Total Complaints
5 filings
Volvo VNL · model year
5 NHTSA complaints, 1 crash report, and 6 recall campaigns listed for this cohort. 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 verdict
The 2004 Volvo VNL posts below-average complaint volume among its own model-year siblings.
The 2004VolvoVNL carries 5 consumer safety complaints in NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation database for this specific model-year cohort. Within that volume, owners reported 1 crash, 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 2004 VNL is visibility:rearview mirrors/devices:exterior with 1 filings, followed by tires (1) and engine and engine cooling (1). Complaint categories reflect owner reports and intake categorization; they do not establish a defect pattern or cause. This cohort has 6 NHTSA recall campaigns listed below. Enter a VIN in NHTSA's official recall lookup to determine whether a specific vehicle has an unrepaired recall.
NHTSA currently has 28 investigation files overlapping the 2004 VNL. 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.
PlainCars' own composite of NHTSA NCAP crash-test ratings and rollover-risk assessment, each dimension normalized against the federal scale or the full national model-year corpus. Not an official NHTSA figure, and not a substitute for a specific vehicle's VIN-level recall check.
Total Complaints
5 filings
Crashes Reported
1 reports
Source
NHTSA ODI
Federal complaints database
At or below the fleet median complaint volume.
| Component | Count |
|---|---|
| VISIBILITY:REARVIEW MIRRORS/DEVICES:EXTERIOR | 1 |
| TIRES | 1 |
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING | 1 |
| STEERING | 1 |
| STEERING:LINKAGES | 1 |
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:EXHAUST SYSTEM
ON CERTAIN TRUCKS EQUIPPED WITH D12D ENGINES, THE EXHAUST GAS RECIRCULATION (EGR) COOLER INLET PIPES OR THE PIPES THAT CONNECT THE EGR VALVES TO THE COOLER MAY CRACK OR BREAK.
STEERING:LINKAGES:DRAG:LINK:CONNECTION
VOLVO TRUCKS IS RECALLING CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2001-2006 VNL AND VNM TRUCKS MANUFACTURED WITH A TRW SEALED DRAG LINKS. CERTAIN FACTORS CAN EXIST, WHICH IF LEFT UNTREATED MAY RESULT IN A BALL SOCKET SEPARATION.
VISIBILITY:WINDSHIELD WIPER/WASHER:MOTOR
VOLVO TRUCKS IS RECALLING 127,764 MY 2001-2008 VHD, VNL, VNM, AND MY 2005-2008 VT TRUCKS. A SEAL MAY FAIL ALLOWING WATER AND CONTAMINANTS TO SEEP INTO THE WINDSHIELD WIPER MOTOR.
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:WIRING:FUSES AND CIRCUIT BREAKERS
ON CERTAIN HEAVY DUTY TRUCKS, THE CIRCUIT PROTECTION (I.E. AUTOMATIC CIRCUIT BREAKERS) USED TO PROTECT THE VEHICLE LIGHTING SYSTEM MAY NOT PROVIDE ADEQUATE PROTECTION.
WHEELS
CERTAIN TRUCKS EQUIPPED WITH FRONT STEER AXLE AIR SUSPENSION MAY DEVELOP A FRONT WHEEL WOBBLE WHEN THE TIRES BECOME WORN.
EQUIPMENT:OTHER:LABELS
CERTAIN HEAVY DUTY TRUCKS FAIL TO COMPLY WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF FEDERAL MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY STANDARD NO. 120, "TIRE SELECTION AND RIMS FOR MOTOR VEHICLES OTHER THAN PASSENGER CARS." THE TIRE SIZE DESIGNATION ON THE CERTIFICATION LABEL IS NOT SHOWN.
WEST BOUND ON 288. DID MY PRE TRIP. I WAS FULLY LOADED. I WAS IN THE MIDDLE LANE. ALL OF THE SUDDEN MY STEERING WHEEL GOT LIGHT. IT DID NOT HAVE ANY CONTROL. THE TRUCK STARTED DRIFTING TO THE RIGHT. I TRIED TO STEER TO THE LEFT. THE TRUCK DID NOT RESPOND. I STARTED TO APPLY THE BRAKES. I WAS ABLE TO BRING THE TRUCK TO A STOP WITHOUT CRASHING. I CAME WITH IN A FEW INCHES OF THE GUARD RAIL. THE TRAILER WAS OUT IN THE ROAD. TRAFFIC WAS COMING OVER A HILL AND COULD NOT SEE IT IN TIME. I HAD TO SIT AT THE TOP OF THE HILL AND DIVERT TRAFFIC. I LOOKED UNDER THE TRUCK AND SAW THE DRAG LINK SEPARATED AND DRAGGING ON THE GROUND. THE DRAG LINK WAS NOT SERVICEABLE. I THOUGHT IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE LIFE TIME. THE PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE WAS DONE BY TRIMAC IN DEAR PARK, TX. I STILL HAVE THE BROKEN DRAG LINK. THIS WAS A VERY SCARY EVENT AND I SOLD THE TRUCK. IF SOMEONE HAD BEEN IN THE RIGHT LANE, THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN A CRASH.
DRAG LINK CAME LOOSE WHILE OUR DRIVER WAS PULLING A LOAD ON INTERSTATE 81. HE LOST ALL STEERING AND DROVE INTO A GUARDRAIL. THE TOTAL COSTS FOR REPAIRS TO US WAS $17,022.93. THE TRACTOR HAD JUST BEEN SERVED AND THE DRAG LINK APPEARED FINE AT THAT TIME. WE HAVE NOTICED THEM FAILING IN THE PAST AND CHANGED THEM REGULARLY. *TR
Mileage: 500,000
MY VOLVO TRUCK STARTED HAVING LOW POWER PROBLEM AFTER A CERTIFIED VOLVO DEALER REPLACED COPPER CUPS ON IT. TO FIX THAT PROBLEM, I TOOK THE TRUCK TO ANOTHER CERTIFIED VOLVO DEALER, WHO REPLACED EGR VALVE,WHICH WAS UNDER WARRANTY. ACCORDING TO THEM, IT WAS SUPPOSED TO RESOLVE THE PROBLEM, BUT IT DID NOT. IT STILL HAD LOW POWER. I BROUGHT IT BACK TO THEM. AFTER TESTING IT FOR THE SECOND TIME, THEY SAID THAT COPPER CUPS WERE THE PROBLEM AND SUGGESTED ME TO TAKE IT BACK TO THE DEALER WHO FIXED THEM. I FOLLOWED THEIR ADVICE AND FOR THE SECOND TIME TOOK IT BACK TO THE FIRST DEALER. HE FOUND LOW BOOST POWER, WHICH IS ALSO UNDER WARRANTY, BUT DID NOT GUARANTEE THE CORRECTION OF THE PROBLEM. LAST MONTH I SPEND MORE THAN $6,000 ON FIXING MY TRUCK, BUT THE SITUATION IS GETTING WORSE INSTEAD OF GETTING BETTER. SINCE I BOUGHT THE TRUCK IN JULY OF 2007, I'VE SPENT $16,000 ON ITS REPAIRS. ALL REPAIRS WERE DONE BY VOLVO DEALERS. I'VE GOT ALL THE RECEIPTS. *TR
Mileage: 688,000
THERE WERE TWO RECAPPED TIRES PLACED ON THE REAR-EXTENDED LIFT AXLE OF A DUMP TRUCK. WHILE DRIVING 55 MPH ONE TIRE BLEW OUT, AND THE OTHER TIRE SEPARATED WHILE CARRYING A LOAD. UPON SPEAKING WITH THE RETAILER THEY REFERRED THE CONSUMER TO THE WHOLESALER. NEITHER CLAIMED RESPONSIBILITY, AND REFERRED HER TO J.P. BURNS WHO WAS A RECAPPING SPECIALIST IN NEW YORK. *AK *SC *JB
GLASS MIRRORS VIBRATED TO THE POINT WERE IT WAS DIFFICULT TO SEE. *AK
Mileage: 2,000
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 2004 Volvo VNL; 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.