Total Complaints
8 filings
VOLVO 854 · model year
8 NHTSA complaints. A VIN lookup is required to determine whether a specific vehicle has an unrepaired recall.
NHTSA overall rating
Not crash-tested
New Car Assessment Program
The 1997VOLVO854 carries 8 consumer safety complaints in NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation database for this specific model-year cohort. Within that volume, owners reported 0 crashes, 0 fires, 0 injuries, and 0 fatalities. No NCAP 5-star crash-test rating is available for this model year in the federal database.
The most frequently selected component label in reports for the 1997 854 is electrical system with 2 filings, followed by service brakes, hydraulic:antilock/traction control/electronic limited slip:control unit/module (2) and steering (1). Complaint categories reflect owner reports and intake categorization; they do not establish a defect pattern or cause.
NHTSA currently has 28 investigation files overlapping the 1997 854. Owners comparing this cohort against neighboring years should read the complaint-by-year trend as report volume, not a causal diagnosis. Use the related-complaint feed and the official recall lookup when researching a specific vehicle.
Total Complaints
8 filings
Crashes Reported
0 reports
Source
NHTSA ODI
Federal complaints database
At or below the fleet median complaint volume.
| Component | Count |
|---|---|
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | 2 |
| SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:ANTILOCK/TRACTION CONTROL/ELECTRONIC LIMITED SLIP:CONTROL UNIT/MODULE | 2 |
| STEERING | 1 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:12V/24V/48V BATTERY | 1 |
| SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:ANTILOCK/TRACTION CONTROL/ELECTRONIC LIMITED SLIP | 1 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: INSTRUMENT CLUSTER/PANEL | 1 |
ODOMETER FAILURE AT UNDER 90,000 MILES. ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT; NOT TAMPERED WITH; VEHICLE NEVER IN AN ACCIDENT. *TR
Mileage: 88,000
TRACS AND ABS WARNING LIGHTS. *NLM
Mileage: 95,000
TRACS AND ABS WARNING LIGHTS. *NLM
Mileage: 95,000
FAILURE OF THE ANTI-LOCK BRAKE SYSTEM COMPUTER. THIS SEEMS TO BE A REGULAR OCCURRENCE ON THE VOLVO 850. I FEEL THIS IS A MAJOR SAFETY RELATED ISSUE, AND A RECALL INVESTIGATION SHOULD BE LOOKED INTO. *NLM
MY VEHICLE IS A 1997 VOLVO 850R, I'M THE SECOND OWNER OF THE VEHICLE. THE VOLVO IS A SOILD CAR BUT THE 850 SERIES HAVE A DEFECT WITH THE ABS/TRACS MODULE, THIS SETS A CODE ON YOUR OBDII AND IT CLEARS WHEN YOU RESTART THE CAR. THE ISSUE AT HAND IS THAT IT'S A SAFETY ISSUE BECAUSE THE CONTROL MODULE SEES A FAULT AND DEACTIVATES THE ABS/TRACS CONTROL MODULE AND YOU NO LONGER HAVE AN ABS ON THE VEHICLE AND IT'S VERY DANGEROUS IF IT'S RAINING, SNOWING OR A SUDDEN STOP ON THE FREEWAY. THE WHEELS WILL LOCK GIVING YOU A GREATER CHANCE TO CAUSE AN ACCIDENT. SO FAR I'VE BEEN LUCKY, I SPOKE TO THE VOLVO DEALER DIRECTLY TO SEE IF THEY CAN CHANGE THIS UNIT UNDER THE VOLVO VIP WARRANTY AND I WAS TOLD THAT IT WAS NOT COVERED AND THE NEW UNIT COST AROUND $600.00 WITHOUT LABOR. I FEEL THAT VOLVO SHOULD BE HELD RESPONSIBLE IN CHANGING THIS ABS/TRACS CONTROL MODULE, LOT'S OF VOLVO 850'S AND S70 OWNERS HAVE CHANGED THIS PART WITH VEHICLES IN THE 40,000 TO 60,000 MILE RANGE. THE CAUSE IT'S A HAIR LINE FRA
Mileage: 33,210
THE BATTERY HAS RECHARGED/REPLACED MULTIPLE TIMES, DUE TO THE THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM MALFUNCTIONING.*YH
THE VEHICLE WOULD NOT START AT 3000 MILES AFTER PURCHASE BECAUSE THE BATTERY WAS DEAD. THE PROBLEM CONTINUED EVERY 5000 MILES UNTIL THE DEALER DISCOVERED THAT THE CAUSE WAS ELECTRICAL PROBLEM. *YH
THE BELT THAT DRIVES THE POWER STEERING AND ALTERNATOR PERIODICALLY SLIPS WHEN WET. THIS OCCURS REPEATEDLY AT LOW SPEEDS WHEN GOING THROUGH EVEN SMALL PUDDLES. A KIT WAS ADDED TO REPAIR THE PROBLEM AT ABOUT 10K MILES. THE DEALER CLAIMS THE PERSISTENT LOSS OF POWER WITH THE KIT IS NORMAL. WHEN THIS OCCURS IT BECOMES VERY DIFFICULT TO STEER THE CAR FOR A FEW SECONDS UNTIL THE BELT STOPS SLIPPING. IT ALSO IS UNEXPECTED TO FIND THE CAR DIFFICULT TO STEER IN THE MIDDLE OF A TURN AND COULD CAUSE LOSS OF CONTROL.
Data vintage: August 2026. Sources: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) complaints database, NHTSA recall campaign API, NHTSA NCAP crash-test ratings, and NHTSA FARS for fatality cross-reference.
Every figure on PlainCars is rendered directly from NHTSA complaint and safety data, no number is typed in by an editor. This year-specific record is rendered from NHTSA ODI, recall, and NCAP rows for the 1997 VOLVO 854; no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.