2019 Volvo XC90 Electrical Problems

The suspension module failed due to water accumulation on floorboards. Suspect other electronics may be at risk. Water ingress cause by a combination of what dealer said was a worn out sunroof gasket and two of four drains that became plugged. Further examination from dealer found the plugged drains were crimped from when the vehicle was manufactured. The dealer blamed the excessive water ingress was further allowed by a failed sunroof seal. The vehicle has always been serviced by the dealer and problem areas like that were either not inspected or not reported. The seal appears as good as the day we purchased vehicle from dealer. It seems it needs a more expert eye to detect how it fails. The result was standing water in the floor boards and body cavities, which then caused the suspension module to fail. The entire interior had to be disassembled to verify there was no further electrical damage. The dashboard and other interior pieces needed to be removed to replace or correct the drains. This appears to be a common problem with this model although no service advisories seem to have been issued. Total estimated damage is about $5200. Vehicle has only 60K miles. Volvo has rejected responsibility for the compromised drain and failed sunroof seal. Service documentation attached, not including the estimated $1700 to remove dash for repairs.

NHTSA ID

11736779

Incident

Apr 17, 2026

Some back info: I keep the auto start/stop feature disabled. There are three identical incidents total. One about a year or two ago and two back to back a few weeks ago. The first time I was stopped at a drive through but in “drive” with my foot on the brake. All of the sudden the car completely turns off. Screens black, engine off. Completely black car no inside lights on. Within a couple of seconds, I hear the engine reengage and the car “starts” as normal like when you turn the switch. All of the lights and screens turn on and apple car play reconnects. The most recent two incidents were the same day and in drive having stopped at stoplights. The car goes “dead” then restarts all in drive with my foot on the brake. No warnings come up after the incident either. This time my husband and children were with me and can confirm it happened. I did not get these incidents checked out since the car was instantly back to normal with no warning messages. Very unnerving though and feels like the car is being remotely restarted somehow. The first time I just brushed it off, now I am concerned about this happening while in motion.

NHTSA ID

11708339

Incident

Dec 23, 2025

Upon driving a symbol with a turtle and engine cation sign flashed upon the dash displaying and reading reduced power train mode as this is being shown on dash the passenger next to me smelt smoke as we next seen smoke coming from the air conditioning system we immediately pulled over to the safest spot out of the ongoing traffic as smoke continued to worsen now under the hood when flames engulfed the engine and spread to rest of car.

NHTSA ID

11704235

Incident

Dec 3, 2025

There was a leak on the evaporator coil within the AC system for this car. We started having issues with the AC around the 56,500 mile mark ([XXX]). After a couple of rounds of recharging the system with refrigerant and looking for a leak, the repair shop finally found the leak on the evaporator coil system. The repair was quoted cost $4,854.03. The evaporator coil During the summers when the AC was not working, this was definitely a safety concern. Riding in the car with no AC in the summertime in Hawaii is brutal. The $4,854.03 cost for the evaporator coil replacement, did not include the amount of money we spent the first two go arounds looking for the leak and recharging the system with refrigerant. After doing some research and talking to the repair shop the evaporator coil replacement work it seems that this is a very common failure on this model/year Volvo. I also noticed it looks like they already had a similar recall out for this failure on other similar Volvos. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) I would like to have Volvo USA to address this issue and fix this common issue and recall this year model.

NHTSA ID

11651860

Incident

May 10, 2024

There are many form online stating that Volvo has an issue with water leaking/water drainage line from the sunroof. The water leaked into some components of the airbag and electrical system. After the first time taking to the dealership they were no issue with the system and the vehicle was fine that incident happened back in 2020. The same issue happened again where water was leaking in from the sunroof area (I am assuming because it looks the same as last time) this time the water is in the driver side, and there was a puddle of water forming where the gas and brake paddles are. After noticing the water puddle I try to close the sunroof and turns out the sunroof no longer functions with the electronic control right in front of the sunroof. I also took the initiative to open some of the trims where the side air bags are and it turns out that the area are completely soaked. I do no know if this will cause an issue to the airbag or not but I am worries that prolong exposure to water will compromised the integrity of the airbag system. What's was is that since it affected the electronic for the sunroof what if it affect the sensors for the air bag system.

NHTSA ID

11575869

Incident

Nov 1, 2023

Rear passenger door won’t open. We had freezing temps in Colorado, when I tried to open the rear door to get my 2 month old out of the car the door would not open. Apparently this is a known problem for this vehicle the rear door motors spontaneously stop working.

NHTSA ID

11566201

Incident

Jan 15, 2024

The contact owns a 2019 Volvo XC90. The contact stated that upon returning to the vehicle, she noticed that her sunglasses case and tennis can located in the interior of the vehicle had been chewed. The contact stated that upon looking further, she noticed that the third row seats leather coating had been chewed. However, the contact had not transported pets on the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who inspected the vehicle and informed the contact that rodents were entering the interior of the vehicle through a hole they had created on the rubber seal between the dashboard and the engine compartment. The dealer informed the contact that the rodents were attracted by the soy-based wires coating. The manufacturer was notified of the failure of the failure and informed the contact that she would need to pay a repair fee as the vehicle would not be repaired under warranty. The dealer replaced the leather coating on the seats and the seats stuffing. The dealer installed a new seal on the hood, wrapped tape around the soy-based wires coating to prevent rodents intrusion. The vehicle was repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 38,000.

NHTSA ID

11501084

Incident

Feb 10, 2022

Mileage

38,000 mi

Water damage to the electrical system from blocked drainage by sunroof; potential mold damage

NHTSA ID

11471587

Incident

Jun 25, 2022

The contact owns a 2019 VOLVO XC90. The contact stated that while her foot was on the brake pedal and while talking with a friend outside her vehicle, she had decided to place the vehicle into park. After approximately 8-10 minutes, the vehicle independently accelerated forward without warning and crashed into her friend's garage door. The air bags deployed immediately upon impact. An automatic safety feature on the vehicle detected the crash and automatically notified the police; a police report was filed. The contact sustained bruising to her left arm and leg and the passenger sustained bruising to her stomach. Due to the failure, the contact had the vehicle towed a dealer where it remained in their possession. The manufacturer had yet to be notified of the failure. The contact's insurance was able to retrieve the EDR report from the vehicle which showed that the vehicle accelerated prior to the crash; however, it did not determine if the vehicle was in parking gear when it crashed. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 50,000.

NHTSA ID

11428347

Incident

Jul 30, 2021

Mileage

50,000 mi

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2019 VOLVO XC90. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE STALLED. A FUSE WAS REPLACED BY VOLVO CARS OF GREENVILLE (2668 LAURENS RD, GREENVILLE, SC 29607, (864) 288-5555); HOWEVER, THE VEHICLE CONTINUED TO STALL AND WAS TOWED TO THE DEALER. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 8,000.

NHTSA ID

11232882

Incident

Jul 5, 2019

Mileage

8,000 mi

I PURCHASED MY NEW 2019 VOLVO XC90 ON DECEMBER 15, 2018. ON THE MORNING OF DECEMBER 29, 2018 I WAS WITH MY TWO CHILDREN WHEN THERE WAS A MALFUNCTION WITH THE VEHICLE KEY RECOGNITION SYSTEM WHICH ALLOWS FOR THE VEHICLE TO START. MY VEHICLE GAVE ME THE ERROR 'VEHICLE KEY NOT FOUND. SEE OWNER'S MANUAL'. THIS LEFT MYSELF, MY 4 YEAR OLD AND MY 4 MONTH OLD STRANDED. THE LOCAL FORT MYERS DEALER SAID THEY REPLACED THE FOB ANTENNA. MY VEHICLE THEN HAD THE SAME PROBLEM FEBRUARY 14, 2019 LEAVING MYSELF AND MY TWO CHILDREN STRANDED BECAUSE THE VEHICLE WOULDN'T START. VOLVO CLAIMED TO FIX THE ISSUE BUT THE VEHICLE AGAIN MALFUNCTIONED WHILE IN THE POSSESSION OF MCGRATH VOLVO OF FORT MYERS. AGAIN ON FEBRUARY 23, 2019 MY VEHICLE WOULDN'T RECOGNIZE MY KEYS AND WOULDN'T START, YET AGAIN LEAVING MYSELF AND MY TWO CHILDREN STRANDED. AFTER VOLVO TOLD ME THEY FIXED WHAT THEY THOUGHT WAS A DEFECTIVE WIRE, I RECEIVED MY VEHICLE BACK. ON MARCH 6, 2019 I WAS DRIVING WITH MY THEN 6 MONTH OLD BABY WHEN MY VEHICLE SHUT OFF TWICE. AS I WAS DECELERATING, MY VEHICLE ENGINE SHUT OFF BY ITSELF AND ALL SCREENS IN THE VEHICLE WENT BLANK. THIS OCCURRED TWICE WHILE DECELERATING. VOLVO HAS HAD MY CAR SINCE MARCH 6, 2019 PROVIDING ME NO UPDATES AS OF TODAY, MARCH 19. I HAVE ONLY OWNED THE VEHICLE 94 DAYS AND IT HAS BEEN IN THE SHOP 35 DAYS, WITH ONLY 2387 MILES ON IT.

NHTSA ID

11189914

Incident

Dec 29, 2018

Mileage

500 mi