Volvo Quality is Once Again Being Questioned as the Brand Recalls 460,000 Cars Globally

While Styling and Performance has Gained in Recent Years, Reliability is Hardly Stellar

Volvo cars are the epitome of dependable, right? While the general consensus among rear-wheel drive Volvo owners would be biased toward such thinking, for the most part, those that have lived with the brands front-drive vehicles might not agree as often.

But the Ford-owned Swedish automaker is working hard to raise its game, with proof of improvement seen in this years J. D. Power and Associates Initial Quality Study (IQS). Its problems per one hundred vehicles index has decreased from 128 to 113, placing the car in 14th place out of 37 nameplates.

An even greater sign of recent reliability improvements can be seen in this years J. D. Power and Associates Vehicle Dependability Study (VDS), in which Volvo placed a rather pathetic 30 out of 37 nameplates. How does such a poor VDS ranking show recent improvements? Its important to keep in mind that the 2004 VDS reflects 2001 model year cars only, and that significant gains in quality in recent years, such as that shown in the 2004 IQS for instance, wont be reflected in this years VDS survey. It does give a good indication of a nameplates general reliability rating for buying used however.

This poor VDS statistic could hardly be comfortable for the Swedish automaker, which if it werent for Volkswagen and Land Rover, would be the worst faring European nameplate. Saabs strong showing no doubt makes the wound smart even more, being that the two companies are longtime rivals, and their current Ford Motor (Volvo) and General Motors (Saab) parents are even larger competitors, on a per unit basis.

Whats interesting about the VDS study is that Volvos most recent recall, a Duesy that sees the automaker needing to fix 460,000 vehicles worldwide due to defective radiator cooling fans, which can overheat and in some cases cause fires, is for 1999 to 2001 model year cars, which include the S60, S80, V70 and V70 Cross Country wagons.

According to a Reuters report approximately 150,000 vehicles will be recalled in the U.S. alone, with a total of 460,000 units to be affected globally from other major markets such as Sweden, Germany, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. According to the report, the models in question have previously been recalled for other defects.