— A Volvo rear-view camera lawsuit has been filed alleging the rear (park assist) cameras stop working when the transmissions are shifted into reverse, the very time the cameras are needed.
The plaintiffs claim Volvo knows about the backup camera problems but has failed to create a fix to the problems, even though vehicles may be under warranty when the rear-view cameras fail.
Jacquelyn and David Obergfell say they bought a new 2014 Volvo XC90 in October 2014 in Texas, but shortly after purchasing their XC90 they experienced problems with the rear camera. Specifically, when they put the vehicle in reverse, the navigation screen would not display an image and leaving the rear-view camera useless.
The plaintiffs say they took their XC90 back to the dealership to get the system repaired. However, the lawsuit alleges the fix didn't work and the camera system continued to malfunction, with the screen going black whenever the vehicle was shifted into reverse.
Multiple trips to the dealer were made, but no matter what, nothing allegedly worked to fix the problem. The dealer made note a new park assist module was installed in addition to a new camera, yet the camera screen would go blank when the XC90 was put into reverse.
The rear-view camera lawsuit says the warranty period is four years or 50,000 miles, whichever occurs first, and each time the XC90 was brought into the dealer, the SUV was under warranty and should have been repaired.
Jacquelyn and David Obergfell say Volvo is fully aware of the camera problems and the XC90 should have been repaired under warranty, but instead the couple are left without a technology they paid for.
According to the lawsuit, Volvo owners paid a lot of money for vehicles with rear-view cameras, yet those same owners eventually discover the camera systems are defective and won't display images on the screens. In addition, the plaintiffs claim if an image does appear, it can freeze and not show a live picture of what is behind a vehicle.
If certified as a class-action, the lawsuit will include tens of thousands of Volvo vehicles equipped with rear-view camera systems.
The Volvo rear camera lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey - Obergfell, et al, v. Volvo Cars of North America, LLC.
The plaintiffs are represented by Williams Cuker Berezofsky LLC, Stanley Law Group, and Steckler Gresham Cochran.
