NHTSA Complaint #10133094 — 2001 VOLVO S80

ON OR ABOUT MAY 3RD, 2005, MY WIFE WAS DRIVING OUR 2001 VOLVO T6 WHEN SHE SUDDENLY LOST ENGINE PERFORMANCE. SHE WAS TRAVELING ALONG A BUSY INTERSTATE AND SHE MANAGED TO GET THE CAR INTO THE EMERGENCY LANE WHILE HOLDING UP TRAFFIC BEHIND HER. THE FOLLOWING MSG APPEARED ON THE DASH, "ENGINE PERFORMANCE REDUCED". WHEN SHE GOT THE CAR TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD, SHE TURNED THE CAR OFF AND CALLED ME TO INFORM ME THE CAR WAS NOT WORKING PROPERLY. SHE STARTED THE CAR AFTER A FEW MINUTES AND IT PERFORMED OKAY ON THE WAY HOME. AT THIS TIME, I THOUGHT IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN A FUEL OR GAS CAP PROBLEM. SHE WAS VERY CLOSE TO HAVING A SERIOUS ACCIDENT. THE NEXT DAY SHE WAS TRAVELING WITH OUR CHILDREN ON A VERY BUSY BYPASS AND THE SAME PROBLEM OCCURRED. THIS TIME, I MADE A CALL TO THE VOLVO DEALER AND THEY INFORMED ME TO LEAVE THE CAR OFF FOR A MINUTE AND THE COMPUTER WOULD RESET. NOT A GOOD SOLUTION. NEEDLESS TO SAY, SHE HAD TO NAVIGATE THE CAR FROM THE INSIDE LANE TO THE EMERGENCY LANE WHILE TRAVELING NO FASTER THAN 20 MPH. AGAIN, THIS WAS A VERY BUSY BYPASS AND LUCKILY SHE MANAGED TO GET THE CAR TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. FINALLY, I DROVE THE CAR THE NEXT DAY TO SEE HOW IT PERFORMED FOR ME. AGAIN, THE CAR FAILED (I.E. SLOWED TO 20 MPH ON A 70 MPH INTERSTATE) WHILE I WAS DRIVING. I CALLED THE DEALER AGAIN THE NEXT DAY AND THEY INFORMED ME THEY WOULD NEED TO SEE THE CAR IN ORDER TO DIAGNOSE. I INFORMED THEM I NEEDED RECALL WORK PERFORMED ON AN ELECTRICAL FAN SO THEY COULD CHECK INTO MY "ENGINE PERFORMANCE REDUCED" PROBLEM AT THE SAME TIME. ALL THIS SAID, THE CAR FAILED APPROXIMATELY 8-10 TIMES BEFORE I COULD GET THE CAR TO THE SHOP AND REPAIRED ($933.00). THE PROBLEM PART WAS DETERMINED TO BE AN ELECTRONIC THROTTLE MODULE. LUCKILY, MY WIFE, AS WELL AS MYSELF, WERE ABLE TO GET THE CAR TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD WITHOUT GETTING RAN OVER BY TRAFFIC. THIS PROBLEM DEFINITELY NEEDS THE ATTENTION OF THE NHTSA. THANKS FOR ANY HELP YOU CAN PROVIDE. *JB