Volvo Penta Reviews 

We had a Volvo Penta D3-220 engine that failed with less than 500 hours of operation. The only explanation we received was that it was due to a cooling issue – but we never received a clear root cause analysis. All official services and maintenance were done on time and properly documented.

At first, we were told we might receive a small goodwill gesture from Volvo Penta – but this was later withdrawn without further explanation. In the end, we were presented with a bill of over €50,000 for a replacement engine. In many countries, that’s equivalent to a full year’s salary.

What’s especially disappointing is the complete lack of appreciation or accountability: no thank-you for trusting the brand again, and definitely no sign of customer care. Sadly, we had little choice but to stay with Volvo Penta due to the boat’s specifications.

Customer service: zero.
Trust in the brand: lost.
A real shame.

For one thing, stock parts in U.S.A. I have had to order parts from Europe on more than one occasion and the prices are quite high.
I no longer a fan of Volvo-Penta systems and would never buy a boat with them again.
Dealers are few and far between (high expensive) and the independents will rip you off. I've lost a lot of money having work done on my boat.

The rating doesn't go low enough for Volvo Penta. I purchase a drive through an online part supplied and I ordered a 1.95 and it was tagged as a 2.32. Volvo Penta will not help in determining the ratio of the drive. I want everyone to know that any Volvo part not purchased through there dealers is not warrantied. Also, the shift mechanism was installed upside done and they will not help with fixing the issue. Time to help teach these large companies, I ask you boycott their products.

what's the deal with VOLVO PENTA and all these manufacturers , wasted over an hour now simply trying to identify the p o s motor im working on I HAVE ALL THE NUMBERS / LETTERS ON THEIR ID PLATE !!!!!! but still no help from V/P just like all these manufacturers they will always explain in detail how wonderful they are , until the day you have to put them to the test , then its all games , none of these clowns really deserve to be in business , once your money is in their hands , they truly could not care less about you

Marine moteurs is the regional dealer for volvo penta. As they said they had no mecanics with knowledge of this engine I contacted Volvo Penta Europe in Brussels.
They replied with adresses of some sub-dealers who ‘maybe might’ be able to help me.
These sub-dealers depend fully on the main dealer and didn’t want to interfear, afraid they would get problems with the main dealer Marine Motors in Mandelieu, South of France.
This is the letter Volvo Europe sent me:
(In Dutch)
De Area Manager heeft MMCA (Marine Moteurs Côte d’Azur) Mandelieu gecontacteerd, maar die kunnen helaas de KAD300 niet meer ondersteunen (was intussen al duidelijk).

So the main dealer that sells all the parts in a wide region of an engine they don’t know anything about can’t do the job and hope their sub dealers can?
The South of France has a worldwide reputation so try to find people from norrhern countries. Flying them in is far cheaper then having these clowns taken your money and leave you with the problem!

Very disappointed with Volvo Penta. Their website has "Action Service" what that seems to mean is when something goes wrong they jump to it and fix the problem, do not investigate what went wrong, you end up paying for their mistakes in lost use of your boat, any damages incurred and worst of all no one from Volvo cares or communicates with you via email or by phone. I will never buy another Volvo car or boat engine again following my experience. I am seriously out of pocket and Volvo has zero customer service support to help. When I bought my boat brand new with Volvo engines I was glad to have Volvo and today I feel totally different. As soon as I can sell my boat and offload Volvo, I will. I have owned many Volvo's in the past and have many great memories but I feel this brand has lost its position as being great and I hope someone reads this and makes changes and Customer Service is considered.

Robust and reliable marine engines. Uses twin VP engines with Aquamatic DP sterndrives. Few problems and good quality.
Only downside would be the price as VP is quite expensive both the products and sadly the original spare parts