Other powertrain problem on the 2005 Volvo Xc90
When other powertrain problem gets reported
Owners of the 2005 Volvo Xc90 report other powertrain problem at a median of 80,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 60,000 miles and a quarter after 100,000 miles, from 30 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 92,000 miles. It is the 2nd most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 52,500 miles at the tenth percentile to 112,500 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 58,400 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A window that narrow is the signature of a part that fails on its own schedule rather than on how the car is driven — which is usually a design or supplier problem rather than wear and tear.
3% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 53,000 miles | 60,800 miles | 80,000 miles | 100,501 miles | 111,400 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $400–$4,500 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 8 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2011, at a median of 1,500 miles, and latest on the 2003 at 100,000 miles.
By volume the 2004 carries the most reports, with 65; the 2005 has 31. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
I currently own a volvo xc90 t-6 2005. The transmission began to slip in first gear, I had a volvo dealership take a look at it about 6,000 miles ago. Now, the urgent service light came on and volvo states that the transmission needs to be replaced. Many others have experienced these same issues, so what is volvo not fixing these issues. I will never, never purchase a volvo again. *tr
While driving my 2005 volvo xc90 noticed the transmission slipping. The slipping started in the just two after purchased and it was taken to the dealership at the factory schedule maintenance intervals. On july 15, 2008 while my wife was driving the vehicle with my two children that transmission slipped and got stuck is a gear that prevented my wife going more than twenty miles per hour on a very busy street. The vehicle has 72,000 miles on it. *tr
The transmission in my 2005 volvo xc 90, failed in traffic on dec. 18th. After doing some research this is a very common issue. The car only had 63,200 miles on it and had been regularly serviced. The links below, show that this is a common issue which volvo is aware of but failing to make public. Http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.f18a651/132 http://www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/volvo.htm http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.ef21566/1030 I believe there should be a recall, as people are having to pay $3000 - $5000, to replace a defective part. If you check the links, some users have had to replace the transmission multiple times. *tr
Also reported on the 2005 Volvo Xc90
Other engine problem
Complete transmission failure
Other electrical problem
Headlight failure or clouding
Fuel pump failure
Other fuel system problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 31 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does other powertrain problem happen on the 2005 Volvo Xc90?
Across 30 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 80,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 60,000 miles and a quarter after 100,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other powertrain problem on the 2005 Volvo Xc90?
31 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.7 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed