2001 Volvo V70XC

MY 2001 VOLVO V70XC (PURCHASED LESS THAN TWO MONTHS AGO FROM A VOLVO DEALER) SUDDENLY WARNED "PERFORMANCE REDUCED" AND LOST ALL ACCELERATION -- WAS PROBABLY GOING ONLY SEVERAL MPH. THE DEALER DETERMINED ETM FAILURE AND REPLACED THE PART, FORTUNATELY UNDER WARRANTY AS THIS WAS A "VOLVO CERTIFIED" PRE-OWNED CARE. LUCKILY THIS HAPPENED ON A QUIET ROAD -- BUT ONLY A SHORT TIME AFTER I HAD BEEN DRIVING ON THE MASS PIKE.

IN AUGUST OF 2004 WHILE TRAVELING AT HIGHWAY SPEED, MY 2001 VOLVO V70 XC BEGAN TO BUCK VIOLENTLY AND SLOWED TO A CRAWL. THIS WAS SUDDEN, WITH NO PRELIMINARY HINT THAT ANYTHING WAS WRONG. THE INCIDENT COULD VERY WELL HAVE CAUSED A SERIOUS ACCIDENT HAD THERE BEEN ANY OTHER TRAFFIC ON THE HIGHWAY AT THE TIME. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE PROBLEM WAS DIAGNOSED AT SMART MOTORS VOLVO IN MADISON, WISCONSIN, AS A FAILED THROTTLE BODY. THE REPLACEMENT PART AND LABOR COST $934.25. THE HIGHLY EXPERIENCED VOLVO MECHANIC SUGGESTED THAT SUCH THROTTLE BODY FAILURES WERE, IN HIS EXPERIENCE, MORE COMMON IN COLDER CLIMATES WHERE FUEL ADDITIVES TO PREVENT ICE IN THE FUEL LINE WERE PRESENT. HE ALSO SAID THAT OTHER MAKES OF CAR THAT USED THE SAME THROTTLE BODY WERE HAVING THE SAME VERY HIGH RATE OF FAILURE. *JB

PLEASE ADD ME TO THE GROWING LIST OF PEOPLE WHO HAD THEIR ELECTRONIC THROTTLE MODULE FAIL ON THEM WHILE DRIVING IN HEAVY TRAFFIC. IT FAILED ON ME( WITH NO PRIOR HINT OF FAILURE ) CAUSING THE CAR TO GO INTO IDLE SPEED WHILE CROSSING A VERY BUSY INTERSECTION. I CALLED THE DEALER AND THEY TOLD ME I COULD RESET THE COMPUTER BUY A COMBINATION OF DOOR LOCK TURNS WHICH I DID. IT THEN FAILED AGAIN IN A VERY DANGEROUS CONDITION (SITTING AT A RED LIGHT WITH A LONG LINE OF TRAFFIC BEHIND ME) WHILE DRIVING TO THE DEALER TO BE REPLACED TWO DAYS LATER. IT FAILED AT ABOUT 94,000 MILES BUT I DON'T CONSIDER THIS A PART WHICH SHOULD HAVE SUCH A DESIGN FLAW. AND IF IT IS GOING TO FAIL - THE CARS' COMPUTER SHOULD NOT CAUSE THE CAR TO GO INTO LIMP HOME MODE. IT WAS REPLACED BY THE DEALER AT A COST OF AROUND $900 WITH A ONE YEAR WARRANTY. *JB

RECENTLY PURCHASED VOLVO V70XC AND WAS DRIVING ACROSS THE COUNTRY WHEN THE ETM FAILED SOUTH OF AUSTIN. I WAS ON THE HIGHWAY SOUTH OF AUSTIN TRAVELING ABOUT 70 MPH WHEN THE CAR STALLED OUT, LEAVING ME WITH LITTLE CONTROL OVER STEERING OR BREAKS. LUCKILY WAS ABLE TO GET TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. AFTER A FEW MINUTES WAS ABLE TO START THE CAR AND LIMPED TO THE LOCAL VOLVO DEALER, WHERE THEY TOLD ME THE ETM HAD FAILED AND WHICH THEY REPLACED. *JB

LOW BEAM HEADLIGHT FAILURE. MESSAGE INDICATED LOW BEAM FAILURE. INSERTED NEW BULB IN LEFT LOW BEAM HOLDER. DID NOT FUNCTION. TO BE CERTAIN THAT I HAD A GOOD BULB, I REMOVED THE RIGHT LOW BEAM BULB AND INSERTED IT INTO THE LEFT LOW BEAM HOLDER. THIS BULB, WHICH HAD WORKED PREVIOUSLY, NOW FAILED AND I WAS LEFT WITH NO LOW BEAM HEADLIGHTS. THE SAME PROBLEM OCCURRED WITH MY 2000 VOLVO CROSS COUNTRY. *NM

WE ARE HAVING PROBLEMS WITH OUR VEHICLE AS IDENTIFIED IN A NEWSPAPER ARTICLE WITH OUR VOLVO. THE DEALER WE PURCHASED THE VEHICLE FROM ORIGINALLY REFUSED TO CORRECT THE PROBLEM OF THE LOSS OF POWER, STALLING AND OTHER DEFECTS WITH MY VEHICLE UNDER WARRANTY (THEY CLAIMS TO HAVE BEEN ADVISED BY VOLVO THAT THEY COULD NOT FIX THE PROBLEM WITHOUT A "REDUCED PERFORMANCE" LIGHT COMING ON) UNTIL I TOLD THEM THAT IF I WAS KILLED (THE LAST TIME THIS HAPPENED, I LOST POWER AS I WAS ENTERING I-95 NORTH DURING RUSH HOUR AND WAS NEARLY BROADSIDED BY A CONSTRUCTION VEHICLE MERGING FROM THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION) IT WOULD COST THEM A LOT MORE THAN SIMPLY A REPAIR. AFTER THREATENING A LAWSUIT, THEY AGREED TO DOWNLOAD SOME SOFTWARE TO CORRECT THE PROBLEM. WHILE THE ISSUE IS NOT AS PREVALENT AS IT WAS, WE STILL HAVE OCCASIONS WHEN WE GET POWER SURGES, LOSE POWER AND THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS DO NOT WORK PROPERLY IN THE VEHICLE. I DO NOT FEEL SAFE DRIVING THIS VEHICLE. THE TRANSMISSION/AIR FLOW PROBLEM IS JUST ONE OF MANY ISSUES WE HAVE HAD WITH THIS VEHICLE - MANY OF THEM SAFETY RELATED. WE WERE TOLD BY THE DEALER THAT THEY WERE AWARE OF THE PROBLEM THROUGH A NOTICE THEY RECEIVED FROM VOLVO - A NOTICE WAS THE KIND THAT NOTIFIED THE DEALERS OF THE PROBLEM WERE NOT REQUIRED TO ADVISE CUSTOMERS UNLESS CUSTOMERS COMPLAINED (THIS WAS THE SAME ISSUE WITH AN INTERNAL ENGINE FAN WHICH APPARENTLY CAN CATCH FIRE WITHOUT WARNING - THE DEALERS GOT NOTICE ABOUT THAT, BUT THE CUSTOMERS DID NOT - IF WE COMPLAINED ABOUT ISSUES WITH THE FAN, DEPENDING ON THE KIND OF FAN IT WAS, IT WOULD BE FIXED UNDER WARRANTY - OTHERWISE, WE WOULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR REPLACING THE FAN AT THE COST OF OVER $500 - OUR FAN, AFTER WE COMPLAINED THAT IT CAME ON FOR NO REASON WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS PARKED, WAS FINALLY REPLACED LAST SUMMER BY THE DEALER BUT THEY HAD TO GET "SPECIAL PERMISSION" FROM VOLVO TO DO IT. APPARENTLY, THESE FANS CAN COME ON AND CAUSE THE ENGINE TO OVERHEAT, AND THERE HAVE BEEN FIRES BECAUSE OF IT. *JB

I OWN A 2001 VOLVO CROSS-COUNTRY. I WAS DRIVING AT 65 MILES PER HOUR ON INTERSTATE 95 BETWEEN BALTIMORE AND WASHINGTON WHEN MY CAR STARTING SHAKING VIOLENTLY AND STOPPED DRIVING. SUFFICE TO SAY, THIS INCIDENT WAS EXTREMELY SCARY. THE CAR WAS TOWED TO A VOLVO DEALER. THE MECHANIC ADVISED THAT THE ELECTRONIC THROTTLE WAS DEFECTIVE. THE REPAIR COST ME $1,300. I WAS UNHAPPY TO LEARN THAT VOLVO IS WELL AWARE OF THIS PROBLEM, BUT WILL NOT ISSUE A RECALL OR REIMBURSE CONSUMERS FOR THIS REPAIR. *JB

1. WE NOTICED THAT CAR IDLED IRREGULARLY AT STOPS AND SEEMED LIKE IT WAS GOING TO STALL SOMETIMES. WE WERE COMING UP ON 60,000 MILE SERVICE INTERVAL & THOUGHT THAT AT THAT APPOINTMENT WE WOULD HAVE THEM ADJUST. 2. FEB 2005 - WE DROVE CAR OUT OF RESID. DEVELOPMENT ONTO 2 LANE ROAD & CAR LOST POWER, THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON, WE WERE ABLE TO GET TO THE TOP OF THE HILL 500 YARDS AFTER WE TURNED OUT ON ROAD. AT TOP OF THE HILL WE CUT THE CAR OFF TO SEE IF IT WOULD RUN BETTER AFTER RE-STARTING. IT TOOK A FEW MINUTES TO GET IT RE-STARTED (I HAD TO PUSH THE ACCELERATOR DOWN AGGRESSIVELY). THE CAR COMPUTER SAID WE WERE IN "LIMP MODE" AND WE DROVE AT A VERY SLOW SPEED ESPECIALLY UP HILLS TO THE FIRST FUEL STATION. WE SHUT OFF THE CAR FOR 10 MINUTES & GOT SOME FUEL. AFTER THIS THE CAR RAN OK BUT THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT WAS BACK SO WE CALLED OUR DEALER. 3. WE DROVE THE CAR 1 HOUR TO DEALER AND THEY SAID THE ETM NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE INVOICE ALSO SAYS THEY REPLACED THE ACCELERATOR. WE DON'T HAVE THE OLD PART. WISH WE DID. *NOTE-ON JUNE 2 (WITH 61,000 MILES) ON A TRIP WITH FAMILY (2 SMALL CHILDREN) THE CAR WAS RUNNING FINE BUT JUST NORTH OF CHARLOTTE, NC AT DARK THE CAR LOST POWER IN THE MIDDLE OF I-77S AND WE HAD TO PULL OVER TO THE EMERG. LANE. FOR 15-20 MINUTES WE TRIED TO START THE CAR THINKING THE COMPUTER MIGHT RESET. EVERYTIME WE TRIED TO START IT SEEMED LIKE IT WAS GOING TO START (NOT LIKE BATTERY FAILURE) BUT THEN IT WOULD JUST SHUT OFF IMMEDIATELY. IT FINALLY STARTED AND WE DROVE TO THE HOTEL WITH NO PROBLEM. NEXT MORNING WE TOOK TO NEAREST DEALER - UNIVERSITY VOLVO. THEY RAN DIAGNOSTIC AT A FEE AND FOUND ECM CODES 6806 (TURBO CONTROL SYST.) - 904D (FUEL PEDAL SENSOR) - 981A (CONTROL MODULE FAULT) BUT FAULTS WERE NO LONGER PRESENT SO THEY SAID THERE WAS NOTHING TO DO. OUR HOME DEALER - CHARLOTTESVILLE VOLVO LOOKED AT THE CAR WHEN WE GOT HOME AND THEY COULDN'T FIND ANY PROBLEMS. *JB

CAR: 2001 VOLVO V70 AWD XC MILEAGE: 45,879 WHILE DRIVING THE VEHICLE ON A CONTROLLED ACCESS HIGHWAY, THE CAR WITHOUT NOTICE LOST POWER. THE ENGINE WOULD NOT ACCELERATE BEYOND 1,000 RPM AND THE CAR DECELERATED RAPIDLY FROM APPROXIMATELY 60 MPH TO LESS THAN 20 MPH. GIVEN THE RAPID, UNEXPECTED DECELERATION, IT WAS QUITE POSSIBLE THAT THE LOSS OF POWER COULD HAVE LEAD TO A VERY SERIOUS SITUATION. AFTER PULLING OFF TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AND RESTARTING THE CAR, IT WOULD RUN NORMALLY FOR A PERIOD OF TIME. PRIOR TO THIS INCIDENT, THE CAR PERFORMED NORMALLY AND NO WARNING LIGHT INDICATORS WERE ACTIVATED. THE CAR WAS BROUGHT TO A VOLVO DEALER, WHO AFTER INSPECTING THE CAR STATED THAT ELECTRONIC THROTTLE CONTROL (THROTTLE BODY) HAD FAILED AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. COST INCURRED FOR THROTTLE BODY REPLACEMENT WERE $845.25, INCLUDING LABOR. *JB