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What 19 owners told NHTSA about the 2011 Volvo XC90 Recharge

These are the actual owner complaints behind this car’s reliability verdict, filed with the federal government, unedited. They’re unverified reports, not confirmed defects: read them as leads for your pre-purchase inspection, not a diagnosis.

All (19)Crash / fire / injury (2)Electrical system (5)Engine (5)Transmission & drivetrain (3)Brakes (2)Engine & cooling (2)Seat belts (2)Steering (2)Airbags (1)Body & structure (1)Fuel system (1)

1 of 19 complaints match · Fuel system · clear filters

Sep 15, 2011Engine & coolingFuel systemTransmission & drivetrainSpeed control

I FIRST EXPERIENCED THE DELAY IN RE-ACCELERATION ONE MORNING ON MY WAY TO WORK. AFTER COMING TO A COMPLETE STOP @ A STOP SIGN, I STEPPED ON THE GAS TO TAKE A TURN AND THE CAR HESITATED AT A VERY SLOW PACE TO TAKE OFF. I CHALKED IT UP AS THE CAR BEING COLD EARLY IN THE MORNING. IT CONTINUED TO HAPPEN PERIODICALLY UNTIL ONE DAY IT HAPPENED AS I WAS STOPPED AT A BUSY INTERSECTION WAITING TO TURN LEFT. WHEN THE INTERSECTION WAS CLEARED OF ONCOMING TRAFFIC FROM A REASONABLE DISTANCE I PRESSED THE GAS TO GO AND THE CAR LITERALLY DRAGGED IN SLOW MOTION INTO THE INTERSECTION. THE ACCELERATION WAS SO SLOW THAT IT ALLOWED TIME FOR THE ONCOMING TRAFFIC TO REACH ME. WITH THE FRONT OF MY CAR IN THE INTERSECTION AND THE ONCOMING TRAFFIC COMING DIRECTLY AT ME AT FULL SPEED I HAD TO FLOOR THE GAS PEDAL TO JUMP KICK THE CAR INTO SPEED TO GET ACROSS THE INTERSECTION SAFELY. AFTER THAT NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE I CALLED MY DEALER IMMEDIATELY. THEY WERE ABLE TO GET ME IN THE NEXT DAY, GAVE ME A LOANER VEHICLE AND KEPT MY CAR OVERNIGHT. I GOT A CALL FROM MY SERVICE ADVISOR THE NEXT AFTERNOON STATING THAT THEY COULD NOT DUPLICATE THE PROBLEM, HOWEVER THEY WILL RESET THE CARS COMPUTER TO SEE IF THAT HELPS. WELL IT DIDN'T. I NOW DON'T DRIVE THE CAR UNLESS I ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO. IT'S STILL HAPPENING AND I DON'T FEEL COMPLETELY SAFE WHEN DRIVING MY CAR. OUR DAUGHTER WILL BE GETTING HER LICENSE SOON AND WE THOUGHT OUT OF OUR TWO CARS THAT THE VOLVO XC90 WILL BE THE SAFEST FOR HER TO DRIVE. NOW I DON'T SEE IT AS EVEN BEING AN OPTION FOR HER. I'VE BEEN ONLINE RESEARCHING SIMILAR COMPLAINTS BY OTHER 2011 VOLVO XC90 OWNERS AND DIDN'T FIND MUCH OF ANYTHING. PERHAPS THERE WERE JUST A FEW BAD APPLES OUT OF THE BUNCH AND I JUST HAPPENED TO GET ONE OF THEM. MY 2011 WAS PURCHASED NEW OFF THE SHOWROOM'S FLOOR JUNE 2011 WITH 550 MILES AT DELIVERY. I NOW HAVE A LITTLE OVER 4000 MILES. *KB

NHTSA ODI 10425590

Working with the data? Download all 19 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 20, 2026

How to use these: a complaint is one owner’s report, filed voluntarily and published unverified. Patterns matter more than any single story. If several owners describe the same failure at similar mileage, put that system at the top of your pre-purchase inspection list. Back to the full 2011 Volvo XC90 Recharge verdict →