applies to our previous Mercedes. Don’t get me started on the map updates that the car seems incapable of downloading over the air. File too big? Again, my BMW seems to be able to download an update that covers the whole of Europe and not just the laughingly called North West Europe which is basically Great Britain.
This car is running out of lives and it won’t take much more for it to be offloaded.

[eternal optimist]

I really fancy a V90 or V90CC - but stories like these put me right off.

[crashbarrier]

eternal optimist,
If your name is your life creed then I reckon you’ll be OK with a Volvo.

Our V90 CC Pro is a really lovely car and until recently we have been very, very pleased with it (our first ever Volvo). It is so solid and has a real feeling of quality. It’s just badly let down by the software systems that are running in the background. I’m sure that thousands of owners will never experience any problems but, for us, this one has really dented our confidence in the car. You begin to wonder what might be next to fail simply because it’s software update needs installing.
I am going to contact VOSA and register this wiper issue as I believe it should be a recall and not something to be done when it fails.

[amadan]

Originally Posted by techwatcher

I don't know the details of Volvo's software QC but they will certainly have done extensive testing. Ideally these issues would not happen but it is (literally) impossible to test any piece of software for every possible situation. Sensors can also give anomalous readings on occasion.

Wipers and lights aren't quite in the same category as brakes. If your wipers and/or headlights fail you could still drive the car safely depending on conditions.

You try telling that to me when it’s dark o’clock and p1issing down on a “smart motorway” and either your wipers or lights fail to work! It’s completely unacceptable - they’re an MOT failure for a reason!

As previously said - if it’s just the automatic functions that’s not good but it’s still safe, but for them to work at all is just dangerous.

As for QC I’m only a sample of one but so far I’ve had the following “fixed by software updates”
Parking sensors not activating reliably
360 cameras not activating
Mirrors not unfurling/furling
Headlight beam came on on auto and wouldn’t go off
Wipers would not turn on
Car wouldn’t lock
Car refused to acknowledge there was a key in the car but ONLY if there was 2 keys in the car

This is before we get to the weird oversights - why is my 2020 car still working on a wire for carplay? My 2016 BMW had wireless carplay. I’m not saying the Germans have everything perfect, far from it - my X3 rattled so badly but Volvo are seriously behind the field here.

Also if you want to look at geely as a wider brand go and search on some of the issues the polestar 2 owners are having with poor range, software issues, inability to get online on Android infotainment (can’t remember the right name sorry).

My car is currently in the garage for its first service and Volvo are arguing the toss about £80 for tyre valve dust caps as in 4k miles all the gold has flaked off them and they look cr4p now. I’ve yet to find out what they’re saying about the creases in the leather (see another thread for this common issue).

[eternal optimist]

Originally Posted by crashbarrier

eternal optimist,
If your name is your life creed then I reckon you’ll be OK with a Volvo.

Our V90 CC Pro is a really lovely car and until recently we have been very, very pleased with it (our first ever Volvo). It is so solid and has a real feeling of quality. It’s just badly let down by the software systems that are running in the background. I’m sure that thousands of owners will never experience any problems but, for us, this one has really dented our confidence in the car. You begin to wonder what might be next to fail simply because it’s software update needs installing.
I am going to contact VOSA and register this wiper issue as I believe it should be a recall and not something to be done when it fails.

I'm on my sixth Volvo - a 2004 XC70 with almost 190k on the clock. I've added about 65k to it in just over three years. It was well looked after by it's previous owner (who had it from almost new), and I've done nothing to it other than maintain it to within an inch of it's life using quality tyres, oils, filters, and Volvo belts, discs and pads. Touch wood, it's never failed to start or finish a journey. I paid £2250 for it, and I think it's worth at least that now.

My 960, 240, V40, 145 and 122S were all equally reliable. The Saabs I've had (99, 9000 and two 9-5's) were almost as robust; the younger they were, the less reliable they were. I've had Mercedes W124's and an original G-Wagen -the W124's and the G Wagen had the same solid, quality feel the XC70 has.

What worries me is not so much the mechanical integrity of the V90, but the likelihood of a failure on one or other of the control systems. I really can't stand unreliability. I hired a new XC90 T6 for three weeks in California a couple of years ago - lovely thing. As are the V90's; I'm just not confident that a £15k V90 with 90k miles on it is going to be as reliable, easy to repair or cost effective as what I'm driving today.