2016 Volvo XC90

Name: 2016 Volvo XC90 owner-filed safety complaints per 1,000 sold
Creator: YearsTell

For every car sold, owners filed 3.0 times as many complaints about the 2016 XC90 as about the typical XC90 year. Among the 2 XC90 years with enough complaints to compare, owners filed the fewest about the 2023 (0.97 per 1,000 sold) and the most about this one, the 2016 (1.54).

Safety complaints filed by owners in the first three years, per 1,000 sold.

1.54 per 1,000

3.0 times this nameplate’s own median

Counted from 50 complaints filed in the first three years, of 197 ever. 95% lower bound 1.11.

Every XC90 model yearComplaints per 1,000 sold, first three years

This yearOther yearsToo few complaints to rankTypical year, 0.51

Against its own model years

The model year carries far more information than the badge, so this is the comparison that matters. The bar is how many complaints each rate rests on.

Model year	Per 1,000	Complaints
2008	0.32	6
2016	1.54	50
2017	0.69	22
2018	0.51	16
2019	0.12	4
2020	0.20	7
2021	0.27	10
2022	0.58	21
2023	0.97	36

Issues owners of the 2016 XC90 report

Phrases over-represented in these complaints compared with the same component on every other vehicle. Counts are complaints containing the phrase.

Engine 86 complaints

oil consumption	25	29%
consumption	25	29%
piston	13	15%
rings	12	14%

Electrical System 56 complaints

dashboard	12	21%
blank	10	18%
software	10	18%

When it breaks

58% of reported failures happened before 30,000 miles (median 20,000 miles, from 89 complaints that recorded one).

No clear early or late pattern.

What NHTSA did

1 investigation covering this model year, 1 of which list a recall campaign.

Pedestrian alert sounds

Questions buyers ask about the 2016 Volvo XC90

Is 2016 a good year or a bad year for the XC90?

What problems does the 2016 XC90 have?

The parts owners named most often in complaints filed to date: Engine (86), Electrical System (56), Unknown Or Other (36). The phrases they used are listed above.

Is the 2016 XC90 reliable?

Complaint records cannot settle that on their own. They count safety problems owners chose to report to the federal government, not every repair. What they do show is how this year compares with the other XC90 years: for every car sold, owners filed 3.0 times as many complaints about the 2016 XC90 as about the typical XC90 year.

Which XC90 year has the fewest complaints?

Among years with enough complaints to compare, the 2023, at 0.97 per 1,000 sold. Every XC90 year, ranked.

What the used-car guides say

No guide we read covers the XC90.

Check this yourself

Example records behind this page, each on NHTSA’s own site:

Limits of this figure. It counts safety complaints filed with the federal government, which is a floor on failures and not a census: problems that only cost money are under-reported. Complaint rates also reflect how likely a brand’s owners are to file, which cannot be separated from how often the car fails. Sales are calendar-year and the denominator for this nameplate is checked by hand against its source table, not against an outside figure.