VOLVO Complaints

MY 2001 VOLVO V70XC HAS EXPERIENCED SEVERE SURGING AT CRUISING SPEEDS AND AT LOW SPEED ACCELERATIONS. NUMEROUS TIMES IN A COUPLE WEEKS THE PERFORMANCE REDUCED WARNING LIGHT APPEARED DURING SOME OF THE SURGING EPISODES. ONE EPISODE CAUSED THE CAR TO STALL. AFTER RESTARTING I MADE IT HOME. SEARCHING THE INTERNET I FOUND MANY SIMILAR STORIES AND LENGTHY DISCUSSIONS ABOUT THE ETM (ELECTRONIC THROTTLE MODULE) PROBLEMS. DUE TO THE POTENTIAL OF COMPLETE FAILURE AND BEING STRANDED, I REPLACED THE ETM AT A LOCAL DEALER (THE DEALER RECOMMENDED THE ETM REPLACEMENT BASED ON THE ENGINE HISTORY CODES). THE CAR NOW RUNS VERY WELL, BUT I'M SKEPTICAL BECAUSE THE SAME DESIGNED PART HAS BEEN INSTALLED THAT IS TROUBLESOME. *JB

DT: CONTACT'S WIFE WAS DRIVING ON THE INTERSTATE AND VEHICLE SPEED SLOWED DOWN TO ALMOST NO SPEED AT ALL. SHE WAS ABLE TO GET THE VEHICLE OFF THE RAMP. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO VOLVO DEALERSHIP IN JUNE OF 2005 TO BE CHECKED. HE WAS TOLD AT THAT TIME THE THROTTLE BODY NEEDED TO BE CLEANED. THE VEHICLE RAN FINE UNTIL SEPTEMBER, 22,005. THIS TIME THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A VOLVO MECHANIC, THE THROTTLE BODY WAS REPLACED AT THIS TIME. THE VEHICLE WAS UNDER WARRANTY AT THAT TIME .THEN ON NOVEMBER 12, 2005 HE WAS PULLING OUT OF A PARKING PLACE AND THE THROTTLE BODY WENT OUT AGAIN. THIS, IN TURN, ALMOST CAUSED A SERIOUS ACCIDENT. ON NOVEMBER 14, 2005 HE TOOK THE CAR BACK TO THE MECHANIC AND HE WAS TOLD THAT THE THROTTLE BODY THAT WAS REPLACED IN SEPTEMBER 2005 WAS DEFECTIVE FROM VOLVO. THE VEHICLE IS NOW AT A REPAIR SHOP HAVING THE THROTTLE BODY REPLACED AGAIN. THE VEHICLE IS NO LONGER UNDER WARRANTY.*AK UPDATED 12/16/2005. *NM

THE ELECTRONIC THROTTLE BODY HAS BEEN REPLACED TWICE. ONCE AT 112000 AND THE OTHER AT 125000. THE SECOND TIME IT FAILED, I WAS PULLING INTO TRAFFIC AND THE CAR STARTED 'LURCHING' FORWARD. I PULLED OVER AND RESTARTED THE CAR TO FIX, BUT THE ETS LIGHT WAS ON. IT WAS FIXED UNDER VOLVO WARRANTY FROM THE FIRST TIME WHICH COST ME $1200. THIS IS ALSO A SAFETY ISSUE AS I WAS LUCKY THAT IT HAPPENED WHEN PULLING INTO TRAFFIC AND NOT MERGING ONTO HWY OR INTERSTATE. *NM

DT: THE CONTACT STATED VEHICLE WAS LOSING POWER WHILE ACCELERATING AND WOULD ONLY GO 15 MPH. HE WOULD COAST TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AND TURN THE VEHICLE OFF AND BACK ON. THIS HAPPENED DAILY. HE TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALERSHIP, AND THE THROTTLE BOX WAS REPLACED. THE PROBLEM HAS NOT COME BACK SINCE THE REPAIRS. *AK UPDATED 12/27/05. *JB

ETM OR ETS IN VOLVO S70, 1999 AND 2000 MAKES. ELECTRONIC THROTTLE MODULE RESULTING IN SEVER FLUCTUATIONS OF ENGINE. COMMON IN ALL VOLVO 99 AND 00 YEARS. *NM

WHEN I BEGIN TO BRAKE AND THE CAR SLOWS, IT WILL SIMPLY CUT OFF. IT IS GETTING PROGRESSIVELY WORSE AND CUTS OFF ABOUT ONE-HALF THE TIME I BEGIN TO COME TO A COMPLETE STOP. I HAD THIS SAME PROBLEM SEVERAL YEARS AGO, AND IT REACHED THE POINT WHERE IT STALLED AT AS I WAS DRIVING IN A ROUNDABOUT AT APPROXIMATELY 10 MPH. I TOOK THE CAR TO MY MECHANIC AND IT WAS REPAIRED. NOW, HOWEVER, THE STALLING FAILURE IS RECURRING. ALTHOUGH THE FIELD BELOW REQUIRES A SPECIFIC DATE, THIS PROBLEM IS ONGOING. *JB

ENTERING THE HIGHWAY, MY VOLVO V70 HAD A COMPLETE STALL. CAR COMPLETELY STOPPED AND WOULD NOT START. AFTER ABOUT 20 MINUTES, IT RE STARTED. IT WAS DRIVEN TO THE VOLVO DEALER ONCE IT STARTED AGAIN AND THE "ELECTRONIC THROTTLE MODULE" WAS REPLACED AT A COST OF $800. *JB

I GET PERFORMANCE REDUCED MESSAGES ON MY 2000 VOLVO S80 MESSAGE CONSOLE, AND THE CAR WILL SLOW DOWN ALMOST TO A STOP. THIS HAS HAPPENED MORE THAN 100 TIMES TO ME - EVEN AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS. I HAVE TO PUT THE HAZARD LIGHTS ON, AND MAKE MY WAY OFF OF THE ROAD ON TO THE SHOULDER. IF I TURN THE CAR OFF, AND RESTART THE CAR, (OFTEN SEVERAL TIMES), THE CAR SEEMS TO "RESET" AND I CAN OFTEN DRIVE ON. WESTSIDE VOLVO OF CLEVELAND, OHIO HAS QUOTED ME BETWEEN $1,200 AND $2,000 TO FIX THIS PROBLEM, AND HAS TOLD ME IT IS THE "ETM". MY CAR HAS 106,000 MILES ON IT. THE DEALER HAS TOLD ME THAT THE UNIT WAS "DESIGNED ONLY TO LAST UNTIL 100,000" MILES, AND THAT ONLY A VOLVO DEALER CAN REPLACE IT - BECAUSE OF COMPUTER SOFTWARE THAT MUST BE ENCODED ON THE PART. I PURCHASED THIS CAR USED WITH 59,000 MILES ON IT, THINKING I WOULD GET A CAR THAT MIGHT LAST ME ("VOLVO - FOR LIFE..." HAPPENS TO BE THE COMPANY'S MARKETING SLOGAN). HOWEVER, I CANNOT CURRENTLY AFFORD THE REPAIR, AND I CANNOT AFFORD TO GET ANOTHER CAR. I AM FORCED TO DRIVE THIS CAR AND IT IS UNSAFE. I HAVE HAD MORE THAN 5 INCIDENTS WHERE THERE WAS ALMOST A CRASH - MOSTLY DUE TO THIS "PERFORMANCE REDUCED" HAPPENING AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS ON MULTIPLE LANE HIGHWAYS IN HEAVY TRAFFIC. PLEASE DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS - PLEASE HELP ME. THANK YOU. *JB

CAR IS STALLING WHILE DRIVING. ELECTRONIC THROTTLE BODY LIGHT COMES ON. APPROXIMATELY 80,000 MILES, HOWEVER THIS CAR HAS BEEN EXPERIENCING SAME PROBLEM ON AND OFF SINCE WE ACQUIRED IT AT 47,000 MILES. REPAIR SHOPS ARE TELLING US THAT THE REPLACEMENT COST IS BETWEEN $900 AND $1,200, HOWEVER AFTER READING UP ON THE SUBJECT THIS DOESN'T GUARANTEE THAT SUBSEQUENT REPLACEMENT PARTS WILL NOT HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM. HAVE ASKED VOLVO FOR THEIR RECOMMENDATION AS TO HOW TO PROCEED. WANTED TO RECORD THIS IN YOUR DATABASE SINCE WE ARE HAVING THE SAME PROBLEM MENTIONED IN PE05041. *JB

FAILED ETM, THROTTLE BODY. NO ACCIDENTS OR INJURIES OCCURRED. DEALER SAID THIS WAS A COMMON PROBLEM, THAT THEY DO NOT KNOW WHY IT IS OCCURING. THE PART HAD TO BE REPLACED AT A COST OF $900. PART # 8644347. *JB