NHTSA Complaint #11413598 — 2006 VOLVO XC70

ORIGINAL KEYFOB ERASED ITSELF AFTER BATTERY WAS DISCONNECTED FOR TWO WEEKS WHILE REPLACING A FAILED ENGINE. I WORKED WITH VISTEON AUTOMOTIVE SYSTEMS AS AN ELECTRICAL ENGINEER, MANUFACTURING THEIR REMOTE KEYLESS ENTRY SYSTEMS. I KNOW VERY WELL THAT THE KEYFOB SHOULD BE PROGRAMMED IN NON-VOLATILE MEMORY CHIPS. VOLVO DOES NOT SEEM TO BE DOING THAT. THIS COULD BE A PUBLIC HAZARD ISSUE WHEN HAVING TO JUMP-START SUCH A VEHICLE TO GET AWAY FROM A NATURAL DISASTER. THE CAR MAY NOT START UNTIL YOU TOW IT TO VOLVO TO RE-PROGRAM IT. IN MY CASE, COURTESY VOLVO OF SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA SENT ME A BILL FOR 10 HOURS OF LABOR FOR KEYFOB RE-PROGRAMMING. ATA RATE OF $68/HOUR. VISTEON'S PROGRAMMING PROCEDURE TAKES MINUTES. VOLVO'S TAKES MANY HOURS. THIS IS ANOTHER HAZARD ISSUE IN ITSELF.