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 brand's front-drive vehicles might not agree as often.

While the average person equates Volvo with dependability, those that have lived with the brand's front-drive vehicles might not agree. (Photo: Volvo Cars of Canada)

But the Ford-owned Swedish automaker is working hard to raise its game, with proof of improvement seen in this year's 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 year's 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?

Volvo placed a rather pathetic 30 out of 37 nameplate in this year's J. D. Power and Associates Vehicle Dependability Study. (Photo: Rob Rothwell, Canadian Auto Press)

It's important to keep in mind that the 2004 VDS reflects 2001 model year cars only, and that significant gains in quality in more recent years, such as that shown in the 2004 IQS for instance, won't be reflected in this year's VDS survey. It does give a good indication of a nameplate's general reliability rating for buying used however.

This poor VDS statistic could hardly be comfortable for the Swedish automaker, which if it weren't for Volkswagen and Land Rover, would be the worst faring European nameplate. Saab's 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.