NHTSA Complaint #10262780 — 2004 VOLVO XC90

ON MARCH 22, 2009 I WAS TRAVELING WITH MY TWO DAUGHTERS EAST ON I-75 FROM NAPLES TO MIAMI WHEN THE CAR SUDDENLY JERKED AND THE DASHBOARD AND INSTRUMENTS FLICKERED AND LIT UP, AND THEN THE INSTRUMENT PANEL DISPLAYED THE MESSAGE "SRS - AIRBAG SERVICE URGENT". WAS ABLE TO CONTINUE DRIVING TO LOOK FOR A REST AREA AS THAT STRETCH OF I-75 IS IN THE EVERGLADES. AFTER A FEW MILES THE CAR JERKED AGAIN, BUT THIS TIME ALL THE DASHBOARD LIGHTS, INSTRUMENTS (SPEEDOMETER, RPM), RADIO AND INTERIOR LIGHTS DID NOT WORK. WAS ABLE TO CONTINUE DRIVING TO A REST AREA ABOUT 7 MILES DOWN THE HIGHWAY. I STOPPED, TURNED OFF THE CAR FOR 15 MINUTES THEN IT STARTED UP AGAIN WITH ALL THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS WORKING, BUT STILL DISPLAYING THE MESSAGE "SRS - AIRBAG SERVICE URGENT". NOT WANTING TO B STUCK IN THE EVERGLADES I CONTINUED DRIVING, AND THE JERKING MOTION AND ISSUE WITH ELECTRICAL OCCURRED AGAIN TWO MORE TIMES. THE LAST TIME WAS WHEN I WAS PULLING OFF THE HIGHWAY ONTO MY EXIT FOR HOME IT DISPLAYED THE MESSAGE "BRAKE FAILURE! STOP SAFELY". I WAS ABLE TO STOP, TURNED OFF CAR, STARTED IT AGAIN WITH EVERYTHING WORKING, BUT STILL DISPLAYING THE MESSAGE "SRS - AIRBAG SERVICE URGENT". THIS SAME ISSUE HAPPENED LAST SUMMER WHEN MY WIFE WAS DRIVING WITH OUR KIDS FROM MIAMI TO JACKSONVILLE. SHE TOOK IT TO A VOLVO DEALER IN DAYTONA BEACH AND ONE IN JACKSONVILLE. BOTH DEALERS WERE NOT ABLE TO DIAGNOSE THE ISSUE. WHEN BACK IN MIAMI, I TOOK IT TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC WHO IS VOLVO-CERTIFIED AND HE WAS NOT ABLE TO FIX THE ISSUE EITHER. BASED ON WHAT I'VE RESEARCHED IT SEEMS TO BE AN ISSUE WITH THE ONBOARD COMPUTER. THIS IS A VERY SCARY PROBLEM THAT NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED BY VOLVO, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU ARE DRIVING 70 MILES AN HOUR ON THE HIGHWAY AND THE CAR SUDDENLY JERKS AND LOSES POWER. *TR