NHTSA Complaint #10273508 — 2004 VOLVO XC70

I HAVE A 2004 XC70 WITH 56,000 MILES. RECENTLY, THE "REDUCED ENGINE PERFORMANCE" LIGHT CAME ON WITH NO APPARENT CHANGE IN HANDLING OR ACCELERATION. THE LIGHT THEN WENT OFF THE NEXT TIME I DROVE THE CAR. A FEW DAYS LATER, THE LIGHT CAME BACK ON THIS TIME ALONG WITH THE "CHECK ENGINE" LIGHT, AND THERE WAS VIRTUALLY NO ACCELERATION. I GOT THE CAR TO LIMP ALONG AT ABOUT 5 MPH WITH THE HAZARD LIGHTS ON TO THE CLOSEST GARAGE, WHERE I LEFT IT OVERNIGHT. THE MECHANIC RAN THE DIAGNOSTICS ON THE COMPUTER AND THE CODE FOR THE THROTTLE BODY APPEARED. HE CLEANED THE THROTTLE BODY BUT INDICATED THAT MIGHT NOT TOTALLY SOLVE THE PROBLEM AND THAT IF IT NEEDED TO BE REPLACED IT WOULD HAVE TO BE DONE AT A DEALER. (OTHER THAN SEVERAL OIL CHANGES, ALL SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE HAS BEEN PERFORMED AT A VOLVO DEALER.) THE CAR WORKED WELL FOR ABOUT A WEEK AND THEN THE "CHECK ENGINE" AND "REDUCED ENGINE PERFORMANCE" LIGHTS CAME BACK ON. I TOOK THE CAR TO THE VOLVO DEALER. INITIALLY THEY COULDN'T FIND ANYTHING WRONG WITH IT, THEY DROVE IT ABOUT 20 MILES AND CLAIMED NO LIGHTS CAME ON AND THE COMPUTER DID NOT SHOW ANY DIAGNOSTIC CODES. THEY UPGRADED THE SOFTWARE TO SMOOTH OUT THE GEAR SHIFTING IN THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION AND AT MY REQUEST DID THE 60,000 MILE SERVICING. THEN, WHEN I WENT TO PICK THE CAR UP, BOTH LIGHTS CAME BACK ON IN THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT IMMEDIATELY AFTER I STARTED THE CAR. THE SERVICE ADVISOR TOOK THE CAR BACK INTO THE SHOP, RAN THE DIAGNOSTICS AGAIN AND CONFIRMED THE THROTTLE BODY NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. CAR IS NO LONGER UNDER WARRANTY AND THE SERVICE ADVISOR INDICATED THERE WERE NO RECALLS FOR THIS ISSUE FOR THIS MODEL YEAR. AFTER A FEW DAYS IN THE SHOP, THE CAR IS NOW WORKING WELL BUT I NO LONGER TRUST IT - HAD THIS HAPPENED ON A HIGHWAY IT WOULD HAVE BEEN VERY DANGEROUS. *TR