NHTSA Complaint #10176638 — 2004 VOLVO S40

CAR WAS SERVICED ON 25-OCT AT ~49K MILES. NO COMPUTER UPDATES WERE DONE TO THE VEHICLE. 12-DEC, I HAD NEW TIRES PUT ON THE CAR. 13-DEC THE CAR REPORTED "REDUCED ENGINE PERFORMANCE" AND OIL LIGHT CAME ON. PULLED OVER, STOPPED CAR, WAITED A FEW MINUTES AND RESTARTED WITH NO PROBLEM/LIGHTS. DROVE A FEW MILES, SAME EXACT THING HAPPENED AGAIN. THEN DROVE FOR ~45 MINUTES WHEN THE CAR REPORTED SOMETHING LIKE A "SYSTEM ENGINE FAILURE" AND THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. CAR WAS SPUTTERING WITH NO RESPONSE FROM THE GAS PEDAL. WAS TOWED TO MY DEALERSHIP. SM INFORMED ME THAT THE "MAIN" COMPUTER HAD FAILED, "TWO OTHER COMPUTERS" HAD "STOPPED COMMUNICATING" AND THE "THROTTLE MODULE" FAILED. HE TOLD ME THEY COULD FIX THE CAR FOR ~$300 WITH COMPUTER UPGRADES. HE DIDN'T KNOW IF THAT WOULD FIX THE THROTTLE MODULE AS WELL. IT WAS FIXED IN THEIR OPINION AFTER THEY ROAD TESTED IT FOR ~7 MILES. HE SAID AVAILABLE COMPUTER UPGRADES ARE ALWAYS APPLIED AT THEIR DEALERSHIP WHEN THE CAR IS UNDER WARRANTY BUT NEVER WHEN THE CAR IS OUT OF WARRANTY UNLESS THERE'S A PROBLEM. WAS TOLD MY EXTENDED WARRANTY DID NOT COVER THE UPGRADES AND WAS CHARGED ~$300. I ASKED IF THE UPGRADES COULD HAVE BEEN APPLIED 25-OCT SINCE I WAS UNDER WARRANTY. HE FELT THAT THEY COULD HAVE BEEN, ASSUMING THE UPGRADES WERE AVAILABLE THEN BUT COULDN'T TELL ME IF THEY WERE. SPOKE WITH THE SM AT THE DEALERSHIP WHERE I WAS ON 25-OCT AND HE SAID THEY NEVER APPLY COMPUTER UPGRADES UNLESS THERE'S A PROBLEM WITH THE CAR, WARRANTY OR NOT. DROVE THE CAR HOME ON 13-DEC AND NOTICED "ELECTRICAL" ISSUES. DROVE THE CAR ON THE MORNING OF 14-DEC AND A HEADLIGHT WENT OUT AND CAME BACK ON LATER IN THE DAY. CAR FAILED AGAIN THAT DAY IN TRAFFIC. FILED A CASE WITH VOLVO CUSTOMER CARE. *JB DEALERSHIP HAS CLEANED THE THROTTLE MODULE BUT PROBLEM PERSISTS. THEY ORDERED A NEW ETM AT ~$800. I WAS TOLD THAT THEY WILL USE THE $300 AS A 25% PAYMENT ON THE PARTS/LABOR FOR THE ETM REPLACEMENT AND THERE WILL BE NO ADDITIONAL COST TO ME.