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Volvo Cars of North America LLC was hit with a potential $5 million class action lawsuit on Wednesday claiming that the automobile manufacturer installed a defective satellite radio device into its vehicles which drains the car battery even when the car is not running.
Lead plaintiff Theresa Jenner of Massachusetts filed the class action lawsuit against Volvo claiming the manufacturer installed the faulty device into all Volvo vehicles made since 2008, which searches for a satellite signal even with the car is “off,” continuously draining the car battery.
Jenner claims that Volvo knows all about the defect which could be fixed with a software upgrade to the remote digital audio receiver (“rdar”). However, the company has not disclosed the information to customers and has allegedly refused to install the software upgrade “without a charge of hundreds of dollars to repair a defective device that is unnecessary for the car’s safe operation and is, in many cases, simply unwanted.”
The Volvo satellite receiver class action lawsuit alleges that the defendant has violated common law fraud by not disclosing the “rdar” defect to customers which fraudulently induced the plaintiff and potential Class Members into buying a Volvo that contained the defect.
Jenner claims that after replacing the battery multiple times, a Volvo repair company explained to her that it was the “rdar” system that was draining the battery. When she allegedly asked to have the remote digital audio receiver disabled, Jenner was informed that the “rdar” was integrated into the car’s electrical system and could not be removed. The plaintiff further claims that she was informed the only way for her to eliminate the risk of future battery failures was to pay for a software upgrade which would cost hundreds of dollars.
According to the Volvo class action lawsuit, the company concealed the “rdar” defect from customers in order to boost sales which in turn caused the plaintiff and future Class Members to suffer from financial costs as well as an “ascertainable loss by receiving less than what was promised.”
Jenner is also suing on counts of breach of implied warranty and violations of the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act.
If approved, the Volvo class action lawsuit would be open to all U.S. consumers who bought a Volvo car marketed, distributed or sold with a “remote digital audio receiver.” Jenner expects that there are tens of thousands of potential Class Members who might join the Volvo satellite radio class action lawsuit once its approved.
The plaintiff is represented by Joseph Alan Venti 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 Satellite Receiver Class Action Lawsuit is Theresa Jenner v. Volvo Cars of North America LLC, Case No. 2:15-cv-06152, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.
UPDATE: On Sept. 19 2016, Jenner opposed a motion by Volvo to dismiss a class action lawsuit alleging satellite radio receivers installed in their vehicles quickly drain car batteries.
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25 thoughts onVolvo Hit With $5M Satellite Receiver Class Action Lawsuit
I had the Volvo dealer disable the satellite radio so the unit no longer searches for a signal. I told the service manager I wasn’t going to pay for a $300 diagnostic charge and he agreed as my 2011 C70 had been in their shop before. It cost me $165, but I had already replaced a AAA battery with a Volvo battery and also had a free replacement because the battery died 5 months later. Is it too late to join the class action lawsuit?
What’s the status of the class action lawsuit? I’ve been dealing with this for years with my 2011 c70 and spent 1000s of dollars chasing a problem the Volvo techs should be well aware of.
I want my money back!
After spending 8-9 days at the dealer shop , Battery replaced Feb’21. I’ve had three incidents since that car will not power up calling AAA. Car is being towed today to the dealer 9/29/21 as the battery seems completely dead.
After d SCCCoe ding 8-9 days at the dealer shop , Battery replaced Feb’21. I’ve had three incidents since that car will not power up calling AAA. Car is being towed today to the dealer 9/29/21 as the battery seems completely dead.
I’m on my second battery, so now my out of pocket is over $600.00 !
I have a 2009 c70 have replaced battery twice still dies after a couple days. I dropped it off yesterday at the Volvo dealership that purchased the car. They told me that they had to replace the satellite radio issue. This will cost me at least a couple of hundred dollars. Will find out today when I pick it up.
I have a 2016 V60 that was starting to have the low battery warning every morning. Last January the Volvo dealer applied the radio update and said that will fix the problem, which it did but now I am getting the low battery warning each morning.
I’ve owned the car for 1.5 years, it is a Certified car with 31,000 miles on it of which I put on 11,000 miles. It will be going into the shop for a known TSB that prematurely wore down the right side inside brake pad. All other pads were fine but the inner was worn almost to the metal.
Because I bought the car as a CPO and the TSB was issued in 2018, the dealer should have fixed and should have known. I argued and they accepted my point.
I just called about the low battery and the service manager said that the software update was a one time fix. The odd thing is that yesterday when I parked the car I manually turned off the radio, fully and completely. This morning there was no low battery light. Hm? Kind of points to the radio.
I am their worst nightmare because for over 50 years I did most of the work to my personal cars. Changing engines in my Jaguars and everything in between. So I am good at turning a wrench, I know what I am talking about and they (dealer) don’t like it I don’t want to financially beat them up and only what what is right and true from them.
Having the exact same issue with 2015.5 v60 purchased as CPO with 60 miles on it in 2018. Replaced battery 2x, most recently in May 2020. Now getting low battery charge message every day – just 5 months later.
Have 2009 C-30 “R”.
had same problem, had to have a battery replaced for $300+dollars.
Where do I sign up?
I have had the same issue with my car. If I go on vacation it is almost always dead when I return. The dealership agreed that Volvo knew this was a defect with its cars but refused to fix it without a fee of $400. Does anyone know of another way to fix this more cheaply or does it have to be done through Volvo? I had my battery replaced multiple times only to find out this was the issue all along, which of course is infuriating. I hope this case goes somewhere.
Same thing for me on a “new” used 2014 XC60. The entire phone/radio/parking sensor system shut down. I did research on the web and found out my problem is this “remote digital audio receiver” (RADR), or the XM radio receiver that fails and taints everything else in the system. I took it to the dealer, and SPECIFICALLY told both the appointment maker and the service tech who checked me in to do the XM bypass ($16 part). After 2 hours of waiting, they “diagnosed” that it was in fact the RADR, and the repair was $1,300+, and the diagnosis alone cost me $168. When I challenged them on the replacement of the RADR instead of bypassing it like I told them to, they admitted that they could bypass for $350. I asked, “Is that minus the $168 that I paid since I had told you to do that?”, and they responded “nope”. So, it’s a $520 “repair” to remove a proprietary device that screws up the entire phone/radio interface that I don’t use nor want.