Headlight complaints by model year
Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (headlights, tail lights, turn signals, interior lights).
Mileage when the problem started
What owners report
In a nutshell: at approximately 8:35 Wednesday morning (October 28th), my Volvo XC90 spontaneously caught fire in the pouring rain. I was in the car at the time. Thankfully nobody was hurt. Toronto fire services and toronto police services both attended the scene. The most frightening part of this incident is the fact that it was completely spontaneous and very close to the gas tank! Obviously it was the result of an electrical malfunction. Thankfully another driver alerted me to the fact that my car was on fire - as it was not apparent to me - and I was able to leave the vehicle safely. I shudder to think of the potentially fatal gas explosion which would have followed, had we not been able to extinguish the fire as quickly as we did. Please see link with videos and photos of the incident and resulting damage: https://goo.gl/photos/[VIN]
The headlights started to flicker a few months ago. At first I thought I was imagining it until they started to briefly blink, I still was not sure it was happening. Tonight, as I was driving home, the lights abruptly turned off. I stopped the car as I was driving with no headlights and noticed a warning light that said low beam failure. I turned the car off and back on and the headlights started to work again. On the 30 minute drive home, the headlights would blink off and on; sometimes one would work, sometimes neither would work. Very unsafe!!! I'm very upset to read that this is a known complaint and Volvo has not addressed the problem. When the headlights turned off in the dark, I had both of my children in the car with me. It's horrible they would allow this known problem to go unresolved. That's playing with people's lives.
Vehicle is slightly off-balance no matter if I do an alignment ball joints seem to always get affected. I'm not sure if the hydraulics are working correctly. Yesterday I just started leaking antifreeze fluid.
2006 Volvo XC90 headlamp failure. Wa.state Volvo rep. Denies intermittent headlamp failure exists. This is a huge safety issue. The Volvo headlights just fail when the vehicle is being driven! I and many others approx.93,487 owner's of this vehicle have spent thousands of dollars having Volvo service dealer's unable to correct the serious problem. This should be a priority safety recall and Volvo should immediately send out a service bulletin to all dealerships. Apparently Volvo does know this problem exists and has purposely chosen to not correct the problem or to acknowledge the serious safety issue. Volvo owner's are at risk of serious injury or death. While driving the Volvo the headlamps flicker and fail . The driver usually a mother with children in the car is suddenly plunged into darkness at any given speed and at night. …
I was getting off the highway and made a left turn. As I was accelerating the motor gentle cut off.. (You wouldnt even notice if you wasnt driving) Full Traffic was behind me, so luckily I was able to get out of the way and pull to shoulder. It was the day before Christmas and car hasn't ran since. Upon investigation I found the CEM was effected. When the car died I was in left hand lane and I had to make my way to right, the shoulder. Yes the problem was diagnosed by myself. However I did investigation and researched using all data at library. It has not been inspected by anyone else. There where no warning lamps or messages prior to the failure. It happened all of a sudden in the middle of traffic when I was getting off the highway.
After rainfall we began experience power failures in our Volvo. No windows were left open and the interior was not exposed to any water. But while driving the dashboard went out the needles for the fuel, miles per hour and everything went out. It came on shortly after then off again this time with the radio and windows could not roll down or up. Once the car was off it came back on only to repeat the same issue the dash and radio come on and off while driving and at one point will shut off everything until the car is turned off again. The headlights will flicker as well from time to time. This is extremely frightening considering I have a toddler and small child and while driving on a highway to have everything shut off was beyond frightening and extremely worrisome. …
While driving on the highway "SRS urgent" text came on, also hear clicking sounds under dash on driver side, then dashboard indicator lights completely disappear (speed, fuel, temperature, etc) . Extremely hot under driver side dash. Fortunately, still able to steer and brake. This has happened twice now. Mechanic believes most likely CEM failure or DIM failure. My vehicle also has a wet A-pillar fabric (Volvo forums indicate possible cause of failure). I removed drivers A-pillar and found a clogged drain tube from the sunroof. However, did not notice any obvious signs of water inside the vehicle, though it hasnt rained for over a month when this happened.
Hello Volvo, for the record, we love our Volvo SUV (2004, XC90). Over the years the service from michelle balside at Volvo on plainfield road in cincinnati has been truly excellent, her contact information is attached. However, we have has an issue since 2011 that has not been resolved, which is so uncharacteristic of Volvo. I am hoping you can help me change the outcome. For years my husbands right headlight has been turning on and off intermittently. This is very dangerous when he drives to and from work at night on an old 4 lane highway (columbia parkway) that has no separation between east and west bound lanes, which means cars travel head-on at 70 miles an hour. Our dealer looked at the issue several times and said they could not fix it; so we lived with the dangerous issue because we thought the problem was unique to us. …
Frequently asked questions
Which Volvo XC90 years have headlight problems?
By NHTSA complaints, the 2004 (33) and 2005 (26) model years. Headlight complaints make up 7% of all complaints for the 2004.
Is there a recall for Volvo XC90 headlight problems?
No. NHTSA lists no lights recall for any Volvo XC90 model year. A widespread problem may still be covered by an extended warranty or a manufacturer service bulletin, so ask a dealer.
At what mileage do Volvo XC90 headlight problems start?
Across all years, half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 95,000 miles; 13% happened before 50,000 miles.
What part fails most often?
Owners most often name the turn signal (3 mentions), followed by the headlights (2).
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.