Volvo Penta Reviews

I bought a 2018 Chaparral SSX with a Volvo Penta inboard engine. I leave the boat in the water three months a year. After three years I had to replace the entire exhaust system at a cost of $14k. This normal wear and tear is apparently not warranted and Volvo Penta gouges the consumer on parts cost. I will never buy a product with a Volvo engine again. Chaparral is equally in the wrong because they know this is the case and should not be installing Volvo Penta engines in their boats.

Purchased 2021 Glastron GTS205 with 280 Hp Volvo Penta new on 6/3/21. On 6/25/23 the battery in the boat was dead. It was replaced with a new battery. When returning to the dock, the engine would not shut down. It overheated and coolant boiled over into the bilge. In July it was taken to Marshall Marine in Kingland Tx where it was kept for repairs for more than two months. Boat was returned with a dead battery, another electrical problem, and overheated with smoke streaming out of the engine compartment after traveling less than 1/4 mile. The boat was returned to the dealership on 9/18/23 and no word from them yet.

Volvo is great at leasing cars unless you want to turn one in. My car was inspected prior to return and was noted for having "mismatched tires". The tires were fine, just two of them had been replaced. My choice was to buy new tires or pay them $1,400. I chose to replace the tires. I was told to turn in the invoices with the car. I did, but that didn't work. They called and wanted me to pay $1400. I mailed the receipts to them. That didn't work. Now they are still after the $1400. I am sending receipts for the third time today, but I don't see that working either. Next time, they can speak to my attorney. Also, as a side note - if you lease from them, you can't trade the car to another dealer at the end of your lease. This was fine print in the lease and was not disclosed to me when I leased the car.

Very dissatisfied with the Volvo FWD outdrive design. Apparently I drove past/thr a light 8 LB test fishing line (only strong enough for a small lake fish) and the line ended up inside my lower unit, causing the fluid to leak out and ruin the shaft and gears....How is this remotely possible?? This would be the equivalent of a pebble entering an auto transmission from driving down the road (that would never happen). Volvo refused to help and my 40 hour only outdrive cost over $11000 to fix....My first Volvo ever (Mercs my whole life & 0 problems) and never again...My advice would be to buy a Merc outdrive

Purchased a very expensive new Cobalt boat in 2021 for use on a lake in upstate New York. Boat was equipped with a Volvo Penta 8 cylinder motor and applicable new warranty coverages from Volvo and the boat company Cobalt. Shortly after taking the delivery of the boat, began to notice overheat conditions. Alarm would sound and boat would be shut down to cool. Assumed weeds in prop but did not notice any during overheat conditions. Most recent overheat incident caused extensive heat damage to manifold and thousand of dollars damage. Dealer begins repair of craft to notice a build up of debris and weeds in cooling system. Impeller motor operative. Boat has been ingesting weeds and debris into cooling system over time causing overheat.

I bought a new 29-foot Monterey Sport Yacht with brand new Volvo Penta engine in June 2020. The engine stopped working within one hour of operation at a boat speed of 5 MPH. It turns out to be a caused by a bad switch at the top of the engine. It took them two weeks to replace it. Fifteen months later, on September 12, 2021 the engine stopped working at engine temperature of 189 F. The boat was towed to a Volvo Penta certified boat yard on Bethel Island, CA. It was found a piece of metal was broken off from the exhaust manifold, which got into the main part of the engine so the entire long block has to be replaced. The engine was reassembled in late December 2021. However, according to the boat mechanic, the engine was not running appropriately.

Purchase a new 2021 Cobalt boat with Volvo 430 HP engine from Goodhue Navy Yard. After 7 hours of operation, carefully following the break-in procedure, the engine died. The dealer sent a service technician to evaluate and he determined a bad fuel pump. They could not find one in their system and could not tell me when one would be available. After a week I personally went online and found one. When the tech. installed it the engine still did not run. Back at the shop they found zero compression on #1 cylinder and a mark on the piston. Hard to believe that the dealer nor Cobalt could supply a replacement fuel pump on a new product and greater disappointment the engine failed at 7 hours. I have not heard back yet to see if there is a replacement engine available.

Horrible company! I installed a D2-50F brand new engine in my sailboat. Getting any technical information from this company is like they are giving military intelligence to the enemy. I never was able to get an installation manual from Volvo. It did not come in the paper work with the engine. Volvo must send a technician out to the boat to inspect and certify the installation. I got a hard **! I have met all his requirement and still a year+ later I do not have a warranty! The engine runs absolutely great but the company is really bad! There is no national tech line. Everything must go through a local dealer. The responses I've had, to be nice is erratic. Sorry I bought it.

We bought a new boat with twin Volvo Penta gas engines, Regal 32 Express. For over 2 years, we have been experiencing nothing but engines failure and problems with bow thruster, trim tabs and many other parts. Starboard engine failed 3 times with the same problem: Warning light, noise, and loss of power. 2 separate certified Volvo Penta mechanics are unable to fix the problem. 2 other refuse to even work with Volvo Penta to fix the problem. In addition, many other problems with other parts not related to Volvo Penta.

When I purchased my 2018 XC60 new in October, the salesman told me there would be an easy computer fix to disable the ready button which starts up the car again at a light to conserve gas. There is no program and every time I start the car I have to turn this function off manually. It's very annoying. I contacted Volvo Corporate and asked for their intervention to help broker a good deal for a 2019 where this can be done by a computer fix. They were no help. They called my dealership and told them I was coming. Don't buy a Volvo. I found out my car depreciated $20,000 in 9 months according to the dealership.