Today, my wife went to the grocery store in our 2008 (but just six months old to us) S80...well, she tried, but when she got there, she couldn't take the remote out of the little slot it fits in (she preferred this over leaving it in her purse, because she felt like she was "putting a key in").

The dealer informs us that the remote has swollen up, and hypothesizes that the plastic reacted to some chemical exposure, possibly some petroleum product. My bride is not a mechanic, and she's no longer doing pottery, but she does have very dry hands, so she uses hand lotion frequently. This is the only "chemical" that she applies to her hands. We suspect, then, that it's her hand lotion; she uses several common brands, nothing exotic, so the plastic is reacting to something that's going to be a frequent encounter.

She is now convinced that I was right from the beginning just to leave the remote in my pocket, and plans to follow the same practice from here on out.

The good news is that the dealer is covering the repair of the "key" slot and replacement of the remote under warranty, so the only cost was gasoline to get there and my time. It sure ruined the day, though.

I think that nearly all plastics will absorb hydrocarbons of some sort - if left alone for enough time the solvent should evaporate out.

When I had a Bultaco dirt bike, riders would keep some extra two stroke oil in a plastic baby bottle because the bottles were tough and the graduations on the bottle were handy,

You should see how much a rubber nipple will swell when exposed to two stroke oil!
--
'96 855R,'64 PV544 driver, '67 P1800 basket case, '12 XC70, the first three are mine, heh, heh, 525,000 miles put on 10 bricks

Weird. I'm assuming it was the rubber covering over the buttons that swelled and not the plastic case?

Don't know; they didn't give details.

It turned out a blessing. The factory warranty ends in two weeks, and they found a leaking battery and corroded battery cables; all replaced under warranty at no charge.

We looked at the hand lotions that my wife uses today - and, yes, prominent in the list of ingredients is petrolatum (petroleum jelly, "Vaseline"). It's speculative that this caused the swelling, but does confirm the vague concern about "petroleum products" by the Volvo dealer.

Still, kind of amazing that Volvo would select a plastic sensitive to such a common compound.

Have you ever seen the driver's side window/morror buttons on the 1990-2000 cars? I don't use hand lotions, elephant skin, but the buttons got soft and spongy after about 10 years of use. It's the 'green' plastic that Volvo uses, not hand lotion.

But, you are right, keep the remote in the purse.
--
My name is Klaus and I am a V♂lv♂holic