What breaks most · 1990 to 2002 model years
Volvo 740 problems by year
Owners have filed 82 safety complaints with NHTSA about the Volvo 740 across model years 1990 to 2002. Three years stand out: 1990 for speed control and throttle complaints, 1991 for air bags complaints and 1992 for seat belts complaints. The quietest years are 1995, 1993 and 1998.
- Years to check closely: 1990, 1991, 1992
- Fewest complaints: 1995, 1993, 1998
- Complaints on file
- 821990 to 2002, all trims
- Worst year
- 199047 complaints
- Crashes reported
- 268 fires · 16 injuries · 0 deaths
- Typical failure mileage
- 130kMedian where owners gave mileage
- Recall campaigns
- 3Across the years shown
Complaints by model year
Raw filings with NHTSA, not adjusted for how many were sold.
| Model year | Complaints | Crashes | Recalls | Most-reported component |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 47 | 16 | 2 | Speed control and throttle (14) | |
| 19 | 7 | 1 | Air bags (11) | |
| 8 | 2 | 0 | Seat belts (2) | |
| 2 | 0 | 0 | Air bags (2) | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | Speed control and throttle (1) | |
| 2 | 1 | 0 | Powertrain and transmission (1) | |
| 2 | 0 | 0 | Tires (1) | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | Powertrain and transmission (1) |
What fails on the 1990 Volvo 740
| Component | Share of complaints | Filings | Crashes | Parts for this job |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Speed control and throttleThrottle and pedal sensors | 30% |
14 | 10 | Shop all speed control and throttle parts, not filtered to this vehicle |
| Air bags | 19% |
9 | 4 | Check recalls for air bags on NHTSA.gov |
| Electrical systemAlternators, starters and ignition | 15% |
7 | 0 | Shop electrical system parts for the 1990 Volvo 740 |
| Engine and coolingRadiators, thermostats and cooling | 11% |
5 | 0 | Shop engine and cooling parts for the 1990 Volvo 740 |
| Brakes (hydraulic)Brake pads, rotors and calipers | 9% |
4 | 2 | Shop brakes (hydraulic) parts for the 1990 Volvo 740 |
| Wheels | 4% |
2 | 1 | — |
| Powertrain and transmissionTransmission parts | 4% |
2 | 0 | Shop powertrain and transmission parts for the 1990 Volvo 740 |
| Seat belts | 4% |
2 | 0 | Check recalls for seat belts on NHTSA.gov |
One complaint can name more than one component, so shares add to more than 100%. "Unknown or other" is NHTSA's uncategorized bucket and is shown but never ranked.
In owners' words
Complaint narratives as filed with NHTSA, trimmed for length.
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While driving at a low rate of speed and when attemtping to turn around a curve vehicle suddenly accelerated, causing unwanted and unexpected acceleration, resulting in an accident. Consumer has contacted volvo. *ak the brakes failed to stop the accelerating vehicle. *yh
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Dt: the owner tried to park car and was slowy going into the parking space. All of sudden the car accerelated and it crashed into a wall of a building. Then, car smoked. Owner sustained injuries . Before the car took off the owner was going 1-2 mph. The air bag deployed and injured the owner's arm.*ak
-
Ignition key can be removed from the ignition while car is in drive. There is no parking lock which allows the car to be parked without putting the car in park, and allows the car to roll. Dealer contacted, and stated that this model does not have a parking lock. *ak
How to read this page
Every figure comes from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's public complaint database, which holds every safety-related defect complaint filed by owners since 1995. We refresh it monthly and count each complaint once per component it names. Data through September 6, 2026.
NHTSA only accepts safety-related complaints. Rattles, paint, infotainment bugs and other annoyances are under-reported here, so this page is a map of what fails in ways owners consider dangerous, not a full reliability score.
Counts are raw. Use the year-over-year shape and the component mix, not the absolute numbers. Where a component maps to parts we stock, the row links to that category filtered to the year you are viewing. Air bag and seat belt complaints link to the recall checker instead, because those repairs are almost always covered.
Common questions
Which Volvo 740 years have the most problems?
By NHTSA complaint volume, 1990, 1991, 1992 carry the most filings on the Volvo 740. The 1990 alone has 47 complaints, led by speed control and throttle.
What is the most common Volvo 740 problem?
On the 1990 model year, the most-reported component is speed control and throttle with 14 complaints. The table above lists the top components for every year.
At what mileage do Volvo 740 problems start?
The median mileage at failure across all Volvo 740 complaints that include mileage is about 130,000 miles. Older model years skew higher; the per-year figure is in the "at a glance" card.
Are these complaints verified?
No. NHTSA publishes complaints as submitted and does not investigate individual filings. Patterns across hundreds of complaints are meaningful; a single one is not.