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A plaintiff is opposing a motion by Volvo Cars of North America LLC to dismiss a class action lawsuit alleging satellite radio receivers installed in their vehicles quickly drain car batteries.
Plaintiff Theresa Jenner alleges Volvo knowingly sold vehicles with the defective satellite receivers that prematurely drained car batteries, but hid the defect from consumers.
According to the Volvo class action lawsuit, once Jenner learned about the defect, she had to pay extra money to fix it in order to have a fully-functioning car.
According to the Volvo class action lawsuit, a software defect causes the satellite receivers to constantly search for a signal—even if the vehicle’s owner doesn’t subscribe to the satellite radio service.
Further, the satellite receiver continues to search for a signal even if the vehicle isn’t running. This constant search for the signal quickly drains car batteries, Jenner says.
Jenner initially filed the Volvo class action lawsuit in August 2015, claiming her Volvo’s car battery died twice in less than six months due to the satellite receiver software defect.
Volvo has tried to dismiss the class action lawsuit, but its efforts have been unsuccessful so far.
“Volvo’s motion to dismiss Jenner’s complaint is an exercise in distraction and confusion,” Jenner argues in opposition to Volvo’s latest attempt to escape the class action lawsuit. She accuses the car maker of putting forth several irrelevant arguments that do not warrant dismissal.
Jenner accuses Volvo of going to “great lengths” to distract the court from the multiple examples she has found of Volvo drivers complaining on public internet forums about the premature draining of batteries due to the satellite receiver software defect.
“But there is no reason for the Court to ignore these allegations,” Jenner argues, pointing out that there is no law that prohibits the use of information contained in public internet forums to demonstrate that a manufacturer knew about a product defect.
Jenner also points out that she used multiple examples in her Volvo class action lawsuit to show the car maker was aware of the defect.
In addition to complaints in public internet forums, her lawsuit included results of a Google search for “Volvo s40 battery keeps dying,” which brought up more than 20 links; four technical service bulletins issued by Volvo regarding the battery drainage problem; and the software upgrade Volvo created to remedy the defect.
“Jenner’s allegations make clear beyond doubt that Volvo was never an innocent bystander to an unforeseen situation involving a latent defect in its cars,” Jenner argues. “Rather, every reasonable inference to be drawn from Jenner’s allegations shows that Volvo—which was silent as Jenner and others bought and drove cars with a constant and widely reported battery-draining defect—knowingly concealed the problem.”
The plaintiff has asked the court to deny Volvo’s dismissal bid in its entirety.
Jenner is represented by Christopher Markos and Michael J. Quirk of Williams Cuker Berezofsky LLC, Marc R. Stanley and Martin Woodward of Stanley Law Group, Andrew S. Kierstead of the Law Office of Andrew Kierstead and Peter N. Wasylyk of the Law Offices of Peter N. Wasylyk.
The Volvo Battery-Draining Defect Class Action Lawsuit is Theresa Jenner v. Volvo Cars North America LLC, Case No. 2:15-cv-06152, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.
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18 thoughts onVolvo Battery-Draining Defect Class Action Should Continue, Plaintiff Says
I paid $316.56 on 6/14/2017 to remove RDAR software/ new battery. I have 9 typed lines on my service invoice how my battery was excessively discharged, they couldn’t even jump it to get it in for service. That they performed a RDAR upgrade to correct glitch allowing control module to remain active after vehicle shutdown. I’d like my money back.
My 2011 Volvo C-70 has had 3 batteries w/ in the last 2 years. The most recent battery died after a few weeks which caused me to take it to the dealer who stated they were confident the problem is the Sirius signal search battery drain. In addition to the dealer cost to “fix” (hopefully) the problem, I had to pay for multiple batteries. Hundreds of dollars and total inconvenience for a known problem. At a minimum Volvo should have notified owners of this issue. Because of the lack of proactive notice by Volvo in addition to me having to pay for numerous costs associated with this defect, I won’t purchase another Volvo.
Just got back from the dealer (stealer?). They want to charge me $for a NEW RDAR ($845.20) and then an additional $118.26 to reload the RDAR (programming). Additionally the want to charge another $177.20 to “upgrade” my CEM software. Oh, almost forgot, and a new battery ($285.13)…..
I am FURIOUS about this! ~ $1,400 because THEY have a problem with their software!
Please re-up this class action lawsuit! I will pitch in for any up-front costs!
I am now at the dealer. Although I gave them the TSB number, they are CHARGING ME to “look it up”. The quote to research is $132!!!
Volvo has had a VERY LOYAL Customer in me, however I see that changing…. and changing quickly.
I am going through this problem right now. I haven’t had my car xc60 since before Christmas. The mechanic is trying to fix this but Volvo has not made it easy. How do we get in on the class action lawsuit.
I had a 2011 C30 and saw this light come on very rarely in the 7 years I owned it. Never became a real issue.
However in January I purchased a CPO 2015 S60, and the dealership had just put in a new battery prior to my purchasing it. About 7-8 months later I’m seeing this low voltage light come on but only when I first get into the car before starting it, or right after turning it off and before opening the door (shutting down the infotainment system).
I took it to my personal mechanic for a simple oil change and asked him to check it out, he suggested alternator, which is covered by CPO warranty.
I then immediately took it to a different dealership, where I bought the C30, because it’s closer to home. I knew about the $150 diagnostic fee but felt confident that the issue would be resolved under warranty thus waiving any expense from me. No. They said it was because the battery life counter in the car was not reset by the dealership I bought the car from when the new battery was put in. Reset, no fix. Took it back and suddenly they discover the battery failed completely, so, under the battery’s warranty, they put in a new one for free. But I was still out $150. About a month later, the light came back on. Fed up with this particular dealership for various other reasons, I took it to another. As a pleasant surprise, the service manager did tell me about the RDAR issue and that a software upgrade would resolve it. I was never charged anything by them. Unfortunately, the light has come back on 3 times since then, so she told me they would have to reach out to Volvo for suggestions. I sincerely doubt that this could be the result of an issue unrelated to the RDAR draining issue, but I am still waiting to find out.
The dealership that charged me for the diagnostic fee refuses to refund it to me.
Volvo Tampa blames the battery drain issue on Sirius. Fix costs me $190.00. I had to get it fixed so my wife would not be stranded I’d I was out of town.
I have a 2011 Volvo C-30 with this same battery drain issue. Any time the car is not driven for 3 or 4 days the battery is dead. I have purchased 2 new batteries, one a spare. If one goes dead, I swap in the new charged battery and recharge the dead one. I have had to replace each of these batteries under warranty once each. I’m taking the car to Volvo where I purchased it to see what they will tell me, and charge me for the software fix now that I have found the issue on the internet. Sign me up for the class action. We should request a list of Volvo owners and see how many let their car sit a few days and end up with a dead battery.
I am disgusted with Volvo Corporation for concealing this defect and refusing to fix the software responsible for it. A service provider even blamed me and my driving habits for the draining battery problem. I am going to sell my Volvo now, after only 1.5 yrs owning it.
I now have the third battery in my 2012 Volvo xc60 since Sept 2012 (When i bought the suv)