Volvo 744: problems, complaints, bulletins

Summary for the Volvo 744 across 4 model years: 5 owner complaints and 0 NHTSA service bulletins, plus repair videos. Pick a year for details.

Model years

Year	Owner complaints	involving a crash	Technical service bulletins (TSB)	YouTube repair videos
1989	2	0	0	0
1987	1	0	0	0
1986	1	0	0	0
1985	1	0	0	0

What fails most often

1 Electrical system 40% of all complaints
2 Seat belts 20% of all complaints

Circle size and colour show each component’s share of NHTSA complaints. Schematic only, not a drawing of the exact model.

Electrical system: 2 complaints (40% of all).
Seat belts: 1 complaints (20% of all).

Symptoms owners describe

How many of the 5 NHTSA complaints mention each symptom (automatic count from complaint text; one complaint can mention several).

smoke, burning smell, fire2 · 40%
seat belts1 · 20%
infotainment or screen glitches1 · 20%

Components owners complain about

Component	Owner complaints	involving a crash	Technical service bulletins (TSB)
Electrical system	2	0	0
Seat belts	1	0	0
Other	2	0	0

What owners report

Short excerpts of NHTSA complaints in the original wording. These are owner statements not verified by NHTSA; personal data removed.

While parked waiting for a friend the dashboard started smoking and then bursted in to flames,no one was injured. The inside of the car was a total loss. Consumer has yet to contact the dealer. Please provide any further details.
Electrical system · 1986 · 1998-10-19 · NHTSA complaint #829172
Driver's seat belt would not release. With vehicle stopped driver required several minutes to wriggle free of belt. In circumstances requiring quick exit from vehicle this would be a deadly failure.
Seat belts · 1985 · 1998-02-09 · NHTSA complaint #523285

When owners complained

NHTSA complaints by filing year. The peak shows at what age the problems show up most.

19984
19991

What to check before buying

Electrical system. Scan all modules, test the battery and alternator, inspect connectors near the impact zone.
Seat belts. Belt pretensioners after airbag deployment, SRS codes.

Other models of this make

Read also

Sources: public NHTSA data (USA): service bulletins and owner complaints; YouTube: links to videos credited to their authors. Complaints are owner statements not verified by NHTSA, and describe defects rather than crash damage. Data updated 2026-11-05.