2017 Volvo XC90

Received a Suspension Service Required message on the gauge cluster. Online searching led to this from the NHTSA website: [XXX] I contest it is not accurate and it did not go far enough to protect consumers. Per the above, there is a logical condition in order to take advantage of the warranty which requires precisely 2 error codes to “prove” that the air suspension compressor needs to be replaced and can be covered under the warranty. My compressor fuse had blown per the bulletin. I replaced the fuse and the compressor started to work again. The error went away. I was still concerned of the safety of the vehicle (something caused the fuse to blow). I took it to the dealer to have them scan the codes to confirm the above warranty would cover the cost to replace the compressor - which by the way the entire intent of the warranty is to convey that the compressor is known to have a design defect. What this warranty is NOT is an exhaustive fault tree analysis to show all the causal paths that can lead to the root cause. However, because Volvo identifies one single logical fault path - I was not able to have my compressor covered under warranty. The reason the dealership gave me was that both error codes in the warranty would have had to come up in their scan in order to take advantage of it - and mine only showed 1 of the codes. Then I requested a quote and what was needed to fix the problem so that I could pay for it. Their quote was $1,088 for them to replace the air compressor and relay. Stop right there. That quote I received from Volvo was a clear cut and dry admission (from Volvo themselves) that only having received 1 error code is enough to justify the warranty - because one or both error codes leads to the same recommended replacement. Even still, I’m forced to pay for a known defective part that presents a safety issue. Not fair. This should have been a recall. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

The air suspension dust covers on the rear air springs were originally installed from the factory using substandard plastic zip ties that are known to slip off. This is a known design flaw and is even documented by Volvo via technical journal and reported to the NHTSA as follows. NHTSA ID Number: 10158664 Manufacturer Communication Number: TJ30517.6.0-2019 All vehicles with this design flaw are at risk failure of the rear air springs. The manufacturer has taken a wait and see approach to pass on the cost of repairs to customers. One of the air springs was found to have its dust cover slip off and was confirmed by a Volvo dealer. This was caused due to use of plastic zip ties rather than crimped metal straps which have been used as a repair documented by the manufacturer and used in newer version of the air springs. The cost of repair for each spring affected is $1300-1500 and at the time of repair the require that the unaffected air spring be remediated with a metal strap to prevent failure which could lead to unexpected and catastrophic air spring collapse. I obtained two quotes from two Volvo dealers. Volvo has already voluntarily extended the warranty on another associated component for their air suspension system which they know to have a manufacturing flaw. This air spring design flaw should also be included or added as a separate voluntary or mandatory campaign. Fortunately, I noticed this failure while replacing winter tires for summer tires and was able to preemptively get this assessed by my servicing dealer. They explained the severity of the issue and recommended as per Volvo's Technical Journal to replace the entire air spring as it was compromised due to road debris exposure from having its dust cover drop. A component failure due to an inappropriate restraint being used to retain a safety shield around the air spring could lead to loss of control.