1999 Volvo S80

I WAS DRIVING ON I95, I WAS IN THE MIDDLE LANE AND MY CAR STARTED LOSING POWER. I HAD TO GET ALL THE WAY TO THE BREAK DOWN LANE AND SHUT OFF MY CAR FOR A FEW MINUTES. I STARTED THE CAR UP AND IT SEEMED TO BE FINE BUT ABOUT 5 MINUTES LATER IT DID IT TO ME AGAIN AND COMPLETELY LOST POWER. I CALLED MY MOM AND TOLD HER ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED AND SHE TOLD ME THAT THE SAME THING HAPPENED TO HER WHEN SHE WAS ON HER WAY HOME FROM WORK THE DAY BEFORE AND WHEN SHE WENT ON THE HIGHWAY AS WELL. LUCKILY I WASN'T IN HEAVY TRAFFIC SO IT WAS EASY FOR ME TO GET INTO THE BREAKDOWN LANE IF NOT I WOULD HAVE BEEN STUCK IN THE MIDDLE LANE OR GOD FORBID GOTTEN INTO AN ACCIDENT. I CALLED THE VOLVO DEALERSHIP NEXT TO MY HOUSE AND MADE AN APPOINTMENT FOR TUESDAY MORNING I TOLD HIM MY PROBLEM AND HE TOLD ME THAT I HAVE TO BRING IN THE CAR FOR A DIAGNOSTIC CHECK. I'M PRETTY SURE MY CAR WILL BE COVERED UNDER THAT NEW EXTENDED WARRANTY OF 10 YEARS/200,000 MILES BUT I'LL HAVE TO WAIT AND SEE. *JB

VEHICLE DEFECT MAKE: VOLVO YEAR: 1999 MODEL: S80 NATURE OF PROBLEM: CHECK ENGINE LIGHT IS ON AND VOLVO TECHNICIAN DIAGNOSES THE PROBLEM AS A DEFECTIVE ELECTRONIC THROTTLE CONTROL MODULE WHICH I FOUND LATER TO BE A COMMON PROBLEM WITH VOLVOS. THE DEALERSHIP ESTIMATED THE REPAIR TO BE $850 PLUS THE COST OF THE DIAGNOSIS ($82.00). I REFUSED TO AUTHORIZE THE REPAIR AND SOUGHT ALTERNATIVES. PRESENTLY, THE CAR'S CHECK ENGINE LIGHT IS STILL ON AND THE CAR IDLES ROUGHLY AND SUFFERS FROM POOR GAS MILEAGE BUT CONTINUES TO START AND RUN. AS THIS IS AN APPARENT PROBLEM WITH VOLVOS AS I WAS TOLD BY OTHER MECHANICS, I FELT THAT THIS DEFECT SHOULD BE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF VOLVO RATHER THAN MYSELF. *JB

CAR HAS ON NUMEROUS OCCASION LOST COMPLETE POWER AND WILL BASICALLY JUST IDLE. THIS HAS HAPPENED BOTH WILL STARTING FROM A DEAD STOP AS WELL AS AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS. THIS ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS HAS ALMOST RESULTED IN ACCIDENTS DUE TO HIGH TRAFFIC VOLUME AT THE TIME OF FAILURE. CAR IS CURRENTLY AT SHOP FOR REPAIR WITH ESTIMATE OVER $1000. *JB

HAD TAKEN MY S80 TO THE VOLVO DEALERSHIP A NUMBER OF TIMES COMPLAINING OF ENGINE HESITATION AND STALLING. VOLVO"S DIAGNOSTIC COMPUTER SYSTEM "VADIS" OUTPUT CODES CLEARLY SHOWED DEFAULT CODES INDICATING A FAULTY MODULE. THE SERVICE MANAGER AT THIS STEADFASTLY REFUSED TO REPLACE THE MODULE "DUE TO COST". I WARNED HIM OF THE POTENTIAL CONSEQUENCES OF TRYING TO OPERATE THIS VEHICLE WITH UNRELIABLE ENGINE FIRING AND THE ASSOCIATED "STALLING" THAT OCCURS WITHOUT WARNING. I EXPRESSED MY CONCERNS TO HIM ABOUT THE DANGER THAT THIS PROBLEM PRESENTED FOR ME AND OTHER VEHICLES WHICH I HAD EXPERIENCED DURING PREVIOUS "STALLINGS". UNFORTUNATELY, AFTER TREMENDOUS RESEARCH AND A NUMBER OF PHONE CALLS BEFORE I COULD BRING THIS INFO TO BEAR TO FORCE THE DEALERSHIP TO HONOR THEIR WARRANTY I EXPERIENCED A "STALLING" EVENT WHILE DRIVING ON THE EXPRESSWAY WHICH LEAD TO A SINGLE CAR ACCIDENT,RESULTING IN A TOTAL LOSS OF MY CAR. *NM

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

I PURCHASED A 1999 VOLVO S80 ON AUGUST 30, 2005. WITHIN 2 WEEKS OF OWNERSHIP, THE CAR WOULD RACE AT A STOP SIGN, WHILE I APPLIED THE BRAKES. THE NEXT DAY, IT RAN ROUGH IN MY DRIVE WAY WHILE IT IDLED. I TOOK IT DIRECTLY TO THE VOLVO DEALER IN MEMPHIS. THEY TOLD ME I NEEDED A ETM AND AIR FLOW METER. THESE WERE REPLACED AT A COST TO ME OF $848.21 PARTS AND LABOR. *NM

FAULTY ELECTRONIC THROTTLE MODULE (ETM) ON 1999 VOLVO S80 T6 ON A REPLACEMENT PART. CAR HAS STALLED NUMEROUS TIMES ON OPEN HIGHWAY RESULT IN A SEVERE SAFETY SITUATION. THE MILEAGE ON THE CAR IS ONLY 43,000 DESPITE BEING A 6 YEAR OLD VEHICLE. THE ORIGINAL ETM WAS DETERMINED FAULTY AND A REPLACEMENT UNIT WAS PUT IN ON SEPTEMBER 19, 2002. INDEPENDENT VOLVO REPAIR DEALER HAS DETERMINED THAT THE REPLACEMENT UNIT HAS FAILED AGAIN DESPITE ONLY HAVING 17,000 MILES PUT ON THE CAR SINCE BEING REPLACED IN 2002. *JB

ON TWO SEPARATE OCCASIONS MY VEHICLE ENGINE HAS LOST SPEED AND ENGINE HAS STALLED WITHOUT WARNING. CAR HAS BEEN REPAIRED BY LOCAL CAR DEALERSHIP ONCE AND IS ONCE AGAIN IN THE SHOP FOR POSSIBLY THE SAME PROBLEM. WHILE DRIVING AT 60 MPH ON THE FREEWAY WITH MY 3 CHILDREN IN CABIN THERE WAS A VERY STRONG ODOR OF GAS FOLLOWED MY A SUDDEN ENGINE SHUTDOWN TODAY. I AM VERY GRATEFUL AND BLESSED I WASN'T HIT FROM THE BACK THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN VERY, VERY DISASTROUS TO MY FAMILY.*JB

DT : WHEN ATTEMPTING TO ACCELERATE THE TACHOMETER WILL JUMP UP AND DROP DOWN, IT LOOSES POWER WHEN TRYING TO INCREASE SPEED. THIS STARTED ON JULY 31, 2005. TOOK VEHICLE TO A VOLVO MECHANIC ,AND COULD NOT PINPOINT THE PROBLEM. HOWEVER, THOUGHT IT HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE AIR INTAKES. *AK THE ELECTRONIC THROTTLE MODULE WAS REPLACED. THE CONSUMER ALSO HAS TROUBLE ACCELERATING ONTO THE HIGHWAY. *JB