NHTSA Complaint #10585360 — 2000 VOLVO V70

MY VOLVO V70 HAS BEEN DYING IMMEDIATELY AFTER STARTING THE ENGINE AND HAS PROGRESSIVELY GOTTEN WORSE OVER THE LAST 6 MONTHS. HAVE HAD TWO TRIPS TO A MECHANIC WHO REPAIRED A FEW PARTS, BUT IT DIDN'T FIX IT. PROBLEM CONTINUES. RECENTLY, WE WERE DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY AT ABOUT 65 MPH AND THE CAR SPEED DROPPED TO ABOUT 20 MPH AND COULDN'T GO ANY FASTER AND WE HAD TO PULL OVER. THIS IS A MAJOR SAFETY RISK. NOW THE CAR STARTS AND IMMEDIATELY DIES FOR ABOUT 4-5 TIMES BEFORE IT WILL START AND CONTINUE RUNNING. THERE IS A WHIRRING NOISE COMING FROM THE ELECTRONIC THROTTLE WHEN IT DIES IMMEDIATELY. I TOOK IT TO A VOLVO DEALER AND THEY SAID A RECALL FOR A SOFTWARE UPDATE WAS PERFORMED ON MY CAR IN 2006 TO LOWER THE WEAR INSIDE THE THROTTLE. THEN VOLVO ISSUED A SERVICE CAMPAIGN FOR THE ETM WHEN IT FAILS, BUT THE CAMPAIGN LASTED UNTIL 200,000 MILES OR 10 YEARS. SO EVEN THOUGH THE CAR HAS ONLY 94K MILES AND THE RECALL SOFTWARE WAS INSTALLED ONLY 25K MILES AGO, VOLVO WON'T REPLACE A CRITICAL PART TO THE SAFE OPERATION OF THE VEHICLE BECAUSE THE 10 YEARS HAVE PASSED. SO THE DEALER AND VOLVO REFUSED TO REPLACE THIS PART EVEN THOUGH THE ETM ALREADY HAD A RECALL AND SERVICE CAMPAIGN IN THE PAST. 2 ACTIONS TO ADDRESS A DEFECTIVE PART, BUT VOLVO DIDN'T FIX THE PROBLEM AND I HAVE A BAD PART IN MY VOLVO THAT IS UNSAFE. *JS