NHTSA Complaint #10509612 — 2000 VOLVO S40

I WAS STOPPED AT A RED LIGHT BEHIND SEVERAL CARS. THE LIGHT TURNED GREEN AND I TOOK MY FOOT OFF THE BRAKE, BUT DID NOT PUT MY FOOT ON THE ACCELERATOR. THE CAR ENGINE REVVED UP AND LURCHED FORWARD DESPITE ME ATTEMPTING TO BRAKE HEAVILY. THE BRAKES WOULD NOT FULLY DECOMPRESS CAUSING ME TO REAR END THE VEHICLE IN FRONT OF ME. I PURCHASED THE CAR USED WITH 134,100 MILES. I NOTICED ABOUT 5 MONTHS AFTER PURCHASE THAT THE ENGINE WOULD REV AND THE RPM'S WOULD REMAIN HIGH WITHOUT PRESSING ON THE ACCELERATOR AND THE CAR WILL MOVE APPROXIMATELY 10-15 MPH WITHOUT PRESSING ON THE ACCELERATOR. WHEN ROADS ARE WET OR WHEN IT HAS BEEN RAINING, THE CAR IS DIFFICULT IN BRAKING AND THE BRAKES OFTEN "FREEZE" WHERE THE BRAKE PEDAL CANNOT BE DEPRESSED. BRAKES WERE REPLACED, BUT THE ISSUE PERSISTS. ALSO, AT TIMES, THE CAR ENGINE CONTINUES TO REV WHEN PRESSING ON THE BRAKES. LASTLY, THE ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON, IT WAS INDICATED VIA A DIAGNOSTIC TEST THAT THERE WAS A MISFIRE WITH ONE OF THE SPARK PLUG COILS. ALL SPARK PLUGS AND COILS/IGNITION COILS WERE REPLACED, ENGINE LIGHT PERSISTED. AT THE TIME THE TEMP SENSOR AND THE THERMOSTAT WAS REPLACED AS THE IGNITION COILS AND SPARK PLUGS DID NOT ALLEVIATE THE ISSUE. WHEN A FOLLOWING DIAGNOSTIC TEST WAS PERFORMED INDICATED THAT THE COOLANT TEMP SENSOR HAS LOW VOLTAGE. SOMETIMES THE CAR ENGINE WILL TURN, BUT THE CAR WILL NOT FULLY TURN ON AND I NEED TO WAIT ABOUT 10 MINUTES (OR UNTIL THE FAN TURNS OFF) BEFORE BEING ABLE TO ATTEMPT TO START THE CAR. DUE TO THE ISSUES WITH THE CAR, THE CAR CANNOT GET AN INSPECTION STICKER, AND IT DOES NOT SEEM SAFE TO DRIVE. DUE TO MASSACHUSETTS CAR LAWS, WE CANNOT SELL THE CAR DUE TO LEMON LAW AND THE CAR IS WORTH MORE THAN SCRAPING. WE ALSO HAD A BROKEN AXEL AND COIL THAT WERE REPLACED AFTER HITTING A POTHOLE. *TR