NHTSA Complaint #10213987 — 2000 VOLVO S80

1) ENGINE IDLES ROUGH, PROBLEM BECAME SO BAD THAT CAR STALLS AT LOW SPEEDS, LOST POWER STEERING & "ENGINE DIES" AT LOW SPEEDS (UNSAFE!). LOCAL MECH REFERRED TO ETM WARRANTY PROGRAM TO RE-PROGRAM FAULTY ETM MODULE. TOOK CAR TO DLR, RE-PROGRAMMED ETM CAR DIED AGAIN! TURNS OUT BAD BATTERY AS WELL: SEVERAL HUNDRED $$$ TO REPLACE BATTERY. CAR DOES NOT ACCELERATE SMOOTHLY, LARGE "SHUDDERS" PRESENT WHEN MERGING ONTO HWY, DURING TRANSMISSION/GEAR SHIFT. NOT GOOD! 2) AIRBAG "SRS-URGENT SERVICE" WARNING INDICATOR LIGHT IS ON. GOOD LOCAL MECH. STATES THIS IS A $1000 REPAIR. 3) "CHECK BRAKE LIGHT" WARNING INDICATOR LIGHT TURNS ON WHEN DEPRESSING ON BRAKE PEDAL: GOOD LOCAL MECH. STATES THAT THIS IS "NORMAL" REQUIRES EXACT MATCHING ELECTRICAL RESISTANCE OF ALL BRAKE LAMPS TO ENSURE THAT "CHECK BRAKE LIGHT" WARNING DOES NOT OCCUR (IN ACTUALITY THE BRAKE LIGHTS WORK FINE, THE BUILT-IN-TEST IS FAULTY). 4) "CHECK ENGINE LIGHT" COMES ON 2-3 TIMES IN LAST 3 MONTHS. MAJOR SERVICE WAS REQUIRED. ONE FAULT WAS ISOLATED TO FUEL TANK GAS CAP: IF NOT SECURED PROPERLY "ECM-4308 (LEAK DIAGNOSTIC) LARGE LEAK" OCCURS...REMEDIED BY TWISTING FUEL CAP 3 FULL ROTATIONS, AFTER RE-FUELING GAS TANK. GOOD LOCAL MECH. DIAGNOSED THE LOOSE GAS CAP PROBLEM, WARNED ME ABOUT IT, AND DIDN'T CHARGE ME (NICE!). 5) BODY PAINT IS VERY SUSCEPTIBLE TO CHIPPING & SCRATCHES. PAINT OR EXTERIOR PANELS ARE VERY SOFT AND EASILY DAMAGED. ANOTHER SHAME, THIS CAR LOOKS GREAT BUT DOES NOT HOLD UP VERY WELL UNDER TYPICAL PARKING LOT CONDITIONS (I.E. SOMEONE PARKED NEXT TO YOU OPENS THEIR CAR DOOR INTO THE SIDE OF YOUR CAR RESULTING IN A LARGE SCRATCH). SOLUTION: PURCHASE A FANCY CAR COVER AND PROTECT THE BODY PAINT, IF YOU CAN! 6) PARKING BRAKE "SEEMS LOOSE", UPON PARKING CAR AND ENGAGING PARKING BRAKE THE VEHICLE ROLLS ALMOST 30 CM BWDS OR FWD DEPENDING ON LEVEL OR INCLINED SURFACE. *TR