VOLVO Complaints

WE PURCHASED A 2001 VOLVO V70 2.4T WAGON 12-16-01 FROM THE DEALER, WHO HAD USED IT AS A LOANER VEHICLE. THIS COMPLAINT IS REGARDING THE THROTTLE CONTROL. FOR ABOUT A MONTH IT WOULD FEEL AS IF A PLUG WAS BAD OR A FUEL LINE CLOGGED WHEN DRIVING AT A STEADY SPEED. IT WASN'T AT FIRST NOTICEABLE DURING ACCELERATION. THEN A "REDUCED PERFORMANCE" MESSAGE CAME ON THE DASH. FINALLY, ON 8-20-05, THE CAR STALLED ON THE WAY TO THE DEALER IN RENO TO GET IT REPAIRED. FORTUNATELY, WE WERE IN THE RIGHT LANE AND MANAGED TO PULL OFF THE ROAD OUT OF TRAFFIC. JUST A MATTER OF TIMING AND THIS PROBLEM COULD WELL HAVE BEEN DEADLY. IT RESTARTED AND WE MADE IT INTO THE DEALER. THE THROTTLE BODY WAS REPLACED AND THE PVC SYSTEM CLEANED, AS THE SERVICE MANAGER STATED THE PROBLEM CAUSED IT TO NEED CLEANING. THE TOTAL BILL WAS $1,336.49. I FEEL VOLVO HAS A SERIOUS PROBLEM HERE, AND JUDGING BY THE NUMBER OF COMPLAINTS, WHICH MUST BE ONLY A FRACTION OF THE NUMBER OF INCIDENTS, IT IS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE IT CAUSES DEATHS ON THE HIGHWAY IF IT HASN'T ALREADY. *JB

WE HAVE 1999 VOLVO GLT. DURING ROUTINE MAINTENANCE OUR MECHANIC NOTED THAT OUR ELECTRONIC THROTTLE MODULATOR (?) NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. HE SAID THAT HE HAS SEEN THIS PROBLEM ON MANY 1999-2001 VOLVOS. THE CLUE FOR HIM WAS THE IRREGULAR AND HIGH IDLE OF THE CAR. IT COST APPROXIMATELY $1000.00 TO REPAIR. THE CAR ONLY HAS 54K MILES. *JB

1,2) VOLVO S80 STALLED WHILE MY WIFE WAS DRIVING 60 MPH IN RUSH HOUR INTERSTATE HIGHWAY TRAFFIC. CAR LOST POWER, WOULD NOT ACCELERATE, POWER STEERING LOST; SHE GOT THE CAR TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD JUST IN TIME BEFORE A ONE-LANE CONSTRUCTION BARRIER; OTHERWISE, TRAFFIC WOULD HAVE BEEN BACKED UP FOR MILES FOR A LONG TIME (THERE WAS NO TURN AROUND AVAILABLE FOR TOW-TRUCK IN THIS PART OF THE INTERSTATE, THE TOW-TRUCK WOULD HAVE HAD TO BACK UP THE HIGHWAY OR TRY TO MAKE IT UP THE GRASSY DIVIDER EMBANKMENT TO GET TO HER STALLED CAR. LUCK WAS ON HER SIDE; NO INJURIES, AND NO BLOCKED TRAFFIC-THIS TIME. 3) CAR TOWED TO VOLVO DEALER, WHERE IT RESTARTED. THE DEALER SERVICE DEPARTMENT COULD NOT FIND THE SOURCE OF THE PROBLEM, RESET SENSORS AND REPLACED A VACUUM HOSE. I AM CONCERNED THAT THIS CAR HAS A DEFECTIVE ETM VALVE AND THAT THE CAR IS STILL A DANGER TO DRIVE.*JB

INITIALLY, I NOTICED THE CAR WOULD SURGE UPON ACCELERATION IN 1ST GEAR. SOMETIMES, MAYBE 40% OF THE TIME, I WOULD START OFF FROM A STOP, BUT THE CAR WOULD HESITATE BEFORE GOING. ALSO, THE CAR WOULD IDLE ROUGHLY WHEN FIRST STARTED, AND WOULD 'SHUTTER' WHEN TURNED OFF. ONCE, I TURNED OFF THE CAR AND REMOVED THE KEY, AND THE CAR CONTINUED TO SPUTTER ROUGHLY UNTIL I RESTARTED IT. IT WAS RECOMMENDED BY MY MECHANIC TO USE A FUEL TREATMENT, AND USE PREMIUM GAS WITH DETERGENTS. I DID THIS, AND NOTHING CHANGED. RECENTLY, AS THESE SYMPTOMS WORSENED, THE "ETS" LIGHT BEGAN TO INTERMITTENTLY COME ON IN MY CAR. THE LIGHT HAD BEEN ON AND OFF FOR 3 WEEKS AND I CALLED MY MECHANIC. I TOOK THE CAR TO MY MECHANIC, WHO UPON CHECKING THE COMPUTER CODES, FOUND THAT THE ETS LIGHT WAS DUE TO A FAILURE IN THE ELECTRONIC THROTTLE BODY UNIT. HE STATED THAT IT WOULD NEED TO BE REPLACED BY THE DEALER DUE TO THE COMPUTER REPROGRAMMING NECESSARY FOR PROPER INSTALLATION. ON SEPT 20, 2005 , I HAD THE ELECTRONIC THROTTLE UNIT REPLACED BY THE VOLVO DEALER AT A COST OF $1016.33. *NM

TRAVELING ALONG I10 I JUST CROSSED THE LA BORDER INTO TEXAS IN MY 2001 VOLVO CROSS COUNTRY WITH 60,000 MILES ON IT. THE CAR GIVES ME A MESSAGE OF PERFORMANCE REDUCED AND SLOWS TO 10 MILES AN HOUR. THIS IS CONSIDERED A LIMP MODE AS I LEARNED LATER. I WAS IN LA TAKING A FRIEND OUT OF NEW ORLEANS AFTER HURRICANE KATRINA. TRAFFIC ON I10 WAS FILLED WITH MILITARY AND SEMI TRACTORS. I PUT ON MY FLASHERS AND WENT 10 MILES AN HOUR FOR SOME TIME UNTIL I COULD GET TO AN EXIT IN BEAUMONT, TX. I PULLED OVER ON A SIDE STREET AND THE CAR DIED ALTOGETHER. I WAS TOWED TO A SERVICE STATION AND HOOKED UP TO A COMPUTER. I WAS TOLD IT WAS THE THROTTLE BODY UNIT AND I WOULD NEED TO BE TOWED TO HOUSTON TO THE DEALER. THE FOLLOWING CODES WERE EXHIBITED ON MY CARS COMPUTER - ECM-9150 "THROTTLE UNIT INTERNAL FAULT" ECM 9160 SAME ECM- 904C "MIL REQUESTED BY THROTTLE UNIT" ECM 904D "PEDAL SENSOR FAULT" ECM 982A "CONTROL MODULE INTERNAL FAULT" AND ECM 903F THROTTLE UNIT INTERNAL FAULT. BOTH THE MECHANIC IN BEAUMONT AND THE VOLVO STAFF AT THE DEALER ADMITTED THEY SEE THIS OFTEN. I CALLED VOLVO TODAY AND THEY ADMITTED THAT AN INVESTIGATION WAS PENDING. I WANT MY CASE NOTED AS MYSELF AND MY FRIEND I WAS EVACUATING FROM NEW ORLEANS WERE IN GREAT DANGER AS WE LIMPED ALONG I10 IN POST HURRICANE TRAFFIC. JUST THE NIGHT BEFORE WE HAD TRAVELED FROM BATON ROUGE IN THE DARK OVER I10 WHICH IS AN ELEVATED HIGHWAY OVER THE SWAPS. I CAN'T IMAGINE WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF WE HAD BROKEN DOWN THEN. VOLVO COULD NOT ASSURE ME THAT THE NEW PART THEY PUT IN FOR NEARLY $1200 WOULD NOT FAIL IN THE FUTURE. I BOUGHT THE CAR BECAUSE I THOUGHT IT WAS ONE OF THE SAFEST I COULD DRIVE MY FAMILY IN. I AM NOT SO SURE AT THIS POINT IF I MADE A GOOD CHOICE.*JB

DT: VEHICLE HESITATED AND STALLED, WOULD NOT GO FASTER THAN 10 MPH. IT HAPPENED ON SEPTEMBER 25, 2005. DEALER CLEANED THE THROTTLE TWICE, BUT ID DID NOT SOLVE THE PROBLEM. *AK

DT: THE CONTACT STATED BASICALLY THE WARNING LIGHT WAS COMING ON IN THE LATTER PART OF 2003. IT HAPPENED SEVERAL TIMES. HE TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALER, AND THE DEALER TOLD HIM THAT HE COULD HAVE IT CLEANED, BUT THE WARNING LIGHT COULD STILL COME ON. HE WOULD EVENTUALLY HAVE TO REPLACED THE ELECTRONIC THROTTLE MODULE (ETM). THE CONTACT HAD IT REPLACED IN 2-04, AND JUST FOUND OUT ABOUT THE PROBLEM WITH THE VALVES. HE CALLED THE DEALER STATING HE WOULD LIKE HIS MONEY BACK FROM VOLVO. BECAUSE THE CAR WAS NOT UNDER WARRANTY AT THE TIME HE HAD THE ETM REPLACED, AND BECAUSE THE MILEAGE WAS 64,495, THEY COULD NOT REIMBURSE HIM. THE CALLER WAS NOT THE ORIGINAL OWNER. *AK

MY 1994 850 VOLVO STATION WAGON WOULD SUDDENLY LOOSE POWER AND STALL. I BROUGHT THE CAR TO MY VOLVO MECHANIC ( AN UNAUTHORIZED DEALER) WHO TRIED 3 TIMES TO FIX THE PROBLEM. I READ SOME CONSUMER ALERTS THAT DESCRIBED THE SAME PROBLEMS BUT DID NOT INCLUDE MY YEAR. I CALLED VOLVO AND THEY WOULD NOT HELP UNLESS I WENT TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER. THE AUTHORIZED DEALER WOULD NOT WORK WITH MY MECHANIC. *NM

THE ABS CONTROL MODULE FUNCTIONS INTERMITTENTLY AND IS USUALLY IN THE FAILURE MODE. ABS BRAKES DO NOT FUNCTION PROPERLY. A NEW MODULE IS REQUIRED AT A QUOTED PRICE OF $950 FROM VOLVO DEALER. THIS IS A CONTINUOUS AND ONGOING PROBLEM.

DT: THE CONSUMER STATES: THE ETM LIGHT WAS COMING ON AND THE VEHICLE WOULD LOSE POWER WHEN THIS OCCURRED. THE CONSUMER HAD TO STOP THE VEHICLE AND RESTART IT. THIS WOULD HAPPEN AT ALL SPEEDS. THE CONSUMER WAS THE ORIGINAL OWNER OF THE VEHICLE. THE CONSUMER HAD NOT REPLACED THE ETM AND HAD BEEN TOLD BY THE DEALER THAT THE ETM WAS BAD. *AK (11/17/05) *SC