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Volvo XC90 jerking problems

56 of the 1,546 owner complaints about the Volvo XC90 describe jerking or lurching, most of them for the 2004 model year.

owner complaints
56
worst model year
2004
typical repair cost reported
$4,700
typical mileage
86,000
Is there a fix? No recall or service bulletin covers this area of the car yet.

By model year

  • 2024
    4
  • 2023
    1
  • 2022
    1
  • 2021
    1
  • 2019
    1
  • 2017
    2
  • 2016
    3
  • 2005
    8
  • 2004
    32
  • 2003
    3

What owners say

Filed Sep 16, 2026 · Airbags, Brakes · CA

Vehicle was stopped at a stop light with brake pedal pressed. Car started rolling with brake pedal pushed and repeatedly pushing the brake pedal did nothing! Car jerked three times and responded to pressing the park button. Once in park, I noticed that all warning lights came including brake warnings but the car would not turn off and it was stuck in park. Car would not come out of park but the radio and hazards worked. Police responded and advised not to take my foot off the brake until the tow truck got there. Initially, the tow truck driver could not put the car in drive or neutral or turn off vehicle. Tow truck driver was able to turn off the car and get it started again. Brakes should not just stop working in the middle of traffic in a 2 year old car with only 17k miles on it. Reporting because it appears this is a repeated Volvo issue. Per the Volvo app, all software downloads were updated and there was no error message before this happened.

Filed Apr 13, 2026 · Engine · 80,000 miles · MN

The contact owns a 2019 Volvo XC90. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle lurched forward while switching back and forth between electric and gasoline mode. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where an unknown repair was performed; however, the failure recurred while driving three years later. Additionally, the turtle warning light was illuminated with the message "Engine System Reduced Performance". The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 80,000.

Filed Apr 22, 2024 · Electrical · NY

Installation of GeoTab Telematics devices on entire fleet of 2024 Volvos (regardless of model) resulted in sporadic, unplanned and random acceleration, engine revving, transmission shifting, switching from electric (hybrid mode) to gas mode. Vehicle lurches and surges.

Filed Apr 11, 2024 · Driver assistance, Electrical · OH

We drove this vehicle to a family event in chicago. We pulled the vehicle out of the parking garage and pulled into a downtown street in front of a hotel to load the vehicle up. Once the family was loaded the vehicle up the car would not start it had 700 miles when it failed. we were stuck on a busy street trying to start the car. I called roadside assitance and someone came out with a jump pack, but the battery was not dead. I was in the pouring rain trying to figure out what was wrong. They did hook a computer up to find several faults in the computer. It did also indicate a left turn signal fault. also talking with roadside assistance the agent said that was the 2nd call he had with no start issue. finally it did start but the check engine light was on the whole trip home, had to cut our trip short and drove as far as we could in fear the car would not restart. It kept coming back with the left turn signal fault and did not shut off the car even pumping gas in fear of not restarting then all of a sudden with cruise control on the car just jerked itself amd almost pulled us off the freeway. now it has been at the dealer all week researching forums this seems to be a common issue

Filed Mar 22, 2024 · Electrical, Engine · NY

I was going 60 mph when the check engine light came on , the car started to jerk and reduce speed. I pulled onto the shoulder until the car stopped. I than proceeded to drive slowly and the turtle appeared on the dash. I drove about another mile until I reached my home doing 30 miles per hour or less.

Filed Nov 11, 2023 · TX · fire

Car had a known issue regarding inappropriate oil consumption and was awaiting repair by Volvo dealership. While merging onto highway and accelerating, car lurched, check engine light came on, and shortly after there was a warning regarding reduced performance. The car was maneuvered to the closest exit and parked. During this time, approx 90secs, all major warning lights came on and smoke started coming up from engine. We quickly pulled to the side of the road (was unable to put car in park) and exited the vehicle as smoke was entering the cabin. There was a fire under the engine compartment that quickly engulfed and consumed the front of thr car.

Filed Nov 4, 2023 · Brakes · CA · crash · 1 injury

While parking my vehicle in the garage, I pressed the P (park) button on my center console and proceeded to exit my vehicle. As I was exiting, the car began to roll backwards. I was knocked to the ground by the open driver’s door, unable to reenter the vehicle. The vehicle began rolling causing me injury to my legs, elbow and feet because I was essentially trapped under the side of the vehicle as it was moving. The vehicle continued to roll. Hitting items on my garage, including my second vehicle parked in the driveway, before coming to a stop by hitting a neighboring chain link fence. The vehicle sustained damage to driver’s door, rear end, and front left panel. I’ve looked online and have seen several forums of similar issues with the Volvo P button not engaging, and vehicles rolling/lurching unexpectedly.

Filed Oct 7, 2023 · Driver assistance, Steering · VA

My name is [XXX] . My wife [XXX] has been corresponding with Volvo Car Financial, as well as Volvo, regarding our Volvo XC90 lease. This Volvo has been the biggest disappointment of any car we've ever leased or purchased out of the new cars and trucks we have purchased every 2-3 years for the past 40 years. We have contacted Volvo several times about the issues we are having and taken it in three times to have the problem resolved. I live in a rural area with backroads, and they say the mapping system called City View does not work well on backroads, so they are not able to replicate the problem when it is taken in for them to look at. I have been in constant communications with our saleslady Sara, she is WONDERFUL and has been most helpful. She also has documentation of everything, and a few videos. She did see when I came to pick the car up three weeks ago, that it doesn’t understand a lot of our commands. The car jerks the steering wheel from me into oncoming traffic, off the road, then tells me it avoided a collision when it almost caused a collision. Hey Google, does not understand either of us, the slight chance it does, it does not do what we have requested. I do have a video showing different things that the car does. It seems to have a mind of its own, I do not feel safe driving this car any longer. It is going to cause us to have an accident. I Purchased the car because I thought Volvo was the safest vehicle there was to buy or lease. Now my feelings have changed I am afraid to even drive the car to the point I am having to borrow my mother’s older vehicle. The back hatch doesn’t always open, you must assist it with your hand. It came down and hit my head in food lion parking lot and two men came running over to check on me. I met a tractor last week and the steering just went crazy, it was all over the road, and I was having to really fight it. My husband says he feels as if he has driven a tractor trailer all day when INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOI

Filed Jul 27, 2023 · Driver assistance, Electrical · 75,000 miles · MA

The contact owns a 2016 Volvo XC90. The contact stated that the vehicle had experienced high oil consumption. After adding oil to the engine, the message "Oil Level Low" was display within three weeks. Additionally, while operating the vehicle the message "low engine function" had displayed and the vehicle would not properly accelerate and was jerking. The contact also discovered puddles of water inside the rear trunk of the vehicle with electrical wires and components submerged in the water. The vehicle had experienced various electrical failures with the back-up camera malfunctioning. In addition, there was mold inside the vehicle. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The manufacturer and local dealer were contacted regarding the failures. The failure mileage was 75,000. The VIN was not included.

Filed Mar 12, 2023 · Engine · WI

Vehicle is lurching on slow acceleration in Hybrid Mode. For example, lurching occurs when pulling away from a stop sign, pulling out into traffic, pulling into a parking spot. Issue started beginning of January 2023. In February Fields Volvo Service diagnosed issue as a software problem (Code IEM-P287100) and that Volvo hasn't written the software yet. Fields Volvo Service said software update should be available in Quarter 2. Advised that I do not drive my car in Hybrid Mode. I own a hybrid vehicle that I have been told not to drive in Hybrid. Unfortunately, Hybrid is the default mode so upon each start I have to manually change mode to AWD. There is also lurching in AWD on slow acceleration (not as bad as in Hybrid). On several occasions while driving in AWD the vehicle will spontaneously change the mode back to Hybrid resulting in decreased or no acceleration and lurching. This has happened several times in parking lots (minimal fear for safety) but also several times while pulling into traffic (e.g., making left hand turns which require acceleration) and acceralerating on onramps to the freeway (definite fear for safety). Problem has been experienced by sales staff at Fields Volvo because we are trying to get rid of the car because it is still under warranty (36,000 miles). Fields Volvo has not gotten back to us as to whether they will buy back the car. Volvo USA has been contacted via phone and email about the issue. I have received no response.

Related recalls

No recalls on record for this model year.

Questions about the Volvo XC90 jerking

Which Volvo XC90 years have jerking or lurching problems?

The model years with the most reports are 2004 (32 complaints), 2005 (8 complaints) and 2024 (4 complaints).

How much does it cost to fix jerking or lurching on the Volvo XC90?

Owners who mentioned a price put the repair at about $4,700 (median of 5 complaints that include a dollar amount). Costs vary with mileage, warranty and where the work is done.

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