Selected gear mode keeps jumping to Park automatically!

[Yelper85]

Originally Posted by Yelper85

So the car has been in with the dealer for two weeks now. Volvo authorised a new fuel fired heater which came from Sweden, fitted it, tested, exactly the same issue! The technician said all the sensors are reading correctly and all the triggers are there but it refuses to fire up and locks it out, so now it's another to-and-fro with technical reports between the dealer and Volvo Sweden as to what to do next, and to top it off they need the current loan car back as they have sold it.

The new boot struts have been fitted. Apparently these cost £1,100 for the pair! Thank god it was under warranty!

All the other issues are yet to be looked at but apparently they are looking to wipe the entire cars software and start from scratch, however that just fills me with dread as I get the feeling it will fix one thing and create two more, just like Microsoft

So yeah, I'm fed up of this crap and I do think it's time to say goodbye once we get it back as clearly it's plagued. I just want a fault free car, and I don't think that's too much to ask when paying over £50k for it. . . . .?

Finally got the car back. Turns out the issue wasn't the heater itself (even though it got replaced) but rather the hose connection on the auxiliary fuel pump that feeds the heater. It wasn't fully pushed home and thus the valve wasn't opening to allow fuel through. That's what I've been told anyway. If true I can only assume it was like that from factory and the previous owner never used preconditioning. Warms up very quickly as well!

However now we have issues with Sensus hanging when loading and changing profiles and the main driver display now keeps displaying what looks like the old BBC off-air snowstorm but it's multicoloured. Oh and to top it off, there's now a big brown stain on the cream leather arm rest that's soaked in, so it's got to go back in yet again for the valeters to try and remove it, however if they can't it's a new arm rest.

I asked about all the other issues I'd raised and it seems like they haven't even been looked at as I spoke to the master tech who had been working on my car and he said he couldn't remember what he'd done on it. Brilliant. We've asked for a full written report of what was done and what was found, and they have agreed.

We also had a very lucky escape with the loan car as they supplied it with a bald rear tyre which blew out on the M1 leaving me stranded in the live lane. Spend two hours in the freezing cold rain behind the barrier whilst the AA turned up to get us on a low-loader. All the other tyres were just legal and initially they said there's no way on earth the car would have been supplied in that condition, until we sent them the photos of the tyre where they then quickly backtracked and put the blame on Sales as it's a lease car.

I've filed a complaint with Volvo HQ for the insane amount of issues this car has had, both inherently and the dealers, so I'll keep you posted as to how things go on that front as well as these new issues.

[Yelper85]

Originally Posted by Yelper85

Finally got the car back. Turns out the issue wasn't the heater itself (even though it got replaced) but rather the hose connection on the auxiliary fuel pump that feeds the heater. It wasn't fully pushed home and thus the valve wasn't opening to allow fuel through. That's what I've been told anyway. If true I can only assume it was like that from factory and the previous owner never used preconditioning. Warms up very quickly as well!

However now we have issues with Sensus hanging when loading and changing profiles and the main driver display now keeps displaying what looks like the old BBC off-air snowstorm but it's multicoloured. Oh and to top it off, there's now a big brown stain on the cream leather arm rest that's soaked in, so it's got to go back in yet again for the valeters to try and remove it, however if they can't it's a new arm rest.

I asked about all the other issues I'd raised and it seems like they haven't even been looked at as I spoke to the master tech who had been working on my car and he said he couldn't remember what he'd done on it. Brilliant. We've asked for a full written report of what was done and what was found, and they have agreed.

We also had a very lucky escape with the loan car as they supplied it with a bald rear tyre which blew out on the M1 leaving me stranded in the live lane. Spend two hours in the freezing cold rain behind the barrier whilst the AA turned up to get us on a low-loader. All the other tyres were just legal and initially they said there's no way on earth the car would have been supplied in that condition, until we sent them the photos of the tyre where they then quickly backtracked and put the blame on Sales as it's a lease car.

I've filed a complaint with Volvo HQ for the insane amount of issues this car has had, both inherently and the dealers, so I'll keep you posted as to how things go on that front as well as these new issues.

And yet another fault. Passenger wing mirror started sounding like it was grinding so they have replaced it. Apparently a 20 plate car (it's basically a MY21) with mirrors that fold on average 4-8 times a day is classed as high usage and so expect high wear on those items so the dealer told me. Yeah, ok . . . .

Oh and the power module for the Sensus screen is being replaced as apparently that has fault errors but they have said this is only power to the unit so most likely won't resolve the hanging issues for which they have no answers, just like all the other software issues. They even tried to say the driver display was a hardware issue, so you're telling me it started happening on the exact day they did another update on the car. Call me cynical but . . .

They have also said the stain isn't a stain, it's most likely a 'wear' mark. I said, what do you mean wear mark, it wasn't there when I gave you the car and now it's there, it's clearly a stain. The rest of the arm rest surface texture is the same and there's not step change, it's a stain, but they are not accepting liability. They said the valeters have tried to get it out and the rest of the car looks fantastic inside, so what you're telling me is the arm rest is exactly as when I dropped the car off for you to resolve and you think telling me that because the rest of the interior is clean that will throw me off? Take a look at the attached photos. Does this look like 'wear' mark to you?

[sk546]

Originally Posted by Yelper85

Take a look at the attached photos. Does this look like 'wear' mark to you?

Thats definitely a stain, no idea how the dealership can call it a wear mark.........
Some dealerships do seem to have issues taking liability for things they have done. My previous XC60 went into my local dealership (one I no longer use due to this incident) for a service and some warranty work for which we specifically told them 'No Wash' when we dropped it off.
Service done and what warranty work they could complete in the time was sorted I came to collect the car to find they had washed it. Due to it being a torrential downpour at the time I couldn't check out their handy work until later that evening when it was at home in the garage when I found they appeared to have cleaned the car with a brillo pad with scratches and swirl marks all over the car, a couple of pretty deep ones too almost fully through the paint.....
Called the dealership and told them I would be in the next day as I wasn't happy at all.

When the service manager looked at the car the next day, he basically said it couldn't have been his valeters as they would never have done such a thing but because we had said not to wash the car and they did wash the car, (and I quote here) 'we had them over a barrel'.
I clean my cars with great care, I have a grit mesh at the bottom of the bucket so nothing can get back on my lambs wool cleaning mitt, I jet wash all the large contaminants off first, snow foam and jet wash again before anything physically touches the paintwork and then finish off with a microfibre drying cloth so yes, I am very detailed in what I do. For the Service manager to basically turn around and say we had done the damage but because they had cleaned the car against our wishes so we were forcing them to rectify 'our' faults was rather disappointing to say the least.
The dealership did then send the car to a localish bodywork repair shop (over towards Kings Lynn) where they did a second rate machine polish and although they said they re-applied the ceramic coating I had on my paintwork, it was never the same afterwards so I don't believe they did.
I never went any further with any complaints as a few weeks later, we switched into our current XC60 but due to this, I no longer use my local dealership, I drive down to Ipswich (where we ordered and collected both of our XC60's) for all servicing and warranty stuff who are just a much nicer dealership to go to.

Keep at your dealership and hopefully they will finally fess up to causing the stain and if you get nowhere with the dealership, involve Volvo UK who may assist you.
Its frustrating when you drop off a well looked after car and collect something sub par after service or warranty work, it just leaves a bad taste.

[Yelper85]

Originally Posted by sk546

Thats definitely a stain, no idea how the dealership can call it a wear mark.........
Some dealerships do seem to have issues taking liability for things they have done. My previous XC60 went into my local dealership (one I no longer use due to this incident) for a service and some warranty work for which we specifically told them 'No Wash' when we dropped it off.
Service done and what warranty work they could complete in the time was sorted I came to collect the car to find they had washed it. Due to it being a torrential downpour at the time I couldn't check out their handy work until later that evening when it was at home in the garage when I found they appeared to have cleaned the car with a brillo pad with scratches and swirl marks all over the car, a couple of pretty deep ones too almost fully through the paint.....
Called the dealership and told them I would be in the next day as I wasn't happy at all.

When the service manager looked at the car the next day, he basically said it couldn't have been his valeters as they would never have done such a thing but because we had said not to wash the car and they did wash the car, (and I quote here) 'we had them over a barrel'.
I clean my cars with great care, I have a grit mesh at the bottom of the bucket so nothing can get back on my lambs wool cleaning mitt, I jet wash all the large contaminants off first, snow foam and jet wash again before anything physically touches the paintwork and then finish off with a microfibre drying cloth so yes, I am very detailed in what I do. For the Service manager to basically turn around and say we had done the damage but because they had cleaned the car against our wishes so we were forcing them to rectify 'our' faults was rather disappointing to say the least.
The dealership did then send the car to a localish bodywork repair shop (over towards Kings Lynn) where they did a second rate machine polish and although they said they re-applied the ceramic coating I had on my paintwork, it was never the same afterwards so I don't believe they did.
I never went any further with any complaints as a few weeks later, we switched into our current XC60 but due to this, I no longer use my local dealership, I drive down to Ipswich (where we ordered and collected both of our XC60's) for all servicing and warranty stuff who are just a much nicer dealership to go to.

Keep at your dealership and hopefully they will finally fess up to causing the stain and if you get nowhere with the dealership, involve Volvo UK who may assist you.
Its frustrating when you drop off a well looked after car and collect something sub par after service or warranty work, it just leaves a bad taste.

It's totally disheartening and a complete let-down. This entire experience has just left me drained, fed-up, and bitter. Even with the dealership aside, the amount of issues with this car is just not acceptable.

I've started taking photos and videos of the car when I drop it off at the dealers and make sure I show the dealership in the video/photos as evidence as to the condition when I drop it off now. How they have the audacity to deny liability when it was completely fine then three weeks later when I pick the car up and find that is just beyond me.

Volvo HQ have already had an extremely detailed email and I'm just waiting for the reply, but now I have these additional items to make them aware of!

I guess you were lucky as you had leverage given you explicitly stated no wash, but I assume they tried to say ok, we washed it, but the damage was already there and so it's your word against ours even if we ignore the fact we didn't listen to your wishes?

You can guarantee they won't have ceramic coated it again, or at least not the decent stuff. Out of interest, I was looking at getting this for both this XC60 and my V60. Which brand did you go with in the end and who did the work? As an interim I use the Turtle Wax Ceramic wash and the difference is unbelievable, so to have a proper ceramic coating would be a dream.

[sk546]

Originally Posted by Yelper85

It's totally disheartening and a complete let-down. This entire experience has just left me drained, fed-up, and bitter. Even with the dealership aside, the amount of issues with this car is just not acceptable.

I've started taking photos and videos of the car when I drop it off at the dealers and make sure I show the dealership in the video/photos as evidence as to the condition when I drop it off now. How they have the audacity to deny liability when it was completely fine then three weeks later when I pick the car up and find that is just beyond me.

Volvo HQ have already had an extremely detailed email and I'm just waiting for the reply, but now I have these additional items to make them aware of!

I guess you were lucky as you had leverage given you explicitly stated no wash, but I assume they tried to say ok, we washed it, but the damage was already there and so it's your word against ours even if we ignore the fact we didn't listen to your wishes?

You can guarantee they won't have ceramic coated it again, or at least not the decent stuff. Out of interest, I was looking at getting this for both this XC60 and my V60. Which brand did you go with in the end and who did the work? As an interim I use the Turtle Wax Ceramic wash and the difference is unbelievable, so to have a proper ceramic coating would be a dream.

Yes, they did start off with 'the damage must have already been there' my word against their word approach but like you, I take pictures before I drop my cars off at dealerships so I could clearly prove it wasn't.
My old car had Car Pro Cquartz 3.0 which was good (and Volvo definitely didnt re-apply that even though they stated they did) but my current XC60 and Mini GP3 have Matrix Black ceramic coating which has been brilliant and light years better than the Cquartz. Both cars had it applied at The Body Centre in Norwich, well renowned repair, modification and detailing specialist near me.

[Yelper85]

Originally Posted by sk546

Yes, they did start off with 'the damage must have already been there' my word against their word approach but like you, I take pictures before I drop my cars off at dealerships so I could clearly prove it wasn't.
My old car had Car Pro Cquartz 3.0 which was good (and Volvo definitely didnt re-apply that even though they stated they did) but my current XC60 and Mini GP3 have Matrix Black ceramic coating which has been brilliant and light years better than the Cquartz. Both cars had it applied at The Body Centre in Norwich, well renowned repair, modification and detailing specialist near me.

Do you mind me asking how much it cost? My usual go-to-guy quoted ~£350 when I enquired but I seemed to get a range of prices from £150-£500 when I asked around!

Like most things I'm assuming you get what you pay for, but I'm no expert in this field. I think I'd be worried if I went with £150 option because how can anybody be making profit if using good quality products and taking their time? I imagine for £150 they just throw it on, have a fag, then ring you to say it's done, but then again does it matter what it gets on so it doesn't need to be done carefully?

I did read somewhere the main portion of the cost is preparation work because once the coating is on, it's set in stone, so any marks or chips or dirt etc are then permanent and for all to see forever more (unless they remove the coating with a stone laden dirty wrap of course! )

[sk546]

Originally Posted by Yelper85

Do you mind me asking how much it cost? My usual go-to-guy quoted ~£350 when I enquired but I seemed to get a range of prices from £150-£500 when I asked around!

Like most things I'm assuming you get what you pay for, but I'm no expert in this field. I think I'd be worried if I went with £150 option because how can anybody be making profit if using good quality products and taking their time? I imagine for £150 they just throw it on, have a fag, then ring you to say it's done, but then again does it matter what it gets on so it doesn't need to be done carefully?

I did read somewhere the main portion of the cost is preparation work because once the coating is on, it's set in stone, so any marks or chips or dirt etc are then permanent and for all to see forever more (unless they remove the coating with a stone laden dirty wrap of course! )

I paid around the £650 mark for the XC60 and £500ish for the mini (this will likely be more now as everything has gone up since I had these done) but like you say, the majority of the cost is in labour during the paint correction prep work before the coating is applied.
They had both cars for 4-5 days total (and included a courtesy car), 2-3 days prep (depending on how much is needed, decontamination wash, machine polishing etc), 1 day indoor application of ceramic coating (and indoor is the key word, companies that say applying it on your driveway just aren't going to get the same quality finish as pollutants will settle on the coating as its curing) and 1 day hardening/curing and finishing work before letting you take the car home.

Id never let a dealership apply any form of coating (especially not one thrown in with a new car purchase) as they will not complete any of the prep work, just do a half arse valet and throw the coating on. If your gonna do it, do it properly or not at all because like you say, once its on, thats what you're stuck with forever.

[Yelper85]

Originally Posted by sk546

I paid around the £650 mark for the XC60 and £500ish for the mini (this will likely be more now as everything has gone up since I had these done) but like you say, the majority of the cost is in labour during the paint correction prep work before the coating is applied.
They had both cars for 4-5 days total (and included a courtesy car), 2-3 days prep (depending on how much is needed, decontamination wash, machine polishing etc), 1 day indoor application of ceramic coating (and indoor is the key word, companies that say applying it on your driveway just aren't going to get the same quality finish as pollutants will settle on the coating as its curing) and 1 day hardening/curing and finishing work before letting you take the car home.

Id never let a dealership apply any form of coating (especially not one thrown in with a new car purchase) as they will not complete any of the prep work, just do a half arse valet and throw the coating on. If your gonna do it, do it properly or not at all because like you say, once its on, thats what you're stuck with forever.

It's such a shame you can't trust the dealer to do good work, especially on a new car, but as you've said and as I've experienced many times from all different dealers, they really don't care all that much.

I suppose the issue for the dealer is time is money and the badge on the car doesn't really matter to them as just because it's a Volvo dealer doesn't necessarily guarantee quality even if they do supposedly have these customer satisfaction inspections and awards, however I'd love to know how that information is actually obtained and rated as I'd love to give some feedback!

I think if you were guaranteed the best job then paying dealer premiums might be justified, but it just isn't the case for the reason above but also if you have somebody working on it that just doesn't care then it's never going to end well. I always wanted to believe, and I did again when I became a Volvo owner, that certain brands are different, but now I realise you want an independent garage who specialise in that area and love what they do. I've taken mine to a couple of independent places before and the work was just impeccable, well priced, and they treated the car like it was a new-born baby.

[neilgorin]

I think dealers damaging vehicles then either denying or doing a slapdash job on repairs is sadly typical now.

My car (which was at the time 6 months old) went into the local dealer with 4 perfect alloys. Their mechanic kerbed one of them. They sent the wheel to be refurbished and made the worst job I've ever seen done on one, the surface of the alloy was wavy. They have the wheel again now and are trying again - in my view, they damaged it and should return it to NEW condition, not with layers of metal scraped off it. I can't see in fact how they can do a good job as the previous cutting was so bad.

Waiting to see what a hash or otherwise has been done this time before I consider my options.

[Yelper85]

Originally Posted by neilgorin

I think dealers damaging vehicles then either denying or doing a slapdash job on repairs is sadly typical now.

My car (which was at the time 6 months old) went into the local dealer with 4 perfect alloys. Their mechanic kerbed one of them. They sent the wheel to be refurbished and made the worst job I've ever seen done on one, the surface of the alloy was wavy. They have the wheel again now and are trying again - in my view, they damaged it and should return it to NEW condition, not with layers of metal scraped off it. I can't see in fact how they can do a good job as the previous cutting was so bad.

Waiting to see what a hash or otherwise has been done this time before I consider my options.

Sounds like a new alloy if it's that bad, especially if they've admitted fault.

I've had to get Volvo Customer Services involved a couple of times, and it's funny how quickly the dealers get their arses into gear at that point!