Has anyone had any luck pursuing the bubbling door panel issue with Volvo N.A.? My warranty was up last December but has only 48K. They replaced all four panels with brand new inserts at about 25K (back when they replaced, rather than repaired them). Before this weekend I only had one in the rear that had bubbled and now the front passenger side is badly bubbled. So, I'm pissed!!! It gets under my skin when they blow their horn about how high their quality is and yet owners deal with this kind of crap over and over.

All this talk about the bubbles is scary and with 23kmi on my S70, I'm looking over my door panels closely and often. Questions: Where do the bubbles appear? On the sill, the armrest, or somewhere else on the flat parts of the panel?
And... is there a common element here? Does it occur on S70s produced in Sweden only or Belgium only or does it occur irregardless of the point of manufacture?

Mine went bad on the inside corners of the recessed area, usually the lower corners. It seems fairly obvious to me that the adhesive sucks and there must be some tension in those corners that cause them to release first.

I think contributing factors may be, 1. Awareness of the potential problem and 2. Constant looking to see if it has happened yet. My advice is to ignore all of the posts on this problem and don't look. Enjoy life as much as you can before the inevitable.

Isn't there some sort of adhesive that you can inject into the door panel? It might just be my imagination but i could have sworn I've seen it somewhere before.

DG
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1998 S70 T5M

I'm wondering if anyone's tried an upholstery shop or a vinyl repair specialist. At least they'd use real 3M upholstery glue, not that eco-friendly junk that Volvo has been using. BTW, drooping headliners and falling trim have been around in Swedish cars for at least 25 years that I'm aware of.

-Punxsutawney Phil

its funny... cuz days after i mentioned how lucky i am for not having all the common problems with my car.. one of my rear door panels bubbled up. i think i'll keep my mouth shut from now on.

DG
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1998 S70 T5M

Yeah, I plan to blame the brickboard for all of my car problems from now on. I get a lot more attention and sympathy here than I do from Volvo.

I was wondering, I thought that T5s came with leather doorpanels, or was that the 850 T5s. You know, it was sort of a flat panel sewn into the back of the recess in the panel. I also remember a few that were pleated. I had hoped these were available for S70s and I could by-pass the whole vinyl route and upgrade them. Even if they were available, given the cost of the vinyl repairs and replacements, I would be out more than a grand to do all four. Probably not a great idea since I'm just about ready to drive this thing into one of our local canals if I have another problem with it.

Also, has anyone tried to repair one? I wondered if it was possible to remove the panel, lift the corner enough to spray some "real" adhesive, and reapply it. Couldn't be any worse than having a mechanic-turned-apholseterer have at it.

Patrick,

Yes, you can. I found that out after buying a new one.

Go to an upholstery shop and get a spray adhesive that will NOT dissolve the 1/4" foam. You'll notice that the "leatherette" peels away from the foam.

Apply a thin and even coating and press the vinyl into place working from the point where it remained attached to the end of the panel. The key to an invisible repair is to apply a minimal amount of adhesive so that the surface remains even.

Hey, now I can change my timing belt and repair unholstery. Thanks Volvo!

Bryan

My T5 has cloth inserts in the door panels, along with cloth seats, and they're holding up well so far. Sort of a tweedy velour, I like it and it's comfortable in summer and winter. My car does have a factory leather steering wheel, though! For the door panels, as far as I know they are all leatherette. The upholstery on the T5 "R" models is partly a synthetic suede called alcantara. http://www.alcantara.it/

It, too hasn't been part of any animal for about 100 million years!

I agree about the wrench-twirlers turned upholsterers, another partly-baked Volvo idea, unless one thinks taking the car to an upholstery shop for a timing belt change is a good idea!

-Punxsutawney Phil