VOLVO Complaints

VEHICLE STALL WITHOUT WARNING. ALMOST CAUSE AN ACCIDENT. DEALER REFUSE TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE PROBLEM AND STATED THAT EVERY IS FINE. SEND ME BACK WITHOUT ANY WORK DONE. *NM

STARTED CAR WHEN PARKED IN PARKING SPACE, AND CAR WENT FORWARD WHEN SHIFT LEVER WAS IN REVERSE. MOVED SHIFT LEVER THROUGH 'GEARS' TO REVERSE TWO MORE TIMES. THREE TIMES CAR MOVED FORWARD WHEN LEVER WAS IN REVERSE. TURNED OFF ENGINE AND RE-STARTED CAR, THEN CAR WOULD GO BACKWARDS WHEN IN REVERSE. *JB

I HAVE A VOLVO V70 XC, AWD, 1998. I BROUGHT THE CAR TO A VOLVO DEALER, SMYTHE VOLVO, FOR A ROUTINE REPAIR OF CLUNKING NOISE I HEARD. THEY SAID IT WAS DUE TO A STRUT PROBLEM, BUT ALSO FOUND SEVERAL UN-RELATED REPAIR ITEMS. ALL TOGETHER, THEY SPENT TWO DAYS ON REPAIR AND CHARGED ME $1700 FOR IT. ON THE SAME NIGHT THAT I GOT THE CAR BACK, THE ENGINE DIED ON THE FREEWAY WITHOUT ANY WARNING BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER THE INCIDENCE. I ALMOST GOT KILLED ON THE FREEWAY. I WAS ABLE TO SLIDE IT OUT OF THE FREEWAY RAMP AND HAD THE CAR TOWED BACK TO THE DEALER. ON THE 3RD DAY, THE DEALER SAID IT WAS AN ENGINE SENSOR FAILURE BUT HAD NO EXPLANATION OF WHY THERE WAS NO WARNING SIGNAL TO USER, AND WHY THEY COULDN'T PICK UP ANY SIGN FROM THE PRIOR TWO DAYS OF REPAIR. IF WHAT THEY SAID WAS TRUE, THERE IS A VERY SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE HERE THAT COULD IMPACT THE LIVES OF MILLIONS OF DRIVERS OUT THERE. PLEASE CLARIFY FOR ME IF THIS ISSUE WAS KNOWN TO THE NHTSA AND WHAT VOLVO AS A COMPANY SHOULD DO OR HAVE DONE ABOUT IT. I'M AFRAID TO DRIVE THE CAR UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES AND WOULD LIKE TO SEE THIS ISSUE GOT ANSWERED QUICKLY. *NM

(1) AT AROUND 6:30AM, SATURDAY, JANUARY 7, 2006, I WAS DRIVING IN SAN FRANCISCO GOING DOWNHILL. ONCE I HIT THE BOTTOM OF THE HILL, I BEGAN TAKING A LEFT TURN. (2) IN THE PROCESS OF CONDUCTING MY LEFT TURN, MY CAR COMPLETELY STALLED AND ALL POWER STEERING WAS LOST. HAD THERE BEEN PARKED CARS ON THE ROAD THAT MORNING, I WOULD HAVE DIRECTLY HIT THEM DUE TO THE LACK OF POWER STEERING AS I SLAMMED ON MY BRAKES TO STOP FROM HITTING THE SIDEWALK. IMMEDIATELY, THE "REDUCED PERFORMANCE" LIGHT CAME ON AND FORTUNATELY, AFTER 10 MINUTES OF LEAVING MY CAR IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD BECAUSE IT WOULD NOT START, I WAS ABLE TO START IT AGAIN AND DRIVE IT BACK TO MY HOME. (3) I TOOK THE CAR TO ROYAL MOTORS, 1525 HOWARD STREET, SAN FRANCISCO, CA AND THEY INFORMED ME THAT THERE HAD BEEN AN EXTENDED WARRANTY ASSOCIATED WITH THE ETM FAILURE. HOWEVER, VOLVO HAD INSTRUCTED THEM TO FIRST ATTEMPT TO CLEAN THE ETM AND SEE IF THERE ARE ANY FAILURES AFTER CLEANING. I TOLD THE REPRESENTATIVE THAT IF THIS HAPPENS AGAIN, I MAY NOT BE IN SAN FRANCISCO AS I COMMUTE ON THE FREEWAY TO WORK IN PALO ALTO EACH DAY. THEY SAID THIS IS THE ONLY WAY TO HAVE VOLVO PAY FOR THE ETM FAILURE. SO, I SIMPLY SAID OKAY AND RECEIVED MY CAR BACK THE NEXT DAY. *NM

I HAVE HAD PROBLEMS WITH THIS CAR STALLING FOR OVER TWO YEARS. I HAVE HAD THE THROTTLE BODY REPLACED TWICE. IN THE MONTH THE CAR HAS BEEN STALLING AT ALL SPEEDS AND SURGING WHEN BRAKING. THIS LAST STALLING EPISODE OCCURRED WHILE PULLING OUT INTO A THOROUGHFARE WHILE I WAS ACCELERATING TO GO SLIGHTLY UPHILL. SINCE I HAD NO POWER, I COULD NOT EVEN STEER THE CAR OFF TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD QUICKLY. IT WAS AT NIGHT, THEREFORE AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS SITUATION. THESE PROBLEMS HAVE BEEN OCCURRING OVER AND OVER AGAIN, DESPITE ALL OF THE SERVICE THAT I HAVE HAD DONE ON THIS CAR. *NM

MY 1999 VOLVO S70 HAS BEEN STALLING ON A DAILY BASIS FOR SOME TIME NOW. I STALL ON MY WAY TO WORK; A SEVEN MILE DRIVE. I HAVE TRIED TO GET IT IN FOR SERVICE AT A LOCAL VOLVO DEALERSHIP, BUT THEY ARE "BOOKED UP". I HAVE NO OTHER MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION BESIDE THIS DEATH TRAP. I PRAY ALL THE WAY TO WORK. TODAY IT REFUSED TO IDLE UP TO A NORMAL SPEED (35) AND STUCK SOMEWHERE AT 15, SO I COASTED IN UNTIL IT FINALLY STALLED IN THE PARKING LOT. THIS IS A DAILY OCCURRENCE. *JB

DT*: THE CONSUMER STATED AFTER PURCHASING THE VEHICLE SHE BEGAN HAVING NUMEROUS PROBLEMS. THE FIRST TIME THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALERSHIP THE DRIVER'S SIDE WINDOW MODULE AND THE TAIL LIGHT BULBS WERE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS DRIVEN FOR A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME WHEN THE SIGNAL LIGHT DID NOT WORK PROPERLY. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALERSHIP AND THE BULB HOUSING ASSEMBLIES WERE REPLACED. NOW THE CONSUMER IS HAVING PROBLEMS WITH THE BRAKES. THE VEHICLE HAS NOT BEEN TAKEN TO THE DEALERSHIP FOR THIS PROBLEM. *JB

UNEXPLAINED, INVOLUNTARY ACCELERATION FROM LOW SPEED. 2000 VOLVO MODEL S70 PASSENGER CAR, AWD. DURING A SLOW-SPEED TURN THE VEHICLE ACCELERATED AT FULL THROTTLE. IMPACT WITH RESIDENTIAL STRUCTURE SEVERED A WHEEL AND BENT THE FRONT FRAME 90 DEGREES. WHAT HAPPENED: DURING A SLOW TURN INTO A NEIGHBORS DRIVEWAY, SPEED ABOUT 5 MPH, TURNING RIGHT, TOUCHING THE ACCELERATOR, THE CAR ENGINE ACCELERATED AT FULL SPEED. DESPITE FOOT FULLY INTO THE BRAKE THE CAR CONTINUED TO ACCELERATE 40-50 FEET UNTIL IMPACTING THE FOUNDATION OF THE HOUSE. SPEED A TIME OF IMPACT 40+ MPH. TRIED TO TURN OFF IGNITION BUT HIT HOUSE FIRST. CONSIDERABLE DAMAGE TO HOUSE AND CAR, WHICH WAS TOTALED BY THE INSURANCE COMPANY. REPORTED THROTTLE ACCELERATION PROBLEM TO VOLVO IN NEW JERSEY, THEY STATED NO SUCH PREVIOUS COMPLAINTS ABOUT UNEXPLAINED ACCELERATION. KNEW OF THE NHTSA RESEARCH INTO ACCELERATOR MODULE SLOWING UNEXPLAINED TO 5 MPH, BUT THEN SAW A NEWS REPORT ABOUT UNEXPLAINED ACCELERATION AND WANTED TO INCLUDE THIS CASE IN YOUR LIST. *JB

DT*: THE CONTACT STATED THE ABS, TRACTION CONTROL, CHECK ENGINE, AND TOTAL BRAKE FAILURE LIGHTS ILLUMINATE AT DIFFERENT TIMES. THERE IS A NOISE THAT SOUNDS AS IF THE ABS IS ACTIVATING. THE VEHICLE HAS NOT BEEN SEEN BY THE DEALERSHIP OR AN INDEPENDENT REPAIR SHOP. *NM

NARRATIVE DESCRIPTION: #1: IN EARLY 2005, AN INTERMITTENT PROBLEM BEGAN OCCURRING WITH THE IGNITION AND STARTING OF THE VEHICLE. #2: UPON FURTHER INVESTIGATION THROUGH LOCAL VOLVO DEALERSHIPS, THE PROBLEM WAS IDENTIFIED AS THE IMMOBLIZER (ANTENNA RING) WHICH READS THE COMPUTER CHIP WITHIN THE KEY TO DETERMINE IF THE CORRECT KEY IS BEING USED TO START THE VEHICLE. INITIALLY, THE PROBLEM WAS INTERMITTENT BUT HAS BECOME INCREASINGLY WORSE WITH AN INABILITY TO START THE VEHICLE. #3: VOLVO "IS" AWARE OF MY PROBLEM, HOWEVER, THE ONLY ASSISTANCE THEY HAVE PROVIDED IS TO TURN THE KEY BACK TO THE START POSITION, REMOVE THE KEY, TURN 180 DEGREES, RE-ENTER THE KEY AND THE VEHICLE SHOULD START. ALTHOUGH THIS IS ONE SOLUTION TO A RECURRING AND ON-GOING PROBLEM, IT DOES REQUIRE REPAIR AS THIS PROBLEM IS OEM EQUIPMENT INSTALLED BY VOLVO AND I BELIEVE REPRESENTS A SAFETY ISSUE. PLEASE HELP US...*NM