Volvo Car Group Reviews 

Pure rip off and sham of a company. Avoid at all costs. Volvo lost my service book and manual and charged me £500 for the pleasure when I returned the car in perfect condition and despite supplying all invoices proving that all devices had been carried out. Shocking

Volvo have closed my local service centre, which will now result in me having to travel over an hour away to get my car serviced! This will result in me having to take a day off work, putting addional km's on my car, and use fuel that normally I wouldn't. I have paid upfront for the first 5 years of services.

I have asked The Customer Support Team to provide me with a sensible option to get my car serviced.

The Customer Support Team are terrible!

We are now at day 15 with no response to my many emails.

I will NEVER buy another volvo! (We also had issues with the car when we first bought it that took 12 weeks to fix meaning I had no car to drive for 12 weeks)

Do yourself a favour and avoid Volvo like the plague!

UPDATE: After posting this review, the Volvo support team finally decided to respond:

"We realise this impacts your ability to service your Volvo locally, and we sincerely apologise for the inconvenience this may cause.

Volvo Car Australia are not in a position to cover expenses incurred for bringing your Volvo to your nearest Volvo retailer, as our wider Volvo retailer network are available to support your servicing and warranty needs."

Happy to say I sold the Volvo and I will never support them again!

James the tec was great! He helped me with out a booking as soon as I got there I realise he didn’t have to so I appreciate that. He also wouldn’t let me tip him when he did a good job 5* all round would recommend to anyone

Great car however the accounts team never ever answer. There is no way of speaking to anyone. Totally bewildering and frustrating. Reception was rude and unhelpful. My service plan expires late February. The service was booked in with good time for 25/02. Then I was sent a reminder to renew a 3 year plan by 20/02. If I cancel the new plan they won't give my car a service or will they. Have been paying for it for the past 2 years. What a nightmare.

One star is a lot they suppose to have 0 star

I finally managed to buy a Volvo, something I had been looking forward to for years. It was supposed to be a long-awaited milestone—but it turned out to be the wrong choice!

From the very first day, my car had a strange noise coming from the engine area, something that was clearly not normal. When I reported it, Volvo initially refused to carry out any repairs, blaming it on software errors. Seriously? A mechanical issue passed off as a software glitch? That was their first excuse.

After insisting, they finally did a check-up and – surprise! – there was an actual problem. They scheduled a repair, only for the car to come back with the exact same issue. I now seriously doubt they even replaced any parts, and if they did, I question whether they replaced the right ones.

To make matters worse, the car now has software issues. The software was fully updated and everything was working fine—until the car came back from the workshop. Suddenly, there are sensor errors on the collision avoidance system, and the braking system is malfunctioning, failing to hold the car properly.

Is this the safety Volvo promotes? A car that is barely three months old and already plagued with serious issues?

And if that wasn’t bad enough, the level of disorganization throughout this process has been shocking. Every time I needed a check-up or the so-called "repair", the chaos was evident: staff had no idea about the replacement car, whether the parts would actually be changed, or even if the repairs would be covered under warranty. Total incompetence.

What’s even more outrageous is their attitude: trying to gaslight the customer into believing nothing is wrong. Any reasonable person can tell that the noise is not normal—especially when the test drive car and other models of the same type do not make that noise!

Is this the professionalism Volvo claims to uphold? For them, it’s just another sale, another profit. But for those driving their cars—especially with children on board—it’s a constant source of stress and risk.

Unacceptable. Volvo, never again!

Our XC90 went into our dealer on the 5th November as the steering tracking needed replacing. It is now the 4th Feb and we still do not have our car back! I have not got a courtesy car so we have been loving with one car, in the middle of no where with no bus service and 3 dogs.

The garage keep having the date the part will be ready put back.

The car is owned by our 2 person Ltd company of which we are both directors. When I complained to Volvo theywill not talk to me as apparently my name is not the one they have as the owner (How can a Ltd company complain... It is not a human being.

All they will say is "Unfortunately, we do not have visibility of part orders on our system, which means we are unable to confirm the current status or estimated arrival date. However, the retailer will be able to check this for you and offer further assistance if needed" So if Volvo UK cannot tell me when the part will be available who can?

I am paying road tax and insurance on a car I cannot drive and have no idea when it will be back.

The worse customer service possible, if I could give a minus I would.

The Care By Volvo scheme is a complete load of rubbish, it has taken 2.5 hours today to have one tyre fitted under the scheme. DO NOT EVEN CONSIDER THIS SCHEME. I am 2.5 years into a 3 year contract and it has been nothing but aggro, they duck out of every single thing, and dont want to know about you when you complain, you even have to fight to get tyre even though they are below the limit if they find any type of damage on the tyre. I will not even consider this again and you shouldn't consider it either

Paid a deposit of £500 for a new Volvo XC40, gave a bad review of the Sales process and then was informed by the dealer that I should pick the car up from somewhere else because their rating had gone from 1 to 96.
Absolutely unbelievable way to treat customers on the part of Volvo and the dealer who I will not shame here.
On reflection and having read reviews here perhaps I should be grateful to the dealer from saving me from buying a Volvo if this is the way they treat people.

Now bought my wife an Audi Q3 instead.

Volvo is strong and robust car outside but its internal mechanics are so weak. When I go mechanics it is full of Volvo cars evertyime. Do not waste your money and check other cars. Your expenses will rise after Volvo.

Visited Volvo Newcastle for the second time within a couple of months, issues with windscreen wipers then both keys. Both problems were promptly rectified on each occasion by Callum who was a well informed, polite, professional young man. I would not hesitate to recommend Volvo Newcastle.

Our small business leased a new Volvo C40 our first company car from Volvo Car Financial Services UK Limited (VCFS) ( a joint venture between Volvo Cars and Santander we understand) in February 2022.

The car had an airbag fault which went unresolved for 18 months, despite the car being at the Volvo garage, for a cumulative total of 3 weeks, in that time on that issue.

In late November 2023, we were told that, all along, it appears that the problem was, a rare, manufacturing defect; in that the wiring to an important side impact airbag was too short and the connections would come apart.

It appeared that we had been driving around, for some 18 months, in a Volvo with an Airbag that may not operate, as intended, in a life threatening serious side impact collision.

Since Sept 2023, such a significant fault and warning indication would be a major automatic MOT failure, had the car needed one.

We were told that the new wiring, would take some 10 weeks to arrive and even the Director of the Volvo garage thought it best not to drive it.

We had no car, from end of November 2023 and asked for a like for like replacement which was not provided and we stopped paying the lease in February 2024; due to not having the car and even having paid, for two months, without it. [ December 2023 and January 2024]

In June 2024, in long delayed response to our November 2023 complaint, VCFS offered £289 compensation and VCFS required payment, for all the time, we had no car whilst it was undriveable in the garage !! [ We were told early April 2024 that the car was now repaired].

We rejected the response and planned to issue County Court proceedings against VCFS for breach of Contract [ For failing to provide Safe & drive able car, from the outset, that we had been paying for]

Just ahead of our small business issuing proceedings VCFS proposed to cancel the lease and pay £3,015.88.( Sept 2024)

We accepted the offer and sought assurances that we would not be subject of prejudice going forward.

On the basis of the settlement offer we went out and leased another Volvo all Electric car [ which we are very happy with I should fairly say ] though not leased from VCFS ( who we would not now, after what has occurred, deal with ever again]

November 2024, VCFS paid only £1474.58 of the agreed £3,015.88 ( and ignored further correspondence)

Update: 11th February 2025, after further complaint and a Ombudsman referral; VCFS finally paid the outstanding balance, plus a £100 extra payment.

We are still very happy with our new electric Volvo, but, as a small company, our Volvo's in future will never be sourced using Volvo Car Financial Services.

VCFS Agreement JC001525

Never, never, never have a Volvo. Volvo and Volvo Finance will not support you if you have a problem. Their service is disgusting, their attitude is dreadful, they are no longer a luxury brand. They simply don't care. I have had four Volvos in the past and have been delighted with them. Needless to say this is my last.

Ordered a new XC60 and paid the required 50% deposit. Within 24hours of delivery the dealer said they would not hand over the keys unless they could scan and upload my driving licence. As I wasn't happy for them to do this (data can get misdirected and misused) Volvo UK just cancelled my order. For some reason, Volvo UK are holding onto my deposit, stating that it takes 15 days for a refund. This is unacceptable as I paid within 10 mins of receipt of the invoice, and any bank transfer can be made within 2 hours. I wish I had read the previous reviews on this site before going near Volvo!! My emails to Volvo get bounced back as undeliverable, and the contact centre is useless as they just run through a list of excuses. Perhaps its fortunate that the order didn't go through as I believe there may be issues with the XC60!!

Had a (relatively minor but annoying) intermittent fault on a brand new Volvo EX30.
Dealership attempted one fault finding and failed. Said they'd refer it to Volvo tech support. Volvo contacted dealership and came back to say their FINAL decision was nothing more could be done.
So got a £37k Volvo EX30 car that is faulty.
No support. Nothing.
Won't ever be buying Volvo again.

My 2022 XC90 has developed an issue after going through a puddle (just to be clear a puddle a ford focus and a mini both in front of me drove through) - I have now been three days trying to get Volvo assistance to help me get the car to a dealer to no avail.

Volvo assist is just useless, no call backs, no one turns up, staff just put you on hold - utterly disgusting way to treat people.

Until Volvo Assit ruined my relationship with Volvo I loved the car but now would never have another as the treatment from Volvo Assist is disgraceful.

I have decided to write, after having had a claim determined in my favour by The Financial Ombudsman, to express my frustration and disappointment at the appalling customer service offered to me as one of Volvo's personal leasing customers.

I have been a Volvo customer for most of my adult life, owning and leasing cars; and, until the last couple of years, would have been very positive about the product and customer service. However, it has become clear to me that the focus at Volvo Head Office (the dealerships are franchised and my experience at that level has always been positive) has moved away from providing any meaningful customer service and those who have the misfortune to have leasing contracts with them have been left completely neglected.

When I started with "Care by Volvo" (the name for their personal car leasing arm), in December 2021, the product offered was sold as the ultimate in flexible and hassle-free driving, with everything being managed as part of the monthly rental. Even competitive car insurance was arranged if required. However, this all changed (along with the name!) in the last couple of years and, with it, any pretence at providing proper customer service. No longer do you get a dedicated phone line to support you with leasing issues and individuals taking personal pride in answering any queries - you now have to phone on a general Volvo customer care "triage" helpline and they cannot put you through to anyone who knows anything about your contract or anything much about their vehicles at all for that matter! You are encouraged to email (to a general Volvo email address) and then, regardless of your query, they seem to default into treating it as a complaint.

My particular issue on this occasion (there have been other queries equally badly handled!) concerned a couple of alloys developing corrosion on my recently leased vehicle. I had them inspected by my local Volvo dealership and they confirmed that there was no damage to the wheels which could have possibly led to the corrosion. They took photos and sent them to the warranty team at Volvo. The Volvo warranty team rejected the claim, saying that the wheels were damaged - amazing that, overruling the dealership on inspection of a photo(!), when the dealership had confirmed there was no damage! I tried to discuss it with the leasing team but they refused to engage with me and instead treated it as a complaint when I refused to accept this unexplained diagnosis. Their "investigation", if you could call it that, appeared to go no further than seeing that the warranty team had rejected the claim and just confirming that. They did offer (as they are obliged to do) that I go to the Financial Ombudsman, which I duly did, the service finding in my favour. It took 6 months but I did get my replacement wheels but no apology or other communication from Volvo.

I wanted to see if this was the intended image Volvo wished to present, so I wrote to Jim Rowan (CEO of Volvo Cars UK). I didn't get so much as an acknowledgement from him or indeed anyone at Volvo. My conclusion is that he is fully aware of the downgrade in customer service (he may well have been behind it?) and doesn't care about his customers. Well, customers can vote with their feet Mr Rowan, as I will be doing - never again will I lease or buy a Volvo vehicle! A small symbolic protest in itself but, hopefully, enough people will take a similar stand so that the Company wakes up from its arrogant slumber and resources and trains its customer support staff appropriately to provide a service which befits the brand name. It is a competitive market and there is plenty of choice out there. It will be no sacrifice for me to take my custom elsewhere. In the meantime, as I run down my lease, I shall not hesitate to hold Volvo to account and use the Ombudsman service as required, if that what it takes to get any issues resolved. Disgraceful!

I use to adore this brand, they were reliable and you could drive over 300000km and it would be tough as nails
Now that they are made in China they are crap cars, my XC90 which I took very good care of (reg oil changes etc ) just died on me and the dealer was most likely also to blame here but no way for me verify anything they did or did not do to my car that day....
Following this awful experience many volvo current and ex mecanics have told me XC90's engines aren't reliable after 175000km they have a big issue and many are simply dying.. it seems Volvo is aware (how could they not be..) and keeping it under wraps
On top of it all they were arrogant as hell..
I am looking at initiating a class action suit as I have a few current and ex volvo employees on file stating this hidden reality
I was hoping on driving a Volvo and nothing else as I loved my car... now I turned to BMW, have a top waranty and will never nor will anyone I know even consider buying a Volvo

XC40 Claim of 24 mile Battery Range and Combined MPG of 134.5 are miles off!!

I am lucky to get 12 miles range! Best has been 15.

I love Volvo, having had the XC60 and S60 in the past. Would not have got this car had I known the reality of battery miles and combined MPG.

While I love the build quality and general driving of my 3year old
Volvo XC60, every day, my car’s rear brake sensors abruptly engage while reversing out of my flat driveway, on occasion leaving seat belt marks on me and startling passengers who think we’ve been hit by another vehicle. My car occasionally overcorrects itself for no reason while driving, which can be quite startling when driving at high speed. And the electronics fail without warning, sometimes for days at a time before working again. After sales service is very ordinary and expensive. All my Volvo maintenance is done by the Volvo dealer, but I’ve discovered my tyres were never rotated in three years of ownership. This has severely worn the front tyres with severe inner and outer tread scrubbing, reducing their lifespan by more than 2/3, while the rear tyres still have 70% tread. At over $400 each, it’s been an expensive mistake.