No more free software updates

[Tech]

If your car comes in under warranty for a problem that can be fixed with software, you get software and we get paid. So that is not an issue.

I hope they re-evaluate it as well. But if they don't and my dealer doesn't pay me, then I'm not doing them.

[Snowball]

My dealer did this for free despite the recent change. I have a choice of Volvo dealers, looks like I picked the right one.

[blindkarma]

Rather than figure out why their goodwill attempt failed, Volvo USA executives decide its better to penalize those customers who A) never knew, B) were specifically told there was no free upgrade by their Volvo dealer, C) live too far from the sparse dealer locations around the country, or D) don’t feel they can trust their Volvo dealer that anything they do will actually be free.

[Tango]

It's about time, not effort. Minimal effort is needed if all goes smoothly. But the car is tying up my work bay, so I can't use that bay to make money if I'm downloading free software. I also can't use my VIDA to diagnose another car of someone who is paying for my time.

How long does it take to do a service? Can the download be done while the tech is doing the service? I know that some services are longer than others.

[Tech]

See posts 66 and 67.

[MalSled]

Took my car in for its 20,000 mile service today at Galpin Volvo in Van Nuys and as expected did not receive a complimentary software update.

Called Volvo Customer Care and they confirmed the change in policy, all that they said that they could do for me is send me the 30% off rebate form that has been mentioned in the past.

My questions for the techs on this board is what happens when a customer purchases a software accessory such as Polestar or even just the trailer module software?

Do these packages require the latest software update?

If so, will the cost of these packages increase as well?

[BigBang]

I wonder if Volvo will continue to issue upgrades every 2-4 months or if it will be less frequent now

[FusionRedXC60]

I wonder if Volvo will continue to issue upgrades every 2-4 months or if it will be less frequent now

In the past, usually they announce updates twice a year, around May and November. Sometimes there was update fixing specific problem but it was not every 2-4 months.

[BigBang]

In the past, usually they announce updates twice a year, around May and November. Sometimes there was update fixing specific problem but it was not every 2-4 months.

Really ??????

Are you serious, for 16 months 7 upgrades

- Updates from and including March 2018
- Updates from and including May 2018
- Updates from and including October 2018
- Updates from and including November 2018
- Updates from and including March 2019
- Updates from and including April 2019
- Updates from and including July 2019

Maybe my math is bad, try to calculate it

[FusionRedXC60]

Really ??????

Are you serious, for 16 months 7 upgrades

- Updates from and including March 2018
- Updates from and including May 2018
- Updates from and including October 2018
- Updates from and including November 2018
- Updates from and including March 2019
- Updates from and including April 2019
- Updates from and including July 2019

Maybe my math is bad, try to calculate it

http://volvo.custhelp.com/app/answer...lable/search/1
Only shows updates in May or Nov.

For small updates, do you know what they were for? Do you need those or benefit from those?

[Tech]

There are updates between the bi-annual ones. So far, the May and November ones have been there ones where customers will notice something different. But there have absolutely been updates between them.

Accessories like Polestar can still be installed. It will update the appropriate modules.

[BigBang]

http://volvo.custhelp.com/app/answer...lable/search/1
Only shows updates in May or Nov.

For small updates, do you know what they were for? Do you need those or benefit from those?

Upgrades for engine & transmission system are not important , ok then explain why Volvo makes them

In 10 months 5 upgrades October 2018-July 2019

https://www.volvocars.com/uk/support...ftware-updates


Updates including July 2019
Improvement of the engine management system's optimisation.
Improvement of the transmission system's optimisation.
Improvement of the transmission system's optimisation.

Updates including April 2019
Improvement of the engine management system's optimisation.
Improvement of the transmission system's optimisation.

Updates including March 2019
Improvements of the engine control system's optimisation.

Updates including November 2018
Improvement of the transmission system's optimisation.

Updates including October 2018
Improvements of the engine control system's optimisation.

[FusionRedXC60]

Upgrades for engine & transmission system are not important , ok then explain why Volvo makes them

In 10 months 5 upgrades October 2018-July 2019

https://www.volvocars.com/uk/support...ftware-updates


Updates including July 2019
Improvement of the engine management system's optimisation.
Improvement of the transmission system's optimisation.
Improvement of the transmission system's optimisation.

Updates including April 2019
Improvement of the engine management system's optimisation.
Improvement of the transmission system's optimisation.

Updates including March 2019
Improvements of the engine control system's optimisation.

Updates including November 2018
Improvement of the transmission system's optimisation.

Updates including October 2018
Improvements of the engine control system's optimisation.

If anything is important, it could be a service action, or even a recall.
Optimisation is useful, but not critical to me. Without the optimisation maybe your car uses a little bit more fuel, but it doesn't mean transmission or engine is compromised.

[BigBang]

If anything is important, it could be a service action, or even a recall.
Optimisation is useful, but not critical to me. Without the optimisation maybe your car uses a little bit more fuel, but it doesn't mean transmission or engine is compromised.

Great news for you, you don't need upgrades. Question: if everything is perfect why 5 upgrades in 10 months for engine and transmission
Neither of these upgrades has been flagged as critical for the last two years

I've been waiting for over a year to upgrade my engine software. A problem that is known on all SPA models

[FusionRedXC60]

Great news for you, you don't need upgrades. Question: if everything is perfect why 5 upgrades in 10 months for engine and transmission
Neither of these upgrades has been flagged as critical for the last two years

I've been waiting for over a year to upgrade my engine software. A problem that is known on all SPA models

Things is not perfect means it is sub-optimal but it is still working.

If an engine problem affects all SPA models why we don't see reports from others?

[BigBang]

Things is not perfect means it is sub-optimal but it is still working.

If an engine problem affects all SPA models why we don't see reports from others?

Read the same problem on the XC90, V90 .....
https://forums.swedespeed.com/showth...=1#post7061721

Let me know if you need links from German forums with the same problem

Although you write 4500 posts in 19 months, you don't know much

[FusionRedXC60]

Read the same problem on the XC90, V90 .....
https://forums.swedespeed.com/showth...=1#post7061721

Let me know if you need links from German forums with the same problem

Although you write 4500 posts in 19 months, you don't know much

How many reported, compared to how many people posted here ever?

[BigBang]

How many reported, compared to how many people posted here ever?

When you get the answer you go on with funny and silly questions. It doesn't matter how much, it matters that there is a problem that is very dangerous

How many SPA car owners are in this forum, maybe 10-15%
How many owners used hard acceleration

FYI: this is a problem that exists on previous generations of Volvo cars as well

[n a m]

How many reported, compared to how many people posted here ever?

I'm curious as well.

[TomXC60]

My Volvo was in service yesterday, it was the 90k service, the software-updates are still free in Belgium.

More info:
It is Operation ID 17415

https://www.volvocars.com/nl-be/nave...d-en-reparatie

"The most worry-free way to own a car
There are even more ways we want to make your life easier.

Every time you bring in your Volvo for maintenance, we carry out a complete maintenance package, which we call Volvo Service 2.0.
You can count on free software updates (which will make your Volvo a little better with every maintenance) and a health check with battery check for your car. After servicing, your Volvo Assistance breakdown assistance will be extended free of charge by one year.

A personal contact person is always at your disposal, for questions or if, for example, you want to use replacement transport."

[14XC606A]

This is the first I've heard of this and it's very sad to hear. I saw the free software updates as a big plus and one that actually led to me keeping my Volvo (I had serious transmission shift issues) and adding another for my wife. Unfortunately, despite having only 54k on my XC60 that I bought new, I continue to have problems with the transmission and engine mounts. Volvo replaced the transmission around the 21k mark all but 1 engine mount at 45k miles and already the idle vibration is back with the A/C on. My car is out of warranty now and still has crappy shift quality (my wifes car is the same). My Volvo will be paid off in 2 months and my wife's soon after. We plan to keep our Volvos for a while but the cars are already starting to feel old despite only having 54k and 76k respectively. They feel about the same as my 135k mile Scion that I actually used for racing. The Volvos have been treated very well by comparison. Volvo quality seems to be going down hill and it's very sad to see. Unfortunately I will likely end up with a Lexus or Acura for my next purchase. Losing free software updates along with the crappy Volvo dealer experience in my area only solidify my decision.

On a side note, as someone who worked as certified technician and has run a quality assurance program for over 10 years, I'm quite surprised that auto dealers still pay technicians by the book hour. Every other similar industry pays worker either by the clock hour or on salary. If auto techs got paid for every hour they were clocked in, or were on salary, this conversation about doing work "on my time" would cease to be an issue. Also, when I was a technician, I went above and beyond my responsibilities as a service to my customers and employer and it was one of main reasons I was able to rise quickly into management. Not taking shots at those auto techs that posted in this thread, it's just the idea of pay by book hours has upset me for years. It adds needless complication to accounting functions while doing little to enhance dealer performance. I know that small/slow dealers like book hours because they can have technicians on site for 12 hours and only pay them for 6 or 7. There seems to be no advantage to the larger dealers. IMO, technicians should be pushing for hourly or salary pay schedules.

[xgman]

Took my car in for its 20,000 mile service today at Galpin Volvo in Van Nuys and as expected did not receive a complimentary software update.

At that point I'm looking for a dealer than will, or trading in my car for another brand! Seriously. This is 100% unacceptable to me for this brand as a consumer. I don't care what anyone else is doing or quite frankly what the techs situation is. For me this is where I would draw the line. Sometimes in life you have to take a stand. It is an idiotic move, period!

[Tech]

On a side note, as someone who worked as certified technician and has run a quality assurance program for over 10 years, I'm quite surprised that auto dealers still pay technicians by the book hour. Every other similar industry pays worker either by the clock hour or on salary. If auto techs got paid for every hour they were clocked in, or were on salary, this conversation about doing work "on my time" would cease to be an issue. Also, when I was a technician, I went above and beyond my responsibilities as a service to my customers and employer and it was one of main reasons I was able to rise quickly into management. Not taking shots at those auto techs that posted in this thread, it's just the idea of pay by book hours has upset me for years. It adds needless complication to accounting functions while doing little to enhance dealer performance. I know that small/slow dealers like book hours because they can have technicians on site for 12 hours and only pay them for 6 or 7. There seems to be no advantage to the larger dealers. IMO, technicians should be pushing for hourly or salary pay schedules.

Dealers don't want us booking 7 hours in 12 hours of time.

They want their service bays producing for them. They want us booking 12 in an 8 hour day. They may charge $150 an hour and pay the tech $25 of that. They want us to book as many hours as possible.

I do not go above and beyond because if I give them an inch, they take a mile. They always try the "but it will just take a minute" excuse. Add 15 things that just take a minute and it adds up.

Inspecting a car just takes a minute.
Changing license plates just takes a minute.
Replacing wipers just takes a minute.
Free battery checks just take a minute (far from it).
Replacing city stickers or inspection stickers just takes a minute.
Checking and topping off fluids just takes a minute.
Tire pressure checks just take a minute.
Etc...

These add up.

I'm not asking for sympathy. But don't get mad at me for not doing a free update for free.

I'm all for a fair salary. I would love to not have to worry about what I will book this week. But my idea of a fair salary is sure to differ from management. And their fear is if I am salary, I will work slower. For me personally, that is not true. But I know guys who absolutely would.

[chillg8r]

Dealers don't want us booking 7 hours in 12 hours of time.

They want their service bays producing for them. They want us booking 12 in an 8 hour day. They may charge $150 an hour and pay the tech $25 of that. They want us to book as many hours as possible.

I do not go above and beyond because if I give them an inch, they take a mile. They always try the "but it will just take a minute" excuse. Add 15 things that just take a minute and it adds up.

Inspecting a car just takes a minute.
Changing license plates just takes a minute.
Replacing wipers just takes a minute.
Free battery checks just take a minute (far from it).
Replacing city stickers or inspection stickers just takes a minute.
Checking and topping off fluids just takes a minute.
Tire pressure checks just take a minute.
Etc...

These add up.

I'm not asking for sympathy. But don't get mad at me for not doing a free update for free.

I'm all for a fair salary. I would love to not have to worry about what I will book this week. But my idea of a fair salary is sure to differ from management. And their fear is if I am salary, I will work slower. For me personally, that is not true. But I know guys who absolutely would.

There are a lot of pay structures between straight commission and salary, I’ve dealt with that my entire career. They could give you a base salary with production incentives for example.

The reason I say this is that fundamentally your dealership is a sales organization, even if most of the profits don’t come from sales. Very often in sales one must think of the long run customer satisfaction. I am a small business and work exclusively on commission. I do things for my customers ALL THE TIME that are “above and beyond” because I know that in the long run I will be more than compensated by increased sales from customer loyalty. A dealership that lets the service department dictate how the customer is treated without regard to the impact on customer satisfaction is a dealership that has lost its way, imo.


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[Tech]

Right. But I'm not the owner of the dealer. Dealers can decide to update software for free. If mine decides that, given my pay structure, I expect to be paid. It's up to the dealer to go above and beyond. They are the ones who (through Volvo's marketing) made the free software promise.

[gotart]

I've been reading this post on and off today. Some members have made some great points on the lack of quality of the new Volvos, due to materials etc. Geely nickel & diming owners in lieu return customers.
The whole software thing is disturbing considering all the problems I've read and what could go wrong. 14XC606A comments (post #91) just about put the nail in the coffin for me and another Volvo. I was thinking about and OSD for a new XC40 (RMD's kicking in now- throwing that in cause most of you folks use acronyms like everybody knows them-annoying) to replace the C70 next year. No way- I'm leaving Volvo- won't do it. My S40 is running perfect with 75k on it and always has. But from here on out- no Volvos for me and I have to admit the software thing helped me decide real quick. Although I have a great dealer who I know would probably work with me, I'm still calling it quits. They lost me and I'm just one. More will follow I am sure. And I am going to write Volvo telling them that.

[xgman]

Dealers don't want us booking 7 hours in 12 hours of time.

They want their service bays producing for them. They want us booking 12 in an 8 hour day. They may charge $150 an hour and pay the tech $25 of that. They want us to book as many hours as possible.

I do not go above and beyond because if I give them an inch, they take a mile. They always try the "but it will just take a minute" excuse. Add 15 things that just take a minute and it adds up.

Inspecting a car just takes a minute.
Changing license plates just takes a minute.
Replacing wipers just takes a minute.
Free battery checks just take a minute (far from it).
Replacing city stickers or inspection stickers just takes a minute.
Checking and topping off fluids just takes a minute.
Tire pressure checks just take a minute.
Etc...

These add up.

I'm not asking for sympathy. But don't get mad at me for not doing a free update for free.

I'm all for a fair salary. I would love to not have to worry about what I will book this week. But my idea of a fair salary is sure to differ from management. And their fear is if I am salary, I will work slower. For me personally, that is not true. But I know guys who absolutely would.

With all due respect... NOT our problem. That is between you and the dealership or you and Volvo. For customers, this is between us and Volvo USA. Yes and Dealers can help somewhat as an incentive.

[Tech]

Dealers don't want us booking 7 hours in 12 hours of time.

They want their service bays producing for them. They want us booking 12 in an 8 hour day. They may charge $150 an hour and pay the tech $25 of that. They want us to book as many hours as possible.

I do not go above and beyond because if I give them an inch, they take a mile. They always try the "but it will just take a minute" excuse. Add 15 things that just take a minute and it adds up.

Inspecting a car just takes a minute.
Changing license plates just takes a minute.
Replacing wipers just takes a minute.
Free battery checks just take a minute (far from it).
Replacing city stickers or inspection stickers just takes a minute.
Checking and topping off fluids just takes a minute.
Tire pressure checks just take a minute.
Etc...

These add up.

I'm not asking for sympathy. But don't get mad at me for not doing a free update for free.

I'm all for a fair salary. I would love to not have to worry about what I will book this week. But my idea of a fair salary is sure to differ from management. And their fear is if I am salary, I will work slower. For me personally, that is not true. But I know guys who absolutely would.

With all due respect... NOT our problem. That is between you and the dealership or you and Volvo. For customers, this is between us and Volvo USA. Yes and Dealers can help somewhat as an incentive.

We get it, it's not your problem. I've already explained I'm not saying it is and I'm not looking for sympathy.
I am just offering perspective on why your software not being updated isn't my problem because a lot of people don't understand how techs are paid.

[spas1]

I was in my local Volvo dealer this week (Toronto area) and their sign is still up listing complimentary software updates with your annual maintenance. I asked to clarify given the recent announcement and they said they would continue to offer this service.

[ndotym]

No problems here
in California, just had 10,000 service free updates, with warranty work for rear struts. My dealer is still offering them.

[jre]

I just had my car in for service (engine lite on, o2 sensor) and they did a software update even though when I scheduled the service they told me there wasn't a new one out. I can tell because instead of sport mode (or whatever it used to be called) it's now called Polestar something or other.

[coachlange]

Just returned from the dealership. There are only 2 in my state. The one near me said free updates ended 8/1/19. They charge $95 all in. Said it takes about an hour.

Haven’t checked with the other dealership yet.

The service advisor explained it to me this way: “It’s like your iPhone... you can choose to update to the latest version but your phone works fine the way it is. If you want the new features, there’s charge for that.”

Either that explanation somehow made sense to him or he’s been coached. I replied... “Yea, I guess, except I don’t have to play to update my iPhone. Apple WANTS to provide new features as an incentive to stick with their offerings.”

I got a shoulder shrug out of that.

From the tech’s perspective, I totally get no wanting to do it for free and I wouldn’t ask that either. This is definitely a ball-drop by Volvo IMO.


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[Iamhives]

The only issue is the fact that 'free updates' were part of what I bought (just like the first three oil changes) so so I for one will on principle be getting my updates for free and the dealer/Volvo and the techs can work out who gets to pay for that to happen.

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[mommere]

On 7/23 I called my local dealer and scheduled an appointment for my 20K regular maintenance for my 2018 XC60 T8. The appointment date was 8/2/19. I had a minor wiper issue I asked them to look at and also requested they do a software update. I read this post on 7/31 and was aware of the policy change on "free" updates. I asked the service adviser to do the software update and he said no problem.

When I picked the car up I asked if they had done the software up date. The response was they had not done it but would for a charge of $76. He explained about the policy change from Volvo Corp and there was nothing they could do about it. 2 days later I got a call from their survey folks asking if I had received "Truly Exceptional Service". I explained how dissatisfied I was about the software update policy. 2 days later I got a repeat call from another survey person and explained the same thing. I then sent an email to the Genera Manager and Service Manager about the issue and how I saw it as a breech of the service promise they sold with the car when I bought it and that another local Volvo dealer (Steingold) was still including the update free as part of the 10/20/30 maintenance. .

Following the email I got a call from the Service Manager who apologized for the confusion and that they were blindsided by the Volvo Corp directive. He explained that going forward they will be including the Update as part of the regular maintenance services. When I brought the vehicle in for the update, he had the shop manager do it becuase Volvo was not reimbursing them for the work as explained by TECH.

Problem solved but a dumb policy by Volvo Corp. I think having another local dealer who was providing complimentary updates when done in conjunction with a regular maintenance helped also.

[VeeXCee]

Thanks for sharing your experience mommere!

I am also scheduled for a 20k service for my 2018 XC6 T6. Next Friday. Originally, the service appt was only for my non-functioning rear window wiper fluid spray and the rear hatch strut recall (and a little Polestar software upgrade). I added the 20k service after a couple of unexpected road trips has me at 20k already.

So, next week, I WILL ASK FOR the latest software update. [I know there was an update during my 10k service, because of the ACC attention warning color change on dash display.] I must say that I am blown away that the owner cannot see what software version is installed via SENSUS.

[FWIW, My 10k service was at the actual purchase dealer, 15 miles away. This 20k service is at a different dealer in the opposite direction, also 15 miles.]