Front passenger side wheel broke off as a result of ball joint breaking leading to an axle break. Also damaged were bumper and fender when hit by the wheel breaking off. My wife was leaving O'hare airport at around 9:00 pm on 6/27/06. When cruising at 20-30 mph she heard a cracking noise and then suddenly the car turned right. She stepped on a brake pedal trying not to hit cars on the next line. When she stopped and get out of the car she realized that the front passenger side wheel came off. It was kept in place just by the shock absorber. She and my two sons (age 3 and 6) spent nearly two hours on a highway waiting for a tow truck to come. The car has 5 years and 98,500 miles on it. The front suspension was already repaired twice. Once 2 years ago and then half a year after that. Before the accident described above there were no signals/noises that would indicate any problems with neither the wheel nor the suspension. The car was always driven on normal streets and highways. No off road adventures or really bad roads. I had many cars in my life but I've never had such a problem before. How can Volvo claim that they make reliable and safe cars when something like that happens? I sent an E-mail to Volvo customer service but have not heard back from them. Now I have to pay over $2,500 in repair fees ($1000 to repair broken ball joint and axle plus additional $1500 to repair bumper and fender). I do have an extended warranty but, surprise surprise, they said they can only cover the cost of repairing the ball joint. Everything else, even though it was damaged because of the ball joint, they would not cover. And, of course, the cost of replacing the ball joint is less than my deductible so... they washed their hands.

- Crystal Lake, IL, USA