Lights

Volvo S80 Lighting problems by year

25 complaints filed with NHTSA about the Volvo S80's lights. Headlights, tail lights, brake lights, turn signals and interior lighting failures.

Lighting complaints by model year

'99 6'00 '01 '02 '03 '04 '05 '06 '07 '08 '09 '10 '11 '12 '13 '14 '15 '16

Year	Lighting complaints	Crashes	Injuries	Recalls
2009	1	0	0	0
2007	2	0	0	0
2006	1	0	0	0
2004	2	0	0	0
2003	3	0	0	0
2002	2	0	0	0
2001	4	0	0	0
2000	6	0	0	0
1999	4	0	0	0

Latest S80 lighting complaints

2009 Volvo S80 Electrical system Lights

The headlight system malfunctioned. It is available for inspection upon request. The low beam failure error occurred, which led to an inspection of the headlight system. The wiring inside the headlight assembly failed. The insulation on bulb wires is crumbling everywhere and causing short circuits from exposed wire conductors. This causes a safety issue because the bulbs stop functioning, impairing visibility of the car, visibility of the road, and disabling motion intent lights like the turn signals. Bare...

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wires touching can also lead to overheating and fires or failures of the headlight electrical system. Humidity may damage the exposed wires and cause bulb failure or wire overheating. The wiring harnesses may also overheat. The wire insulation problem was confirmed by an independent service center on multiple cars of this model.

2007 Volvo S80 Electrical system Lights

Warning light on dashboard indicated right front headlamp out. Repair shop removed and replaced original component with new component. Internal inspection of light assembly revealed missing insulation(photos attached) on wiring harness causing a short circuit which also ruined the headlight igniter and control module. Shop stated that this issue is NOT uncommon with Volvo lighting systems. The current concern is the same condition is present in the left(driver) headlight and could cause a short and fire...

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within the headlight assembly. Correspondence with Volvo resulted in no resolution of the issue and lack of concern for the reliability of installed components or possible safety concern for their product.

2007 Volvo S80 Electrical system Lights

The passenger side head light while I was driving home from work bulb went out had message stating bulb failure replaced bulbs and within 2 days. Lights were out again and the wiring connected to head lights were frayed as if they had shorted out or had melted and the back side signal on passenger side stopped working the car was being driven at that time

2003 Volvo S80 Electrical system Lights

Takata recall the dashboard lights are not working at all. I just bought the car 2 months ago. Without the dashboard lights not working, it is very dangerous. I can not see how many mph I am going, and can't tell how much gas I have. Also at night, it is completely black in the dashboard and is very dangerous. This happens day and night. It happened as soon as I drove it off the lot. I called the dealer, and they did not want to take care of it. I purchased the car at michele motors, located on rt.88, Brick, nj.

2000 Volvo S80 Electrical system Lights Airbags

While driving my 2000 volvo s80 about 20-25mph all the sudden lost power to all my gauges, dashboard lights, power windows, & power locks. The radio was the only device that was working. The following message was displayed srs-airbag service urgent. I have noticed a difference on my brake pedal that it does not respond as well as it use too there is a short delay when stepped on. Before this incident I had noticed a clicking noise on the driver side when a came to a stop like a relay chattering & also the ac would...

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come on when the car is turned off. At times the following message would appear frequently alarm needs servicing. I don't know what is causing this malfunctions but if its a manufacturing problem volvo should be liable on correcting the problem & provide us with a safe vehicle. *Tr

2004 Volvo S80 Electrical system Lights

Slowly driving on a road in neighborhood and was signaling to make a left turn and all of a sudden the signal light stopped and the whole car just shut down. No electrical or auto operating at all. Automobile totally stalled and would not start. Car was entering an intersection necessitating me getting out and pushing the auto back behind the stop sign. Auto would not start again and had to be towed. My regular repair person tried to get it operating but could not and was again towed to a volvo dealer who took 4 days to fix. My issue is if this had occurred at night making a turn or just driving I would have had an accident. *Tr

2006 Volvo S80 Electrical system Lights

First the high beam headlights could not be dimmed and constantly remained on creating problems for oncoming drivers. Next the high beams could not be turned on creating visibility issues when driving the car. The component that failed is the central electronic module ( cem ) . When the cem failed it also burned out the turn signal board. Both the cem and the turn signal board needed to be replaced with new units. *Tr

2004 Volvo S80 Lights

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 volvo s80. The contact stated that both headlights would fail intermittently without warning. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the dealer advised that the igniters that were used to turn on the headlights had failed. The dealer advised that the headlights had their own igniter and the dealer advised that because the failure was common in his year, make and model, the repair would possibly only last for two years. Th vehicle was not repaired. The vin was unknown. The failure and current mileage was 90,000.

2003 Volvo S80 Lights

I have a 2003 volvo and twice I have had to have the front lens on the head :light replaced, not because it was damaged by an accident but because when water hits it the lens cracks ( it happens when the auto has been running or sitting out outside ) I believe there is some kind of defect in the lens . This is not a cheap expense, I have paid over $500.00 Each time I have it repaired. The volvo dealer I go to does not seem to care to investigate this, but I am getting tired of paying for something that is not my fault. *Tr

1999 Volvo S80 Suspension Lights

During normal driving conditions at night, the low beam (dipped beam) headlights failed while out of town with my wife and two daughters. I was able to drive to a safe location using the high beams. A check of headlamp bulbs and fuses showed that everything was in good working order and I was left scratching my head. The headlights are still not working three weeks later, and I finally know why. Volvo owners exchange information on various websites and on more than one I found people suggesting that the cem (main...

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computer) used "shunts" for various components on the vehicle and they were proned to shorting out due to random overheating issues. I checked the area under the driver's side dash and sure enough, there is a shunt inserted into the cem with heavy charring around the terminals. The 1999 volvo s80 was the first year of my particular model, and the first year this type of wiring architecture was used on their vehicles. The shorting of a crucial circuit such as headlamps not only poses a grave danger when driving the vehicle at night, but could also cause a fire. I feel the failure in the design of the cem and the vehicles wiring architecture could also be responsible for the random electrical problems occurring with the s80 as well. There are several websites that mention the constant "check engine" light that comes on and dealers are claiming they repair the problem after each visit, which usually end up costing over $1,000.00. There's also several examples of customers , including myself, who lose the a/c compressor randomly, and the alternator indicating that it isn't charging correctly. Finally, there is also something inherently wrong with the design of the front suspension of the s80. I've paid for struts and ball joint repairs and have had them repaired through a manufacturer recall. Again, the dealer claims to have repaired the problem after each visit, yet the problem has recently come up again in my vehicle. Please contact me anytime. *Tr

2000 Volvo S80 Brakes Fuel system Transmission & drivetrain Lights Airbags Body, doors & structure

1) Engine idles rough, problem became so bad that car stalls at low speeds, lost power steering & "engine dies" at low speeds (unsafe!). Local mech referred to etm warranty program to re-program faulty etm module. Took car to dlr, re-programmed etm car died again! Turns out bad battery as well: several hundred $$$ to replace battery. Car does not accelerate smoothly, large "shudders" present when merging onto hwy, during transmission/gear shift. Not good! 2) Airbag "srs-urgent...

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service" warning indicator light is on. Good local mech. States this is a $1000 repair. 3) "Check brake light" warning indicator light turns on when depressing on brake pedal: good local mech. States that this is "normal" requires exact matching electrical resistance of all brake lamps to ensure that "check brake light" warning does not occur (in actuality the brake lights work fine, the built-in-test is faulty). 4) "Check engine light" comes on 2-3 times in last 3 months. Major service was required. One fault was isolated to fuel tank gas cap: if not secured properly "ecm-4308 (leak diagnostic) large leak" occurs...Remedied by twisting fuel cap 3 full rotations, after re-fueling gas tank. Good local mech. Diagnosed the loose gas cap problem, warned me about it, and didn't charge me (nice!). 5) Body paint is very susceptible to chipping & scratches. Paint or exterior panels are very soft and easily damaged. Another shame, this car looks great but does not hold up very well under typical parking lot conditions (i.E. Someone parked next to you opens their car door into the side of your car resulting in a large scratch). Solution: purchase a fancy car cover and protect the body paint, if you can! 6) Parking brake "seems loose", upon parking car and engaging parking brake the vehicle rolls almost 30 cm bwds or fwd depending on level or inclined surface. *Tr

2001 Volvo S80 Lights

2001 S80 volvo, headlights gather moisture anytime it rains. Had to replace before passing inspection. *Tr

2000 Volvo S80 Lights Electrical system

My 2000 volvo s80 began giving me error messages of several kinds, one of which tells me "dipped beam bulb failure." When that happens, the low beam headlights do not work (they come on when I start the car as running lights). After buying new bulbs to put in, I found that the old bulbs were not burned out and that the problem occurred at random. The big problem was driving home with the bright lights only - which though seemed differently, are not too awfully bright - only a few people flashed me. I then had...

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other codes coming up and had to replace the "abs controller" to the tune of $1000; and, guess what? The dipped beam bulb failure message still occurs off and on (spending the $1000 did cure the other, multiple messages)*jb

2000 Volvo S80 Lights

Dt*: the contact stated the headlights, brake lights, turn signal lights and reverse lights have failed on 30 seperate occassions. The bulb light failure indicator has worked in each case. The dealer agreed there was a problem, but had no solution.

1999 Volvo S80 Lights Equipment & accessories

Front signal housing /lens cover keeps falling off. Repaired but plastic breaks. *Jb

Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) complaints and recalls, checked daily. Complaints are owners' own reports and are not verified. How we use the data