2001 Volvo V70XC

DRIVING ON I-80 IN CALIFORNIA IN BUSY TRAFFIC WHEN THROTTLE RESPONSE ON MY 2001 VOLVO V70 XC SUDDENLY VANISHED. AVOIDED SEVERAL CARS COLLIDING WITH MINE AND PULLED OVER TO THE SIDE. RESTARTING THE CAR CLEARED THE PROBLEM; HOWEVER, 30 MIN LATER THE SAME PROBLEM HAPPENED. ON THE FIST EVENT, THE CAR DISPLAYED "REDUCED PERFORMANCE", AND ON THE SECOND EVENT, THE CAR DISPLAYED "CRITICAL ENGINE FAULT". THE CAR WAS BROUGHT 90 MILES ON A FLATBED TRUCK TO RENO, NV, WHERE A ELECTRONIC THROTTLE CONTROL MECHANISM WAS REPLACED. MY CONCERN IS THE SUDDEN, AND COMPLETE, FAILURE OF ENGINE POWER IN BUSY TRAFFIC ON A 8+ LANE INTERSTATE HIGHWAY ... A SERIOUS ACCIDENT WAS NARROWLY MISSED. *NM

SEVERAL MONTHS AGO MY 2001 VOLVO XC70 STATION WAGON SUDDENLY LOST POWER ON A MAJOR HIGHWAY. CAR WOULD NOT START. TOOK VOLVO ABOUT 3 HOURS TO TOW THE VEHICLE. THROTTLE MODULE REPLACED UNDER WARRANTY. JUNE 5, 2005 CAR LOOSES POWER ON HIGHWAY AND STOPS IN TRAFFIC. ON BOTH OCCASIONS THERE WERE ABOUT 2 GALLONS OF FUEL REMAINING IN TANK AND COMPUTER READ OVER 100 MILES TO EMPTH. SAME VOLVO DEALER TAKES POSITION IT HAS NEVER HEARD OF THIS PROBLEM.

TRAVELING ON MONTANA HIGHWAY 93 AT 65 MPH MY 2001 VOLVO V70 AWD SUDDENLY LOST POWER. I PULLED OFF THE SIDE OF THIS HEAVILY TRAVELED 2 LANE HIGHWAY CAUSING TRAFFIC BEHIND ME TO SWERVE INTO THE ONCOMING LANE OF TRAFFIC. THE CAR WAS TOWED TO THE NEAREST MECHANIC, WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED WITH AN ELECTRONIC THROTTLE MODULE PROBLEM. VOLVO RECOMMENDS CLEANING THE MODULE WHICH WAS DONE. I PICKED UP MY CAR ON SATURDAY JULY 2, 2005 AND ON MONDAY JULY 4, 2005, THE CAR DIED SUDDENLY ON A BUSY 2 LANE COUNTY ROAD. ONCE AGAIN I PULLED OFF TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. NOW THE ONLY OPTION IS TO REPLACE THE ELECTRONIC THROTTLE MODULE AT A HIGH COST, $1000.00 PLUS. MY CAR ONLY HAS 57,000 MILES ON IT. I HAVE BEEN MADE AWARE THAT VOLVO KNOWS OF THIS POTENTIALLY HARMFUL SITUATION AND HAS DONE NOTHING TO REPAIR THIS DEFECTIVE ETM. THE THOUGHT OF CAUSING AND ACCIDENT ON A BUSY ROAD WHEN A VOLVO SUDDENLY LOOSES POWER IS FRIGHTENING. IF YOU COULD PLEASE HELP IN LETTING VOLVO KNOW THAT THEY HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO KEEP OUR ROADWAYS SAFE. A SUDDEN LOSS OF POWER SHOULD NOT BE A NORMAL OPERATING METHOD. THANK YOU ALLISON BEOUGHER

VEHICLE STALLED SUDDENLY ON HIGHWAY. REDUCED PERFORMANCE MODE INDICATED ON CPU. CAR LERCHED VIOLENTLY. NEARLY IN AN ACCIDENT WHEN VEHICLE STALLED ON VERY HEAVY TRAFFICED I95N IN NEW JERSEY. 2001XC70 WITH THROTTLE BODY FAILURE AS DIAGNOSIS. THIS IS A MAJOR SAFETY PROBLEM WITH THIS VEHICLE AND IS HAPPENING TO MANY MANY PEOPLE. CAR WAS ONLY 3.5 YEARS OLD WITH 65,000 MILES. ALL DEALER SERVICES & MAINTENANCE COMPLETED PER MANUFACTUERER. PART WAS PROBELMATIC FOR AT LEAST A YEAR BEFORE IT FAILED AND DEALER/VOLVO REFUSED TO ADMIT THERE WAS A PROBLEM OR FIX IT. I'M LUCKY MY WIFE AND KIDS WEREN'T KILLED.

(1) MY WIFE WAS DRIVING ABOUT 25 MPH ON A SUNNY AND MILD DAY. (2) THE VEHICLE, SUDDENLY AND WITHOUT WARNING, LOST ITS POWER STEERING. THE MESSAGE CENTER READ "ELECTRICAL FAILURE, SERVICE REQUIRED." CONSEQUENTLY, MY WIFE COULD HARDLY STEER THE VEHICLE. DUE TO THE LOW SPEED AND STRAIGHT ROAD, MY WIFE WAS ABLE TO STOP THE VEHICLE WITHOUT INCIDENT. (3) THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO A DEALERSHIP WHERE A DIAGNOSIS IS PENDING. THE TOW OPERATOR OPENED THE HOOD TO FIND THE FEAD BELT LYING IN THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT. IT WAS NOT BROKEN, BUT HAD MANAGED TO SLIP OFF A PULLEY.

1) DRIVING IN URBAN TRAFFIC OVER A TWO LINE BRIDGE IN PORTLAND OREGON. THE SERVICE INDICATOR LIGHT IS ON FOR A TAIL LIGHT BULB OUT. I HAVE SCHEDULED A SERVICE APPOINTMENT FOR THE NEXT WEEK TO HAVE IT REPLACED. 2. THE CAR DECREASES IN SPEED FROM 50 MPH TO 20 MPH IN ABOUT 100 FEET. TRAFFIC BEHIND FORTUNATELY IS FAR ENOUGH BACK TO AVOID COLLISION ON A VERY NARROW BRIDGE. I DRIVE THE CAR OFF THE BRIDGE AND PARK IT. IT IS TOWED THE FOLLOWING DAY TO THE DEALER. 3. THE DEALER STATES THAT IT NEEDS A NEW ELECTRONIC THROTTLE MODULE. I ASK IF THIS IS ANYTHING UNUSUAL, AND HE STATES THAT IT IS NOT AND THEY JUST SOMETIMES NEED TO BE REPLACED. HE ESIMATES THE COST AT $1000 DOLLARS. I COMPLAIN ABOUT THE COST AND SEVERAL HOURS LATER I AM TOLD THE PART WILL BE FREE AND I ONLY NEED TO PAY THE 360 DOLLARS FOR LABOR. THIS ALL SEEMS STRANGE- I FEEL MY LIFE WAS ENDANGERED AND PERHAPS THERE IS MORE TO THIS PROBLEM THAN SOMETHING PARTICULAR TO MY CAR. I GET ON THE WEB AND RESEARCH SHOWS THIS TO BE A MAJOR PROBLEM- INCLUDING RECENT ARTICLES IN THE LA TIMES. IN TALKING WITH CUSTOMER SERVICE AT VOLVO NORTH AMERICA- IT WAS CLEAR THEY WANTED TO FIND A WAY TO GET IT FIXED SO I WOULDN'T COMPLAIN TO ANYONE. I SUGGEST, HOWEVER, THAT A RAPID DEACCELLERATION IS A POTENTIALLY LARGE SAFETY ISSUE AND IF AS WEB RESEARCH SHOWS, THAT MANY PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT THIS SPECFIC MALFUNCTION- THEN SOMEONE SHOULD COMMENCE A RECALL AS SOON AS POSSIBLE BEFORE SOMEONE REALLY IS HURT. I AM HAVING THE DEALER REPLACE THE PART NOW.

IN APRIL, 2005, I WAS TRAVELING A SHORT DISTANCE WHEN MY 2001 VOLVO V70 XC SUDDENLY STALLED AND WOULD NOT START FOR APPROXIMATELY 15 MINUTES. THE MESSAGE "LOW PERFORMANCE" APPEARED ON THE MONITOR. THE CAR STALLED ON AT LEAST 4 SEPERATE OCCASIONS. AFTER FOUR DAYS OF WAITING FOR AN APPOINTMENT, I WAS TOLD THAT THE PROBLEM WAS WITH A FAULT IN THE THROTTLE MODULE. I ASKED IF THIS WAS A TYPICAL FAILURE WITH THE CAR ESPECIALLY ONLY HAVING 43,000.00 MILES. I WAS TOLD THAT IT CAN SOMETIMES HAPPEN AT ANY MILEAGE, THAT THEY WERE NOT AWARE OF ANY OTHER CARS HAVING THE SAME PROBLEM AND THAT "SOMETIMES PROBLEMS ARE ISOLATED." THE CAR WAS NO LONGER UNDER WARRANTY SO THE DEALERSHIP WAIVED THE PRICE FOR THE THROTTLE BODY, IN THE END I PAID $400.00 FOR THE MODULE AND LABOR. I'M SHOCKED THAT THIS TYPE OF PROBLEM CAN HAPPEN AT SUCH LOW MILEAGE.