This website documents my personal experience with a 2025 Volvo EC40 and provides resources to help others .
This website is a personal consumer advocacy project and is not affiliated with Volvo.
“I signed for a Volvo EC40 a month before my daughter was born. It broke down 4 months later. For 9 months after that, it had issue after issue. The vehicle has been with the Carling Motors Service Department for almost a third of my lease to date—and I am forced to make payments the whole time. I had to make it a part time job fighting with Volvo. It costs me an incredible amount of time any money. After an absolute dog fight, Volvo offered as a ‘fair conclusion’ that they will cancel my lease and send gas money for the loaner.”
Days Without My Vehicle
CURRENT STATUS
Location: Carling Motors, Ottawa
Diagnosis: Unknown since October 14
Financial Damages
One-time federal iZEV program credit: $5000
Down payment & delivery fees: $1,356.29
Home EV Charger (ChargePoint for Volvo): $2,145.87 installed
Lease payments while I did not have access to the vehicle: $4,894.11
Wasted insurance payments: $1,395.55
Current total: ~$14,791.82
Other Harms
I have written or replied to over 100 emails and letters to Volvo Carling Motors, Volvo Car Canada, and various regulatory bodies.
While I did have the vehicle, on long trips, especially with my family and infant daughter, I was always worried the car would fail and leave us stranded.
I had to spend countless hours researching and analyzing legal and regulatory documents to understand my options against a large corporation.
For the loaner vehicles, I had to sign a contract that my wife would not drive and that it would not leave Ontario (my family lives in Quebec). They also had no winter tires.
Volvo’s Offer (December 20, 2025)
Early lease termination with no penalty
Refund of my down payment
$500 gas money for the loaner
What’s my Volvo story?
I leased a new 2025 Volvo EC40 in December 2024 from Carling Motors in Ottawa. I thought Volvo promised safety and reliability for my family. My vehicle has been back at the dealership for nearly a third of the time since I signed for it. I have had to fight like hell to get their attention, and I have been facing 9 months of the most inept and contemptuous service I have experienced in my life.
April 19, 2025: The vehicle suffered a "Propulsion System" failure four months into the lease, leaving me stuck in a Walmart parking lot with my infant daughter. The Service Department is closed on the weekend, and the SOS button could get me a tow truck but not a ride home. On Monday, the dealership offered their earliest appointment in 2 weeks and a waitlist for a loaner.
June 2, 2025: The vehicle had been in the shop for 43 days for the April breakdown. When I finally went to pick it up, the same error was still on the dash. I didn't even leave the dealership lot.
June 7, 2025: Five days after getting the car back, the propulsion system failed again, causing a sudden loss of acceleration power while I was driving.
September 16, 2025: I brought the car back again for a grinding vibration noise. The dealership told me it was "normal wear and tear" (for a 9-month-old EV) and asked me to pay $1,585, which I refused. After they replaced two brake rotors at their own expense, they returned the vehicle to me, and the issue still wasn't resolved.
September 21, 2025: The vehicle suffered a "Reconnect Error,” locking the charging cable to the port and rendering the vehicle unchargeable, leaving my wife stranded in Montreal.
October 14, 2025 – Present: The vehicle has been back at the dealership (again for the previous two issues) still without even a diagnosis.
The Carling Motors Service Manager, Operations Manager, and General Manager have been engaged, yet there is still no progress. They do thank me for my patience though. My pleasure.
Meanwhile, I continue to make biweekly payments for this lemon EV, and I have to put premium gas in their loaner vehicle—which also did not come with winter tires, which I am contractually prohibited from driving to Quebec (where my family lives), and which my wife is prohibited from driving even though we previously shared the broken Volvo.
Story updated December 22, 2025.
See blog for more.
Actions to date:
Escalated the matter to Volvo Car Canada, including Executive Offices.
Filed a formal complaint with OMVIC (Case #00042808).
Filed a formal complaint with Transport Canada (Case #2025-3718).
Consulted with CAMVAP on arbitration.
Filed information requests under PIPEDA.
Requested oversight from my representatives, MPP Karen McCrimmon and MP Jenna Sudds, as well as their advocacy for stronger consumer protections against automobile companies.
Published myvolvoexperience.ca as a matter of public interest and to support other consumers engaging with Volvo. (The name is an ironic take on their promise: www.volvocars.com/en-ca/l/my-volvo-experience.)