NHTSA Complaint #10164391 — 1999 VOLVO V70

I AM WRITING BECAUSE MY CAR HAS LOST POWER WITHOUT WARNING. I HAVE EXPERIENCED THIS SEVERAL TIMES, FORTUNATELY NONE IN LIFE THREATENING SITUATIONS LIKE PULLING ONTO A BUSY ROAD OR FREEWAY. THE DEALER RELOADED THE SOFTWARE, BUT THE ETS LIGHT CAME BACK ON WITHIN A FEW DAYS. I TOOK IT BACK TO THE DEALER, THEY KEPT IT A WEEK, TEST DROVE IT FOR SOME TIME AND SAID THERE WAS NOTHING ELSE THEY COULD DO. I ASKED THE VOLVO SERVICE MANAGER, GREG, AT TURNER VOLVO IN SACRAMENTO WHETHER VOLVO KNOWS WHAT THE ROOT CAUSE OF THE PROBLEM AND WHETHER THIS SOFTWARE FIXES IT. HE SAID THAT IT FIXES THE PROBLEM IN 95% OF THE CASES. HE REFUSED TO ANSWER WHETHER THE SPECIFIC PROBLEM THAT CAUSES THE LOSS OF POWER HAS BEEN ADDRESSED BY THE SOFTWARE THEY RECENTLY LOADED AND WHETHER IT IS CORRECTED IN MY PARTICULAR VEHICLE. SINCE I HAVE DRIVEN THIS CAR OVER 180,000 MILES WITH ONLY RECENT PROBLEMS, THIS IS INDEED A RARE OCCURRENCE. MY CONCERN IS THAT NEITHER GREG AT TURNER VOLVO (916)488-2400. OR FRANK AT VOLVO CUSTOMER CARE 800-458-1552 X 1981, SEEMS TO BE WILLING TO STATE THAT THE DEFECT THAT CAUSES THE POWER LOSS PROBLEM HAS BEEN ELIMINATED FROM MY CAR. I ASKED FRANK WHETHER VOLVO WAS WILLING TO PUT IN WRITING THAT THE ROOT CAUSE OF THE PROBLEM HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED AND ELIMINATED FROM MY VEHICLE, AND FRANK SAID HE DID NOT KNOW WHETHER VOLVO IS WILLING TO DO THAT. I HAVE OPENED A FORMAL COMPLAINT WITH VOLVO AND AM AWAITING THEIR RESPONSE. *JB