2001 VOLVO S80 Complaints

WELL, WELL - LET'S SEE, I BOUGHT A 2001 VOLVO S-80, T-6 IN FEBRUARY 2005 TO REPLACE MY 1996 740 IL BMW - I THOUGHT I WOULD GET A MORE ECONOMICAL AND SAFE CAR. BOY WAS I WRONG! TO MY DISGUST I PAID ALMOST $20,000 FOR THIS USED CAR AND WITHIN WEEKS IT STARTED ACTING UP. IT TURNED OUT TO BE THE MASS AIRFLOW SENSOR AND THE THROTTLE BODY. I FINALLY - 9 MONTHS AFTER PURCHASING THE CAR - HAVE HAD TO GET IT FIXED - OVER $1200.00. I, LIKE ANOTHER PERSON WHO FILED A COMPLAINT, WAS MAKING A LEFT HAND TURN ON A VERY BUSY ROAD, AND THE CAR DIED WHILE IN THE MIDDLE OF MY TURN. LUCKILY I WAS ABLE TO PUT IT IN NEUTRAL QUICK ENOUGH AND RESTART IT BEFORE I GOT HIT. THE CAR ALSO SURGES DANGEROUSLY AT STOPS. IF YOU DON'T HAVE YOUR FOOT ON THE BRAKE 110%, THE CAR WOULD LURCH FORWARD AND HIT THE CAR IN FRONT OF IT. I'M SO DISAPPOINTED IN THIS CAR I WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER VOLVO. SO MUCH FOR LOOKING FORWARD TO "ONE DAY PURCHASING THIS SAFE CAR". NOW THAT I HAVE DUMPED LOTS OF MONEY INTO THIS CAR, TAKEN VACATION TIME TO PICK IT UP AND DROP IT OFF, IT WORKS OKAY. THE THROTTLE BODY WAS REPLACED ABOUT 2 WEEKS AGO, BUT THE CAR STILL FEELS LIKE ITS NOT GIVING ME 100% - BUT AT LEAST IT ISN'T STALLING OR SURGING. I STILL HAVE MY BMW - THANK GOODNESS. I'LL BE GETTING RID OF THIS VOLVO. FORD BOUGHT VOLVO AND THEY ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR MAKING THIS UNRELIABLE CAR. I ALSO UNDERSTAND THAT THERE A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT AGAINST VOLVO (FORD) - IT'S TIME THEY DO THE RIGHT THING AND REIMBURSE CUSTOMERS WHO HAVE BEEN SUBJECTED TO THIS DANGEROUS AND POORLY DESIGNED FUEL SYSTEM. *JB

WHILE DRIVING ON AN INTERSTATE HIGHWAY AT 65-70 MPH, 2001 VOLVO S80 T6 DISPLAYED A MESSAGE INDICATING REDUCED POWER. WAS ABLE TO STEER THE CAR, BUT PUSHING THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL IT HAD NO EFFECT. THE CONTACT WAS FORCED TO MANEUVER TO THE SHOULDER, AND HAD THE CAR TOWED TO LOCAL DEALER. THE CAR WOULD START AND CONTINUED TO RUN, BUT THE CAR WOULD NOT GO. IT WAS AS IF THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL HAD BEEN DISCONNECTED. THIS HAPPENED AT ALL SPEEDS. THE MECHANIC DETERMINED THAT THE ELECTRICAL THROTTLE MODULE (ETM) MALFUNCTIONED. *AK

ETM BAD/ ELECTRONIC THROTTLE MODULE THIS HAS BEEN A NIGHTMARE AND IT'S NOT RESOLVED YET! I BOUGHT MY USED VOLVO S-80 T6 OCTOBER 20 TH WITH 76,000 MILES. WITHIN THE DAY OF OWNERSHIP THE SERVICE ENGINE REQUIRED LIGHT CAME ON, AND I FAILED MASS INSPECTION. I TRIED TO GET MY MONEY BACK, BUT I BOUGHT OUT OF STATE, AND THEY REFUSE TO RETURN CALLS. I RESEARCHED THE PROBLEM AND FOUND IT WAS THE ETM. ON WEDNESDAY NOV 10TH 2005, I CALLED MY LOCAL DEALER PIONEER VOLVO IN SOUTH DEERFIELD MASS 1 800 680 2140, AND WAS INFORMED THAT THE ETM WARRANTY EXPIRED AT 70,000 MILES, AT 76,000 MILE, THERE WAS NO WARRANTY. I ASKED HIM ABOUT KNOWN PROBLEMS WITH THE ETM, AND DENIED THAT HE WAS AWARE OF ANY! I ASKED HIM FOR AN APPOINTMENT, EXPLAINED THAT HE IS THE CLOSEST DEALER AT 47 MINUTES AWAY, AND THAT I NEEDED HELP ASAP DUE TO FAILED EMISSIONS. HE TOLD ME "BRING IT IN...AT 9 30 AM AND MAYBE I'LL LOOK AT IT....WHEN I ASKED HIM FOR A GUARANTEED TIME....HE SAID ..."MAYBE IN 2 WEEKS" I DECIDED TO FIX THE PROBLEM MYSELF BY CLEANING THE ETM, WHICH I UNDERSTAND HELPS TEMPORARILY. I HAD NO CHOICE BEING I AM EXTREMELY BUSY IN AN UNFLEXIBLE JOB AND FINANCIALLY STRAPPED. HOWEVER, WHEN REINSTALLING THE ETM, THE BOLTS ARE DESIGNED TO SHEER. THE BOLT SNAPPED AND I HAVE BEEN UNDER MY CAR FOR 3 DAYS....STILL CAN'T EXTRACT IT. I NEED MY CAR! I NEED IT TO PASS INSPECTION! WHY WON'T VOLVO COVER THIS? *NM

ELECTRONIC THROTTLE MODULE (ETM )REPLACED SECOND TIME, 50 MPH, STALLED X REF 10131141, SMCH. *AK UPDATED 1/4/2006 - *NM

I WAS DRIVING DOWN A US HIGHWAY WHEN I NOTICED MY CAR WAS 'LURCHING' FORWARD THEN WOULD LOOSE SPEED ALL TOGETHER KIND OF LIKE IT WANTED TO STALL. I WOULD PUSH ON THE ACCELERATOR AND NOTHING WOULD HAPPEN, THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN THE CAR WOULD DRIVE NORMALLY. I WAS ABOUT A MILE FROM MY WORK, SO I DIDN'T PULL OVER IMMEDIATELY. THE NEXT TWO STOP LIGHTS I ALMOST STALLED, BUT DIDN'T. AT THE THIRD TRAFFIC LIGHT ON ANOTHER US HIGHWAY, I WASN'T SO LUCKY - MY CAR STALLED AND WOULD NOT RE-START. I HAD TO CALL FOR A TOW TRUCK. MY SERVICE REPORT STATES THAT THE CODE ECM-130A WAS DETECTED. I FIGURED FOR SURE THIS WOULD BE COVERED UNDER MY EXTENDED WARRANTY. VOLVO SAID NO AS IT WAS 'JUST A DIRTY THROTTLE UNIT'. THEY SUPPOSEDLY TOOK IT APART, CLEANED IT, REPLACED A GASKET, UPGRADED THE ECM PET, AND PUT IT ALL BACK TOGETHER AND TOLD ME TO BE SURE TO USE PREMIUM GASOLINE BY ONLY A REPUTABLE GAS STATION, AND ONCE EVERY FEW MONTHS USE A FUEL SYSTEM CLEANER AND I SHOULDN'T HAVE ANY MORE PROBLEMS. *NM

FOR THE PAST YEAR (10/04-10/05), MY 2001 VOLVO S80 SEDAN HAS HAD REPEATED PROBLEMS WITH STALLING AND LOSS OF POWER STEERING. IT HAS OCCURRED AT SLOW SPEEDS AND UP TO 40 MPH IN TRAFFIC. I HAVE TAKEN THE CAR TO THE DEALER TWICE. THEY CAN NOT FIND ANY FAULT CODES DURING THE COMPUTER TROUBLESHOOTING, SO MY WARRANTY WILL NOT COVER ANY REPAIR. THEY SUGGESTED IT MIGHT BE "BAD GAS" AND HAVE SENT ME HOME TWICE HAVING DONE NOTHING. THE STALLING PROBLEM HAS OCCURRED FIVE TIMES IN THE LAST MONTH. THE CAR HAS 66,500 MILES ON IT. *JB

NO ACCELERATION AT TIMES. FROM TIME TO TIME WHEN MERGING ON FREEWAYS OR TRAFFIC CAR WOULD NOT ACCELERATE. SOMETIMES IT WOULD SERGE. HAD A FEW CLOSE CALLS. FIRST HAD THROTTLE BODY (ETM) CLEANED WHICH DIDN'T WORK THEN HAD THROTTLE BODY REPLACED TWO DAYS LATER AT COST OF $1,177.16. *JB

SURGING IDLE SPEED. CAR LURCHES FORWARD AT TIMES WHEN ACCELERATING FROM A STOP. CAR ALMOST STALLS WHEN IDLING IN BUMPER TO BUMPER TRAFFIC, REQUIRING YOU TO PRESS ON THE GAS TO KEEP IT FROM STALLING, BUT THIS MAKES THE CAR LURCH FORWARD EVEN MORE. SEVERAL TIMES I HAVE ALMOST HIT THE CAR IN FRONT OF ME. THIS PROBLEM IS DUE TO A FAULTY ETM (ELECTRONIC THROTTLE MODULE) THAT IS DESCRIBED IN THE NHTSA DEFECT INVESTIGATION SHOWN BELOW. THE ETM IN MY CAR WAS REPLACED TWO YEARS AGO AT 46K MILES BUT THE SAME SYMPTOMS ARE RECURRING. NHTSA ACTION NUMBER : PE05041 NHTSA RECALL CAMPAIGN NUMBER : N/A MAKE : VOLVO MODEL: S80 MANUFACTURER : VOLVO CARS OF N.A. LLC. YEAR : 2001 COMPONENT : VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL DATE INVESTIGATION OPENED : JULY 26, 2005 DATE INVESTIGATION CLOSED : OPEN SUMMARY: THE OFFICE OF DEFECTS INVESTIGATION (ODI) HAS RECEIVED ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-ONE (131) CONSUMER COMPLAINTS ALLEGING A VARIETY OF CONCERNS RESULTING FROM FAILURE OF THE ELECTRONIC THROTTLE CONTROL MODULE (ETM) IN THE SUBJECT VEHICLES, INCLUDING A SUDDEN LOSS OF SPEED AND STEERING ASSIST WHEN DRIVING IN HIGHWAY TRAFFIC AND SUDDEN AND COMPLETE STALL WITHOUT WARNING. IN SOME INSTANCES, IT HAS BEEN REPORTED THAT THE VEHICLES WOULD RESTART, AND IN SOME CASES THE VEHICLES WERE TOWED. SOME CONSUMERS ALLEGE THAT AFTER HAVING THE ETM REPLACED THE NEW COMPONENT FAILED IN A SIMILAR MANNER. A PRELIMINARY EVALUATION HAS BEEN OPENED TO DETERMINE THE SCOPE, FREQUENCY, AND POTENTIAL SAFETY-RELATED CONSEQUENCES OF THE ALLEGED DEFECT. *JB

NHTSA ACTION NUMBER : PE05041 WHILE DRIVING THROUGH A BUSY INTERSECTION OF A LOCAL HIGHWAY THE CAR DIED. I PUSHED THE CAR OFF INTO A LOCAL OIL CHANGE/ LUBE GARAGE. THEY MANAGE TO GET IT STARTED ALTHOUGH IT WAS IDLING ROUGHLY. I BROUGHT IT TO VOLVO OF FORT WASHINGTON TO HAVE THE ETM REPLACED AT A CHARGE OF OVER $600. VOLVO OF NORTH AMERICA SAID THAT THEY DON'T BELIEVE THEY ARE RESPONSIBLE ALTHOUGH MANY HAVE HAD THE SAME ISSUE. *JB

WEEK OF 10/10/05 AS TRAVELING UPHILL, MY CAR SPUTTERED AND LOSS POWER. AFTER NEARLY BEING REAR ENDED ON THE BUSY ROAD, I WAS ABLE TO LIMB MY CAR INTO A PARKING LOT AND TURN OFF THE ENGINE. AFTER A FEW MINUTES, I WAS ABLE TO RESTART MY CAR AND CONTINUE DRIVING. TODAY, 10/18/05, AS I WAS ENTERING I-85, MY CAR ONCE AGAIN SPUTTERED AND STALLED. THE ENTRANCE RAMP WAS DOWNHILL, SO I WAS ABLE TO COAST INTO THE EMERGENCY LANE AS TRACTOR TRAILERS AND CARS WHIZZED BY ME. I RESTARTED THE CAR AFTER A FEW MINUTES OF BEING TURNED OFF. I WENT TO A MECHANIC FRIEND AND HE TOLD ME THAT IT WAS PROBABLY THE ETM AND IF IT WAS NOT, IT WOULD BE THE NEXT TIME THE CAR BREAKS DOWN. HE COULD NOT REPAIR IT. HE ESTIMATED THE DEALERSHIP WOULD CHARGE ME $1200.00. HE REPORTED THAT HE SEES THIS AT LEAST ONCE A MONTH IN VOLVOS. I TOOK THE CAR TO THE DEALER. AN HOUR AND A HALF LATER, I WAS INFORMED MY ETM NEEDED TO BE REPLACED AND THE COST WOULD BE $1150.00. I RELUNCTANTLY AGREED TO THE REPAIR. I HAVE RESEARCHED THE ETM PROBLEM OVER THE INTERNET AND HAVE LEARNED THAT VOLVO KNEW OF THIS PROBLEM YEARS BEFORE THEY SOLD THE CAR TO ME. AT A PERSONAL LEVEL, I HAD TO PAY FOR A DEFECTIVE PART THAT VOLVO HAS KNOWN IT HAS A 94%-100% FAILURE RATE! AT A MUCH HIGHER LEVEL, VOLVO IS RISKING PEOPLE LIVES BY NOT INFORMING OR VOLUNTARILY RECALLING THIS DEFECTIVE PART. CARS STALL UNEXPECTIVELY. I WAS FORTUNATE THAT I WAS NOT ON THE INTERSTATE YET. OTHERWISE, THE OUTCOME COULD HAVE BEEN DEADLY.