I was departing my home village about a block from my home and I heard a loud bang in the front driver side at about 15 MPH!! No bump.. Nothing! I looked under the car and there was no obvious issue at the initial look and I drove another quarter mile and heard a slight grind or noise on small bumps... Then a clank. I backed up and there was a piece of the coil spring on the road!!!! The front left - drivers side - coil spring snapped in two. At 101,000 miles. The clean break and no rust or unusual corrosion indicates a faulty metal. How can I trust the volvo xc again!! Safety and volvo are no longer words that should be used together. My complaints to volvo america were responded to with no consideration to the magnitude of the issue. Volvo did not stand behind the obvious flaw in the construction of the vehicle. Many other complaints on the federal safety agency and online forums indicate a common issue with volvo xc suspension coil springs. So dangerous!
Volvo V70XC coil spring problems
12 of the 411 owner complaints about the Volvo V70XC describe broken coil spring, most of them for the 2001 model year.
- owner complaints
- 12
- worst model year
- 2001
- typical mileage
- 94,000
By model year
- 20073
- 20051
- 20041
- 20021
- 20016
Often reported together
What owners say
This car has been driven with care for 7 years. It has never been in an accident nor has it had other significant failures. In the past few months both springs on the rear of the car have broken and the car has dropped significantly. We repaired the first one ($500) and were told that the dealer (wynn volvo) has never seen broken springs until this year. When the second one went today ( while in the driveway) it not only raised concerns about the quality of the vehicle, but also about the safety of it. If we had been driving at any speed when this happened, serious injury and potentially death may have occurred. In doing some research, it appears that this is a recurrent theme with volvos during the last decade. It seems that there is inherent danger that could cause injury or loss of life and yet volvo claims that it is not common. I disagree and would encourage an investigation.
This car in the last year has had both rear coil springs brake in half while just driving normally down the road it has thrown off the drivability of the car and of course you don't notice it until after the event. I believe there is a problem with the tempering of the steel coils.
Front driver side spring snapped and tore apart the front driver side tire.
Driving home from work on i93 when I head a loud bang. Pulled off the highway and could not find anything wrong. Got home with no other issues. In the morning I noticed the car leaning to the right. Went out and looked under the car and found my coil spring had snapped. No sign of impact. Car was out of warranty so had to pay for repair. Repair shop told me spring must have been defective and it failed. Hope the other spring does not let go.
2005 volvo xc-70 broken front passenger side coil spring 71,000 miles.
Car has approx 94,000 miles. Standard street and highway driving. Front passenger side coil spring broke. Dangerously close to tire puncture. Thankfully, this did not happen while moving. Replaced both front coil springs.
Front right coil spring failure on 2002 volvo v70xc.
Backing out of garage. Left front road spring broke in two approx. 1/2 coil from bottom. Failure was corrected by replacing both front springs. Springs are available. Rust extends approx. 1 mm into fracture indicating spring was cracked for a period of time before total failure. Internet sources (including the federal safety agency) indicate this is a common defect affecting numerous 2001-2004 volvo xc70s (aka v70xc). Some failures are reported to have occurred at highway speeds. There are also reports of the failed spring cutting open a tire. Volvo is aware of this issue but, incredibly, takes the position that sudden spring failure is normal and replacing broken road springs is routine maintenance. Please open an investigation (and order a recall) before this defect maims or kills someone.
Highway driving, no pot holes. Suspect metal failure. Replaced coil spring.
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the Volvo V70XC coil spring
Which Volvo V70XC years have broken coil spring problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2001 (6 complaints), 2007 (3 complaints) and 2002 (1 complaints).
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