Tires on the XC90

Looking for a little advice. I bought a 2004 XC90 with 12K miles about
a year ago. It now has 29k and i've taken it in for 4 scheduled
maintenance appointments. In 3 of those 4 appts i've complained about a
shimmy in the front end, each time they adjusted the front end to the
point where it subided. But last time they had to do a full alignment
(on my nickel). Now I'm noticing that two of the four tires are worn to
the point of needing to be replaced. I called the dealer to see if this
is normal and was told "it's a heavy car, tires are going to wear out".
My question: has anybody else had excessive wear problems with your
tires and were you able to get volvo to do anything about it?

Thanks for your advice.

 

Yes, insist on a full front and rear alignment to your satisfaction. This
has come up on a few UK models with the usual dealer apathy after noting
unusual tyre wear.

All the best, Peter.

700/900/90 Register Keeper,
Volvo Owners Club (UK).

 

Peter is absolutely right. The problem really is that it takes many many
miles for you to realise that the alignment job that was poorly done in the
first place. Some garages, even reputable ones and it seems from my
experience almost all tyre shops are very quick to come up with an excuse
for not having done the job right in the first place.

It is true though that some cars tyres wear more on the (usually) outer edge
more than others i.e. Volvo 740 and others with such a tight turning circle
(so then why not a London taxi, for clarification this is London UK, with
its turning circle of c.26 feet??). Tyres on a V70 should wear evenly
though (crap turning circle compared with 740).

Have a 4 wheel laser alignment done AND if you do not have complete faith in
the garage/tyre depot doing the work go and watch them do it. Make sure the
steering wheel bar is still straight when they have finished, if not it
indicates that one track rod has been adjusted more than the other. The car
was set up properly by the factory so it should not be a case of 'moving the
steering wheel round a notch sir'. Just think for a minute, if both track
rods are adjusted to the extent that the steering wheel requires resetting
then surly the steering rack will no longer be centred when the car runs
dead ahead.

Also make sure that the rubber boots at the steering box end of the steering
rods are loosened off when they adjust the track rod ends. Don't do this
and tension will build up in the rubber boots as the steering rods are
turned (when track rods are adjusted) which in turn will lead to premature
splitting of the rubber boots or even worse possibly (depending upon how
much the track rods need adjusting) so much tension in the boots that the
steering starts to feel tight at full lock. Admittedly less noticeable with
powered steering (unlike the 340's).

Lastly keep well clear from tyre places that try and fob you off with the
age old excuse of 'well sir tracking always goes off if you hit a curb'. It
is almost as if the manufacturers have not over the last 100 years thought
about and pretty much sorted this one.

Andy

 

Just an update (for anybody who cares). Tried addressing this problem
with my local dealership service manager and Volvo North America. The
latter basically told me "we're happy to take your complaint but can't
do anything about your tires. Your problem is with Michelin. Good
luck". Based on just a few conversations today the honeymoon is over. I
will be selling my XC90 ASAP and will advice others strongly against
considering Volvo products.

Good luck to you all.

 

So you let them browbeat you into submission? You should park your car
outside their showrooms with a notice on it stating your grievance. Also get
them to put their statement about Michelin in Black and White and take it to
Michelin who will probably threaten Volvo NA with a lawsuit for character
defamation as they are not qualified to make such a statement.

All the best, Peter.

700/900/90 Register Keeper,
Volvo Owners Club (UK).

 

There was a landmark legal case in the US dealing with a very early
Oldsmobile, about 100 years ago. The wheels on a curved dash Olds failed
and led to some severe loss on the part of the owner. The owner, or perhaps
his heirs sued Oldsmobile (I believe this was pre GM). The old rule that
the parts were not built by Olds was upheld in the lower courts, however the
US Supreme court held that when a component is incorporated in the
manufacture of a machine (I forgot the exact words) the manufacturer become
responsible for the quality and the failure of the parts.

The responsibility is clearly with Volvo. An example to further demonstrate
this is if you trouble with the electrical or fuel systems, large parts of
which are made by Bosch.

Would you take a suggestion from Volvo to talk to the good people at Bosch
about the fuel injectors?

Since Volvo is owned by Ford, and since Ford took responsibility when they
had a minor issue with Firestone tires a few years ago I think there is even
more precedent on your side!

 

We bought one of the first V70's to the UK in 1997. We had a problem with
one of the original Pirelli 6000 tyres whereby within 4000 miles the steel
banding of the tyre was coming through the sidewall. This was pretty much
all over the whole circumference of the tyre so unlikely to be attributed to
'hitting a curb' which is what we were initially 'accused' of. I had,
perhaps naively, expected the dealer to just replace the tyre under warranty
and sort it with Volvo. Tyres it seems are a specific warranty exclusion
even if, as was in our case, patently defective. The dealer did however
take the issue up with Volvo UK who immediately offered a contribution of
(from memory now) 90% towards a replacement tyre. Pretty fair I thought
although for the extra couple of quids they may well have just authorised a
free tyre.

The attitude of Volvo NA from what I have read over the years on this NG
does seem to be very different to that of Volvo UK who I have always found
that if you play fair with them they will play fair in return (it must be
all the cricket we play!). Did you manage to speak with a Customer Service
Manager who may have the authority to actually do something about your
grievance or merely the 'first line of defence' at the call centre.

A thought. It seems to me something of a shame that you may be shooting
yourself in the foot and dumping what is really a super car which you bought
with your hard earned in the first place because you preferred it to the
competition. It also occurs to me that the depreciation you will suffer
when you offload your Ovlov would but many many tyres - Tyres do vary on
cars, another manufacturers perhaps may help.

I would ask whether your expectation of other NA motor distributors is
likely to be any different to that of Volvo NA. Are BMW for example going
to be any better - you read not dissimilar stories on alt.autos.bmw. I do
not agree with Volvo NA's attitude and I feel that their Customer Relations
department, from VP downwards might benefit from attending a customer
satisfaction and charm school.

To Ford, ooops, Ovlov one less future car sale is insignificant. However I
really dislike bully's and simply love Peters idea of parking your car
outside the showroom with a large note of your grievance - choose your
wording VERY carefully though given the litigious nature of NA. If you
have a genuine and feel you are being given the brush off then what better
way of genuinly getting Ovlovs attention than by airing their dirty linen in
public.

If you do go for it let us know how you get on.

Regards

Andy

 

Bye the way, 29,000 miles from a set of tyres in my book is pretty damn ok.

Andy

 

Reading back over your original poast, you have documented a problem
with this car over time and have proof of that on paper. ("In 3 of
those 4 appts i've complained about a shimmy in the front end, each
time they adjusted the front end to the point where it subided.") Look
at that paper work and see what they ahve done and said about that. it
prooves a pattern.

Since you bought the car with 12,00 on the clock you don't know how it
was driven before you had it, so getting 30,000 miles on a set of
tires on a heavy car isn't terrible (it could be better, though).

With just two of the tires badly worn, it sounds like the tires were
not rotated regularly (unless the other two are close behind).

The XC90 is a great car. Go to Costco and get a set of Bridgestones-
less money and and (IMO) a better tire, at least if the results of the
Indy F1 race are any indication. ;-) Seriously, I have had
Bridgestomnes on a few different cars over the years, and every set
gave excellent performance, particularly for the price..

French tires... ? ;-D

__ __
Randy & \ \/ /alerie's
\__/olvos
'90 245 Estate - '93 965 Estate
"Shelby" & "Kate"