2001 Volvo V70XC

MY DAUGHTER WAS KILLED WHILE DRIVING MY VOLVO WHEN IT MALFUNCTIONED AND SHE LOST CONTROL. PER THE ACCIDENT REPORT, SHE WAS CHANGING LANES FROM THE FAR RIGHT TO MIDDLE LANE WHEN SHE ACCELERATED INTO THE LEFT LANE, HIT AND BOUNDED OFF THE LEFT GUARDRAIL, COLLIDED WITH A CAR IN THE CENTER LANE, PROCEEDED OVER THE RIGHT GUARDRAIL OF A BRIDGE, THROUGH A TREETOP, DROPPED 30 FEET, LANDED UPSIDE DOWN, AND ROLLED REPEATEDLY, EVENTUALLY STOPPING IN A CONCRETE CREEK BANK. SHE WAS WEARING HER SEAT BELT BUT KILLED INSTANTLY UPON IMPACT. IT APPEARS SHE WAS NOT SPEEDING SIGNIFICANTLY PRIOR TO THE ACCIDENT BUT UNEXPECTEDLY BEGAN ACCELERATING AS SHE WAS CHANGING LANES AND LOST CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE. I HAVE HAD SIMILAR PROBLEMS WITH THE CAR PREVIOUSLY BUT BELIEVED THEY HAD BEEN CORRECTED BY VOLVO WHEN THEY REPLACED THE ELECTRONIC THROTTLE MODULE. THERE WERE NO OTHER CONTRIBUTING FACTORS IN THE ACCIDENT -- WEATHER WAS CLEAR, VISIBILITY WAS GOOD, ROADS WERE DRY, TRAFFIC WAS MODERATE AND FLOWING WELL, AND IT WAS EARLY AFTERNOON AND MY DAUGHTER WAS FINE PRIOR TO THE ACCIDENT. I HAVE HAD AN ACCIDENT RECONSTRUCTION EXPERT LOOK AT THE ACCIDENT REPORT AND AVAILABLE EVIDENCE AND HE BELIEVES IT WAS CAUSED BY MECHANICAL FAILURE. *JB

I GOT MY CAR BACK FROM THE VOLVO DEALER YESTERDAY AFTER HAVING THEM LOOK AT IT YESTERDAY BECAUSE IT WASN'T RUNNING WELL. THEY TOLD ME THAT I MIGHT NEED TO REPLACE THE ELECTRONIC THROTTLE MODULE, BUT NOT TO DO IT YET. TODAY I WENT TO DRIVE THE CAR, WARNING LIGHTS CAME ON SAYING "CHECK ENGINE" AND "PERFORMANCE REDUCED" THE CAR WOULD NOT IDLE AFTER DRIVING LESS THAN TWO MILES AND HAD TO BE BROUGHT BACK TO THE DEALER (PORTLAND VOLVO, SOUTH PORTLAND, ME). *NM

HELLO, I HAVE A 2001 VOLVO V70XC W/ APPROX 67,000 MILES. THE ENGINE STALLED WHEN PULLING OUT INTO TRAFFIC AND I WAS ALMOST KILLED BY A FULLY LOADED DUMP TRUCK THAT DID NOT HAVE THE DISTANCE TO STOP. I HAVE SINCE HAD THE FAILURE REPAIRED AND IT WAS THE ETM - "ELECTRONIC THROTTLE MODULE". THIS IS A KNOWN DEFECTIVE COMPONENT BY VOLVO AS THEY ARE REPLACING THEM IN SWEDEN - BUT HAVE NOT ANNOUNCED ANYTHING HERE IN NORTH AMERICA. I WAS FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO MAKE ENOUGH PHONE CALLS TO VOLVO TO GET THEM TO REPLACE THE DEFECTIVE ETM AT NO COST; HOWEVER THE NEW REPLACEMENT WILL EVENTUALLY FAIL DUE TO THE CURRENT / EXISTING DESIGN. THE ETM NEEDS TO BE RE-ENGINEERED AND REPLACED IN EVERY 1999- 2001 VOLVO. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, PLEASE CALL ME. THANKS. *NM

WE ARE HAVING PROBLEMS WITH OUR VEHICLE AS IDENTIFIED IN A NEWSPAPER ARTICLE WITH OUR VOLVO. THE DEALER WE PURCHASED THE VEHICLE FROM ORIGINALLY REFUSED TO CORRECT THE PROBLEM OF THE LOSS OF POWER, STALLING AND OTHER DEFECTS WITH MY VEHICLE UNDER WARRANTY (THEY CLAIMS TO HAVE BEEN ADVISED BY VOLVO THAT THEY COULD NOT FIX THE PROBLEM WITHOUT A "REDUCED PERFORMANCE" LIGHT COMING ON) UNTIL I TOLD THEM THAT IF I WAS KILLED (THE LAST TIME THIS HAPPENED, I LOST POWER AS I WAS ENTERING I-95 NORTH DURING RUSH HOUR AND WAS NEARLY BROADSIDED BY A CONSTRUCTION VEHICLE MERGING FROM THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION) IT WOULD COST THEM A LOT MORE THAN SIMPLY A REPAIR. AFTER THREATENING A LAWSUIT, THEY AGREED TO DOWNLOAD SOME SOFTWARE TO CORRECT THE PROBLEM. WHILE THE ISSUE IS NOT AS PREVALENT AS IT WAS, WE STILL HAVE OCCASIONS WHEN WE GET POWER SURGES, LOSE POWER AND THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS DO NOT WORK PROPERLY IN THE VEHICLE. I DO NOT FEEL SAFE DRIVING THIS VEHICLE. THE TRANSMISSION/AIR FLOW PROBLEM IS JUST ONE OF MANY ISSUES WE HAVE HAD WITH THIS VEHICLE - MANY OF THEM SAFETY RELATED. WE WERE TOLD BY THE DEALER THAT THEY WERE AWARE OF THE PROBLEM THROUGH A NOTICE THEY RECEIVED FROM VOLVO - A NOTICE WAS THE KIND THAT NOTIFIED THE DEALERS OF THE PROBLEM WERE NOT REQUIRED TO ADVISE CUSTOMERS UNLESS CUSTOMERS COMPLAINED (THIS WAS THE SAME ISSUE WITH AN INTERNAL ENGINE FAN WHICH APPARENTLY CAN CATCH FIRE WITHOUT WARNING - THE DEALERS GOT NOTICE ABOUT THAT, BUT THE CUSTOMERS DID NOT - IF WE COMPLAINED ABOUT ISSUES WITH THE FAN, DEPENDING ON THE KIND OF FAN IT WAS, IT WOULD BE FIXED UNDER WARRANTY - OTHERWISE, WE WOULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR REPLACING THE FAN AT THE COST OF OVER $500 - OUR FAN, AFTER WE COMPLAINED THAT IT CAME ON FOR NO REASON WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS PARKED, WAS FINALLY REPLACED LAST SUMMER BY THE DEALER BUT THEY HAD TO GET "SPECIAL PERMISSION" FROM VOLVO TO DO IT. APPARENTLY, THESE FANS CAN COME ON AND CAUSE THE ENGINE TO OVERHEAT, AND THERE HAVE BEEN FIRES BECAUSE OF IT. *JB

(1) VEHICLE IS 2001 VOLVO V70 XC CROSS COUNTRY. THIS VEHICLE USES AN ELECTRONIC THROTTLE MODULE (ETM) MANUFACTURED FOR VOLVO BY MAGNETI MARELLI. THE ETM REPLACES A TRADITIONAL THROTTLE CABLE AND CONTROLS ENGINE SPEED WHEN PUSHING ON THE GAS PEDAL. (2) ON JULY 9, 2005, THE ELECTRONIC THROTTLE MODULE IN MY 2001 VOLVO FAILED AS I WAS ENTERING A HIGHWAY FROM A COMPLETE STOP AT AN INTERSECTING STREET. TRAFFIC ON THIS HIGHWAY OPERATES AT OR ABOVE THE POSTED SPEED LIMIT OF 55 MPH. I WAS ACCELERATING AT OR NEAR WIDE OPEN THROTTLE WHEN THE ETM FAILED. THE FAILURE RESULTED IN THE ETM GOING INTO "LIMP HOME MODE," WHICH CAUSED THE THROTTLE TO ONLY OPERATE AROUND IDLE SPEED (APPROXIMATELY 800 RPM), AND NOT ALLOWING ME TO CONTINUE TO ACCELERATE TO AVOID BEING HIT BY APPROACHING TRAFFIC. MOVING FORWARD AT IDLE SPEED, I WAS ABLE TO MANEUVER THE CAR BETWEEN APPROACHING VEHICLES AND COASTED ONTO A GRASS BARRIER SEPARATING AN ENTRANCE RAMP FROM THE MAIN LANES OF TRAFFIC. THE CAR THEN STALLED. THE CAR'S COMPUTER READOUT ON THE DASHBOARD DISPLAYED "REDUCED ENGINE PERFORMANCE" AND THEN "ENGINE SYSTEM FAILURE." THIS FAILURE OCCURRED WITHOUT WARNING, AND I WAS FORTUNATE TO NOT HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN A REAR END COLLISION. (3) DON BEYER VOLVO IN FALLS CHURCH, VA INFORMED ME THAT THE ETM HAD FAILED AFTER ONLY 49,000 MILES. IT IS MY UNDERSTANDING THAT VOLVO CARS IS WELL AWARE OF THIS DEFECT AND IS CURRENTLY THE SUBJECT OF VARIOUS INVESTIGATIONS AND LAWSUITS SURROUNDING THIS ISSUE. VOLVO HAS REPORTED TO THE CALIFORNIA CLEAN AIR RESOURCES BOARD THAT UP TO 94% OF ETMS WILL FAIL BEFORE THE VEHICLE REACHES 100,000 MILES. THERE IS NO REGULAR MAINTENANCE TO BE PERFORMED ON THE ETM. VOLVO TECHNICIANS CANNOT DETERMINE WHEN AN ETM IS ABOUT TO FAIL. DRIVERS SIMPLY HAVE TO WAIT TO BE UNEXPECTEDLY STRANDED. THE REPLACEMENT PART IS IDENTICAL OR NEARLY IDENTICAL TO THE ORIGINAL ETM, MAKING ANOTHER UNEXPECTED AND PREMATURE FAILURE VERY LIKELY. *NM

DRIVING ON I-80 IN CALIFORNIA IN BUSY TRAFFIC WHEN THROTTLE RESPONSE ON MY 2001 VOLVO V70 XC SUDDENLY VANISHED. AVOIDED SEVERAL CARS COLLIDING WITH MINE AND PULLED OVER TO THE SIDE. RESTARTING THE CAR CLEARED THE PROBLEM; HOWEVER, 30 MIN LATER THE SAME PROBLEM HAPPENED. ON THE FIST EVENT, THE CAR DISPLAYED "REDUCED PERFORMANCE", AND ON THE SECOND EVENT, THE CAR DISPLAYED "CRITICAL ENGINE FAULT". THE CAR WAS BROUGHT 90 MILES ON A FLATBED TRUCK TO RENO, NV, WHERE A ELECTRONIC THROTTLE CONTROL MECHANISM WAS REPLACED. MY CONCERN IS THE SUDDEN, AND COMPLETE, FAILURE OF ENGINE POWER IN BUSY TRAFFIC ON A 8+ LANE INTERSTATE HIGHWAY ... A SERIOUS ACCIDENT WAS NARROWLY MISSED. *NM