V70 R AWD or V70 T-5, recomendations

If you go with a 98 vs 99 you will avoid having to deal with the dreaded drive by wire ETM (electronic throttle module) throttle body. They have a very high failure rate, the replacements are not any better, and are very expensive items. 98 was the last year for the traditional cable operated throttle body. 99 through 2001 cars have the ETM problem.

Watch out for AWD cars with different tire types or ones that have had tires changed in pairs vs. a full set of four. The bevel gear in the AWD setup is apparently very sensitive to tire diameter mismatches fornt to rear and can be quickly destroyed if this condition exists, repotededly in less than 1000 miles. Another big ticket repair item.

At 6 to 7 years old, and greater than about 60K miles, the timing belt should have been recently changed, or if you are buying from a dealer, should be a condition of sale. The 5 cylinder enginers are an interference type, and will end up with trashed valves if you lose a belt.

If you are in the vicinity of SE CT, I highly recommend you check out Eurocars Plus in Groton. They deal only in used Volvo sales and Volvo service, offer a 1 year/12K power train and 3 month/5K overall warranty. Very experienced Volvo techs in the service bay, and they thoroghly go over their cars before putting them on sale. They have a very good reputation around here.

I recently bought a 105K 98 V70XC from them at a very fair retail price. Virtually all the routine wear/age related items were replaced with new as sold - new rotors and pads all round, new Conti Contacts, new battery, timing belt, plugs, wires, rotor, cap, upper engine vibration mount, all filters (oil, air, fuel, cabin air), wiper blades, and even floor mats. Oil change and coolant flush. Pre sale detailing was also top notch, with the car looking like new.

Shameless plug qualification: I am not otherwise connected with Eurocars except as a satisfied customer that has been dealing with them for over 7 years!

Chris Bowne Stonington, CT

Our 2001 V70 2,4T just had an ETM failure after 45,000 kms or 4 years. And yes, it was bloody expensive to replace. I'm still in the middle of information gathering, but I'm starting to lean to a conclusion, where

2001 models were still pretty much suffering from this problem. I'm not so sure about the newer models. If someone has more info on this, would very much appreciate it!

Kytis...use this info to contact "the group"...

snipped-for-privacy@comcast.net

From: VEXED (Volvo Enthusiasts eXposing Egregious Design)

Good afternoon Virginia, Richard, and Ray,

Things are progressing faster than I can keep up with. One tentative appointment is with Channel 4, The Investigators. They are interested in the story since Colorado people are involved. It appears that it will take "The Court of Public Opinion" to get something done. When we are ready to go public would you be available to go to Denver with me? With more than just an angry old man, we might get a better audience. It will probably be a week or so away. For Richard it might even be after April 15th.

I also have a contact at Marylyn Musgrave's office in Loveland but that will just be for me to drop some literature off. I want a letter from her to NHTSA that says, "Take a look at this and act on it."

Don't let your BRICK crumble

Don Willson

Researching Volvo ETM failures

Hi,

I drive a C70 T5 year 2000 and I have also this problems with the ETM. I heard that the ETM will just be changed for free in US and Sweden, but I am from Austria. So what should I do now? Is there any global exchange planned?

Sincerly, Gerry

"~^ beancounter ~^" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news: snipped-for-privacy@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...

i havn't heard of much int'l or domestic "plans" to assis current owners...i think the whole process is just gettin' "ramped up"... it will be a while b4 the govt makes volvo inc do anything...they would be wise to "get in front" of this issue.....goodwill & trust is hard to earn, easy for a big company to loose.....