1999 VOLVO V70 Complaints

REGULAR MAINTENANCE WAS PERFORMED ON THE VEHICLE (1999 VOLVO V70). ATY 67000 MILES, THE ETS LIGHT CAME ON, AND TWO DAYS LATER THE ELECTRONIC THROTTLE FAILED, RESULTING IN ALMOST NO ACCELERATION, AND AN INABILITY TO MAINTAIN A SAFE SPEED. RESEARCH INDICATES THAT THIS IS WELL DOCUMENTED AS A VEHICLE DESIGN FLAW, AND A COMMON OCCURANCE AT 70K MILES. THIS SEEMS TO BE A HIGHLY HAZARDOUS FLAW, AND SHOULD BE ACKNOWLEDGED AND REPAIRED AS A MANUFACTURING DEFECT. INSTEAD, IT IS A DEALER ONLY REPAIR, AND IS COSTING CONSUMERS $700-1500 FOR THE REPAIR. I BELIEVE IT SHOULD BE INVESTIGATED. VOLVO SHOULD BE RESPONSIBLE TO REPAIR A NOTED DESIGN FLAW AT THEIR EXPENSE.*AK

HEADLIGHT SWITCH MALFUNCTIONED. DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHTS WERE NOT WORKING IN THE SECOND POSITION. IN THE THIRD POSITION HEADLIGHTS AND INTERIOR LIGHTS WERE SUPPOSE TO COME ON. HOWEVER, THE HEADLIGHTS CAME ON, BUT DASHBOARD LIGHTS DID NOT COME ON. IF THE SWITCH WAS BETWEEN POSITION 2 AND 3 INTERIOR LIGHTS CAME ON. THIS WAS NOT THE NORMAL POSITION FOR THE LIGHTS TO OPERATE. *AK

CAR STALLED WITHOUT WARNING IN HEAVY TRAFFIC. FOUND TO BE ELECTRONIC THROTTLE MODULE. THIS IS TANTAMOUNT TO HAVING THE THROTTLE CABLE SNAP. IT IS A HUGE SAFETY ISSUE AND VOLVO KNOWS ABOUT IT BUT REFUSES TO 'FESS UP. LUCKILY WE WERE UNHURT BUT THIS PROBLEM IS PERVASIVE AND DEMANDS ATTENTION. *NM

THE ETS (RELATING TO THROTTLE CONTROL MODULE) KEEPS COMING ON DURING ACCELERATION FOLLOWED BY VERY SLUGGISH PERFORMANCE OF VEHICLE. PREVIOUS TIMES UPON LIGHT UP, I'VE TAKEN THIS TO THE DEALER AND BOTH TIMES THEY STATE NOTHING WAS WRONG AND RESET THE SYSTEM. THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN REPLACED DURING THE WARRANTY PERIOD. I'M AFRAID THAT THERE COULD BE A MAJOR ACCIDENT SOON DUE TO THIS PROBLEM.*AK

I HAVE BEEN NOTIFIED BY MY VOLVO DEALER (DON BEYER VOLVO, FALLS CHURCH, VA) DURING ROUTINE SERVICE THAT THERE IS AN INTERNAL FAULT IN THE ABS MODULE IN MY 1999 VOLVO V70 WAGON. THE ESTIMATED COST FOR THIS PROSPECTIVE REPAIR IS $951. I UNDERSTAND FROM CONVERSATIONS WITH OTHER 1999 AND 2000 VOLVO OWNERS, AS WELL AS A SEARCH ON THE INTERNET, THAT THIS IS A FREQUENT PROBLEM WITH VOLVO'S DURING THIS PRODUCTION PERIOD. SINCE THE ABS CONTROL MODULE DOES NOT DETERIATE FROM NORMAL WEAR AND TEAR BUT, INSTEAD IS A COMPUTER BASED SYSTEM WHICH SHOULD LAST MUCH LONGER THAN 3 OR 4 YEARS, I AM REQUESTING YOUR ORGANIZATION TO INVESTIGATE WHETHER THIS PROBLEM IS A LATENT DEFECT AND SHOULD BE THE SUBJECT OF A RECALL AND PAID FOR BY THE MANUFACTURER.

ETM FAILURE IN MY 1999 VOLVO V70 T5. LOCAL VOLVO DEALER HAS SERVICED (CLEANED) IT AND IT IS STILL MALFUNCTIONING. CAR RUNS ROUGH AND IS BECOMING A HAZARD IN TRAFFIC. WILL REPLACE SOON AT A COST OF $750 US FOR THE PART--UNKNOWN LABOR COSTS. *JB

WHILE OPERATING THE SUBJECT VEHICLE, A VOLVO 1999 MODEL V70R AWD, AND ATTEMPTING A LEFT HAND TURN THROUGH TRAFFIC UNDER A GREEN LIGHT, THE THROTTLE CONTROL SYSTEM FAILED. AS THE ONCOMING TRAFFIC CLEARED SUFFICIENTLY FOR A SAFE LEFT HAND TURN, THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL WAS DEPRESSED TO EXECUTE THE LEFT TURN BUT THE ENGINE AND VEHICLE DID NOT RESPOND. THE VEHICLE ONLY IDLED FORWARD INTO APPROACHING TRAFFIC. THE VEHICLE HAD TO BE TURNED OFF AND RESTARTED IN ORDER TO GET THE THROTTLE TO RESPOND. IN MY OPINION, THIS FAILURE IS EQUIVALENT TO THE THROTTLE CABLE SNAPPING ON A FOUR YEAR OLD VEHICLE WITH ONLY 60,000 MILES. IF THE RATE OF INCIDENCE OF OCCURRENCE IS SOMEHOW REPRESENTED BY THE NUMBER OF COMPLAINTS EVIDENT ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB, THEN THIS IS A COMMON OCCURRENCE. IT IS LIKELY THAT PROPERTY AND PEOPLE HAVE BEEN HURT BY THIS THROTTLE FAILURE AND THIS PROBLEM SHOULD BE CORRECTED BY A RECALL. *JB

WHILE DRIVING AND APPLYING THE BRAKES VEHICLE SUDDENLY ACCELERATED AND STALLED. CONSUMER WAS ABLE TO RESTART, AND TAKE THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALER. AND MECHANIC REPLACED ABS MODULE BUT THE PROBLEM RECURRED. *AK

THE HEADLIGHT SWITCH ON MY 1999 V70 XC FAILED WHILE DRIVING CAUSING MY HEADLIGHTS TO BECOME INOPERABLE AT NIGHT WHEN SWITCHED TO THE "ON" POSITION. WHILE NO CRASH OCCURRED, THERE ARE OBVIOUS SAFETY RISKS INVOLVED WITH A SUDDENT LOSS OF HEADLIGHTS. UPON FURTHER INVESTIGATION, I FOUND THAT THE PLASTIC HOUSING CONTAINING THE HEADLIGHT SWITCH HAD CRACKED WITH ALLOWED THE UNIT TO SEPARATE. I HAVE SUBSTANTIAL ANECTODAL EVIDENCE THAT THIS PROBLEM IS WIDESPREAD ON 1999 V70 AND S70 MODELS ON VARIOUS INTERNET BULLETIN BOARDS. *AK

WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS PARKED, AND THE KEY WAS OUT OF THE IGNITION, THE PASSENGER FRONT AIR BAG DEPLOYED INADVERTENTLY. NO INJURIES WERE REPORTED. THE CAUSE HAD NOT BEEN DETERMINED. *AK *SCC *JB