Volvo Buyers Win Certification in Leaky Sunroof Class Action Lawsuit
By Mike Holter
Volvo buyers in six states won class certification in a class action lawsuit accusing Volvo Cars of North America of selling vehicles with defective sunroof drainage systems.
U.S. District Judge Dennis M. Cavanaugh on Tuesday certified the proposed state subclasses, which consist of all current and former owners or lessees of a 2000-2012 model year Volvo S40, S60, S70, S80, V50, V70 or XC90 vehicle in the following states: California, Florida, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts and New Jersey.
Judge Cavanaugh, however, declined to certify a nationwide class of Volvo buyers because plaintiffs were bringing claims under the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act, which cannot be applied nationally.
Plaintiffs in the 2010 Volvo sunroof class action lawsuit allege Volvo “had longstanding knowledge of a material design defect” in the vehicles’ sunroofs, which begins to manifest shortly after the limited warranty expires. They based this on the assertion that Volvo issued several technical service bulletins in an attempt to address the problem.
The alleged sunroof defect allows water to enter the passenger compartment and create “sloshing” and “soaking wet” floor mats.
The case is similar to a class action lawsuit accusing Volkswagen and Audi of also selling vehicles with leaky sunroof problems (Dewey, et al. v. Volkswagen of America Inc., et al.).
In December, a federal court approved a $69 million class action settlement in the Dewey case that provided reimbursement to VW and Audi owners for repairs, replacements and/or cleaning costs associated with the leaky sunroofs.
The Volvo Sunroof Defect Class Action Lawsuit case is Joanne Neale, et al. v. Volvo Cars of North America LLC, et al., Case No. 2:10-cv-04407, U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.
The plaintiffs are represented by Chimicles & Tikellis LLP and Mazie Slater Katz & Freeman LLC.
UPDATE: On Sept. 28, 2018, plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit alleging certain Volvos have defective sunroofs urged a federal judge to certify their proposed Class in a new motion.
Updated March 28th, 2013
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113 thoughts onVolvo Buyers Win Certification in Leaky Sunroof Class Action Lawsuit
2015 XC90 That was garaged most of the warranty time frame. Then post warranty it went outside and leaked. Why if they was a problem didn’t volvo just make it part of their regular maintenance check or do a recall to fix the design flaw. I understand Volvo has since remanufactured a better seal that doesn’t leak
I have a 2021 that has done the same thing, 2 times in the last 15 months.
How is this still happening 20 years later? How can newer model owners join this Class Action suit?
Same thing is happened to me. My 2018 Volvo XC60 with 25k miles on it-had to be towed into the local dealership. Costing thousands they say to fix once it drys out. I am thinking we should do a class action lawsuit. Others have won them . Please let me know if you are too.
I’m in!
I too have experienced sunroof leak described by dealer as defective hose or valve. The water apparently shorted all the electrical systems and created a dangerous driving situation. Dealer had my car for 2 1/2 weeks with charges of $4000 plus.