Volvo Piston Defect Class Action Lawsuit Overview:
- Who: A group of car owners filed a class action lawsuit against Volvo Car USA, LLC.
- Why: Car owners claim Volvo fails to disclose to 2013-2016 Volvo vehicle owners that the cars contain defective pistons.
- Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in New Jersey federal court.
Volvo Car USA failed to disclose to its customers that its model year 2013-2016 Volvo vehicles contained defective pistons, a new class action lawsuit alleges.
A group of Volvo owners claim their Volvo vehicles were equipped with faulty 2.0L 4-cylinder or 2.5L 5-cylinder engines on account of a piston defect.
The owners claim Volvo intentionally conceals the issue, which is caused by a design defect in the piston rings and/or piston heads located in the vehicles’ engine.
“The piston rings cannot properly clear engine oil off the side of the cylinder wall during the downstroke and instead push that oil up where it can coat the top of the piston head, enter the combustion chamber and ignite,” the Volvo class action states.
Vehicle owners claim that, over time, the defect damages the pistons and other engine components, ultimately leading to a loss of power.
Volvo Class Action Claims Vehicle Owners Must Pay Out Of Pocket For Engine Repairs
The piston defect injures vehicle owners who must pay out of pocket to either repair or replace the damaged engine parts of the engine in its entirety, the Volvo class action alleges.
“A replacement of the piston rings and/or pistons costs thousands of dollars, and the cost for replacing a Subject Engine is well over $10,000,” the lawsuit states.
Vehicle owners argue that the piston defect also presents a safety risk for drivers who may have to deal with their engine suddenly losing power, putting themselves, their passengers and pedestrians at risk.
“A sudden loss of power poses a clear-cut safety risk – it can prevent the driver from accelerating, maintaining speed, engaging the brakes and even adequately controlling the steering wheel, all of which drastically increase the risk of collisions,” the Volvo class action states.
Volvo owners claim Volvo is guilty of fraudulent omission, breach of express warranty, the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act and a number of state-specific acts.
Volvo owners want to represent a nationwide class and multistate subclass of consumers who purchased or leased a 2013-2016 Volvo containing the piston defect.
Plaintiffs are demanding a jury trial and requesting declaratory relief along with compensatory, exemplary and statutory damages for themselves and all class members.
Volvo recalled more than 460,000 of its older vehicles in November after discovering that their airbags can explode and send shrapnel flying into the cabin.
Did you purchase or lease a 2013-2016 Volvo containing a defective engine? Let us know in the comments!
The plaintiffs are represented by Russell D. Paul, Abigail J. Gertner, Natalie Lesser and Amey J. Park of Berger Montague PC and Tarek H. Zohdy, Cody R. Padgett and Laura E. Goolsby of Capstone Law APC. The Class Action Lawsuit is Buchanan, et al. v. Volvo Car USA, LLC, et al., Case No. 2:22-cv-02227, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.
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502 thoughts onVolvo Class Action Alleges Automaker Concealed Piston Defect
I purchased my 2015 Volvo V60 in May 2021 with 50K miles and was never informed about the defective piston issue. Burns lots of oil, and now catalytic converter Bank 1 is failing prematurely because of the excessive oil consumption issues. I have already paid for new spark plugs, new ignition coils, valve cover gasket, water pump and timing belt. It’s past time for Volvo to fix this.
please send info on this matter had issued not contacted
Very stressful: (1) Bought a used 2016 Volvo S60 T5 Sedan in 2018 (paid $23k for it), from the dealership, who said nothing about a recall/defect/class action lawsuit; (2) Took it in for annual repairs here and there; however, most recent was 01/07/26 for complete AC replacement (paid almost $2k for it); (3) Now, I have an appointment this week to do a diagnostic 01/23/26 for car overheating (no doubt due to pver consumption of oil and defecrive piston ring/piston), as well as engine coolant leaking issues. Mind you, the car only has 82,400 miles on it.
At this point, I am very disappointed with Volvo Car USA, LLC. And although I was a Volvo customer (kept my first Volvo for 19-years), I refuse to buy a Volvo, moving forward! The initial reason I stayed with Volvo is because they [were] the safest car on the road; well not anymore!
I have a 2015 Volvo s60 that also was burning oil and my daughter was driving it and just lost power and had to have it towed back to the house. Volvo dealer said the recall was 8 year or 100,000 miles. I was never notified about this piston issue or recall.
2016 XC60 burning oil, engine now possibly seized. Please add me.
Also have this issue and was not notified of any recall
November of 2025 dealer said I need piston and ring job due to failing consumption oil test. + $6000. I had the car serviced in 2021 and 2022 at the dealer nothing was said and now they say its not in the 8 year 100,000 mile class action settlement. What settlement and why wasn’t I notified.
My 2015 Volvo S60 did the same thing. Lost power in the middle of the freeway. Had to keep adding oil about 1.5k miles after an oil change. It turned out to be issues with piston rings. I had to pay 8k to replace the engine. Volvo says they’re not accepting anymore cases concerning oil consumption. SMH
Very stressful: (1) Bought a used 2016 Volvo S60 T5 Sedan in 2018 (paid $23k for it), from the dealership, who said nothing about a recall/defect/class action lawsuit; (2) Took it in for annual repairs here and there; however, most recent was 01/07/26 for complete AC replacement (paid almost $2k for it); (3) Now, I have an appointment this week to do a diagnostic 01/23/26 for car overheating, as well as engine coolant leaking issues. Mind you, the car only has 82,400 miles on it.
At this point, I am very disappointed with Volvo Car USA, LLC. And although I was a Volvo customer (kept my first Volvo for 19-years), I refuse to buy a Volvo, moving forward! The initial reason I stayed with Volvo is because they were the safest car in the road; well not anymore!
My 2015 Volvo S60 T5 completely lost compression due to the pistons rings. My engine is shot and its going to cost me 10k to fix this. The exact thing they are describing is what happened to my car including the oil usage. This is obviously an issue with these engines and Volvo should be responsible for fixing this.
2016 Volvo XC90 from Volvo dealership. Constant service light showing to add a liter of oil. Dealer said they could rebuild the engine at our cost. Car showed this issue at around 80,000 miles. Long service record with this problem at the dealership with no result. Solution given was to just keep adding oil when light comes on. So basically told us to burn oil for the rest of its lifespan.
Same issues with my 2015 Volvo XC60! I purchased a platinum- extended warranty and I have to come up with almost 6k out of pocket. The warranty also refused to cover a car rental. I’ve been without a car for almost two months.