2000 Volvo V70XC Acceleration Problems

Mileage when the problem started

• Under 25k
  13%
• 25k–50k
  615%
• 50k–75k
  1743%
• 75k–100k
  1025%
• 100k–150k
  25%
• 150k+
  410%

Owner reports

Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2000 Volvo V70XC owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).

Etm module failed on the freeway and I had to make an emergency stop on the freeway at night. After several minutes the car was able to startup again. When I took the car in for repair, they did not tell me that this was a common problem with this model of Volvo and I ended up paying $128 dollars for bogus troubleshooting and no problem found. Then less than 4 days later, the car died again, but this time I was lucky and it died on a side street. I looked up the problem on the internet and found quite a few articles of people who had a similar problem. Upon driving my car into the dealership, it died and I had to coast the car down 3 hillside blocks and into the dealership. Another $50 dollars was charged to me for doing the warranty work and the total cost to replace the throttle module was $723.67. …

Purchased car in dec 2006. Within few months, began to notice the car would lose speed on highway and drop to a speed anywhere between 60-80km/hr. Black smoke rolled out exhaust. Took car to dealership (where previous owners maintained car). Several filters, seals, replaced. Few months later the same problem continued. Returned to dealership and told car needed catalytic converter. After being told the cost, dealership called back to say under emissions warranty. $1200 part was covered but I paid labor/other parts. Dealer was asked on both occasions to complete service due. Failed to complete these as requested. Problems continued. This time the dealership told me that ets was gone causing the car to go into limp mode. Repairs done at a cost of all $2600.00. Less than a year, same problem occurred. The oil light came on (though there was oil in the car). …

Approaching a red light on slight incline, car stalled and ets light and check engine lights came on. Advised my service station that throttle system failed. Car maybe driven but there can be safety issues, as the car loses power without warning, which is clearly a hazard in crossing intersections or mergering into traffic and there are also emission related issues with gas mileage and exhaust system. To date, car has been looked at by two service stations, doughtery's automative nad stillman Volvo. I have been advised that the failure of the throttle system in Volvo model years 1998 to 2001 has become a fairly common problem. I have contacted Volvo via telephone and an authorized Volvo dealer to see if Volvo has a program in place to correct a clearly defective part on cars out of warranty. Volvo was unwilling to work with me. …

Dt: the consumer was having a problem with 2000 Volvo v70 xc losing power and then surging while driving 20-25 MPH. The consumer did not make it up a hill . The loss of power even occurred when the car was slowing to stop and turning. This happened twice. Then, it was surging and smoking, and surging with no smoking, the car was wobbly and sluggish. Dealer replaced the following parts; spark plugs, coils, thermostat, and the filters. Other parts have been flushed, this included fuel injectors and ignition. The car has been at the dealer once, a certified Volvo specialist once, and at pep boys once. The consumer had to pay $1300.00 to figure out what was wrong with the car. The car has had 2 diagnostic tests done. No one knew what was wrong with the car. The engine light came on, and was turned off. …

On 7 December 2005, while driving vehicle north on I-94 in massachusetts at a speed of 65 MPH, suddenly the engine hesitated and lost power. Etc light on dashboard illuminated. I was able to take evasive action and pulled over to the side of the highway. Went to the local Volvo dealer in south deerfield mass. To have the car examined. Dealer stated that they "cleaned the etm and cleared fault codes." drove the car back home (upper marlboro,md) on the evening of 8 December. Along the route home the car repeatedly hesitated. On 9 December, on andrews afb, etc light illuminated and car immediately lost power and stalled. Car restarted. On south osborne rd in upper marlboro while driving at 40 MPH, car lost power with no warning again. I had to literally drive the vehicle off the road to avoid being rear ended by approaching traffic. Car is at martens Volvo in bethesda, md. …

During last thanksgiving break, my husband and I drove our 2000 Volvo xc from new Mexico home to fort collins, co. The morning of our departure, the ets (electronic throttle module) light came on, then went out. On the way home, the care shuddered and lurched, and lost power with acceleration. It took us 6 hours to travel 125 miles from colorado springs to fort collins, and we were trying to beat a snow storm. We literally limped home. It was terrifying. We took the car to our local Volvo dealer, and the diagnosed it as a failed electronic throttle module. It cost about $854 to replace it. It was not warranty work, and the dealer said nothing about this being a common problem Volvo was already aware of -- even when we asked. I now understand Volvo has known about this problem for more than five years and has done nothing about it. …

While driving our 2000 Volvo v70 xc, the throttle began acting strange, requiring us to press much more than usual on the throttle to avoid the engine cutting out, while pulling out into traffic. The car was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a faulty electronic throttle module, and I was told it would be covered under an extended warranty. The part was ordered, and in early January 2010, I returned to the dealer for installation. The car has been getting worse, and we have come very close to having an accident due to the faulty design. When the car was brought to the dealer for the warranty repair, they informed me that the car was 'warranty excluded', and would not be covered, due to the status of the title. My research has indicated that this is an extremely common problem, which there was a recall to recalibrate the throttle, but no recall to address the actual failure. …

Ets light coming on - immediate loss of power. Very dangerous at 70 MPH in 3-4 lanes of heavy traffic. I put my emergency blinkers on and tried to safely get off the highway. I turned the car off and back on, the light went away and I proceeded to drive to the dealership. Enroute, it happened again just as I was pulling to a stop at a red light. I turned the car off and back on, it did not help this time - an ambulance came up behind me. I was in a panic trying to get the auto out of the way. Luckily the left lane was open and they were able to blow past me, but they did honk as they passed letting me know they were upset that I did not move. I am picking up the car tomorrow from the dealership with a new etm. But I have poked around on various Volvo forums and found this issue to be pretty prevalent. …

I have a 2000 Volvo V70XC cross country. I had a problem with the electronic throttle module ( throttle body) according to many owners with 98-00 v70, c70, s70, they also have had the same problem. These parts aren't suppose to break ,they are part of the accelerator. My car stopped in the middle of the expressway due the the throttle body. It cost me a lot of money close to a $1000. Instead of recalling these parts Volvo has not, resulting in many failures, and is very costly. I do not want me and my family to b esubjected to that, next time we could possibly be dead. It has been on the news. Volvo agreed to extend the warranty, but the part is still defective, and should be redesigned, and put in all the cars that have the old throttle body. Volvo is suppose to be about saferty , seems to me they care more about themselves and there pockets instead of the customers and there families.

The ets (electronic throttle system) light came on repeatedly over a period of two weeks. On two occasions, on the highway, the car lost power totally when the light illuminated. The dealer said the car needs a new electronic throttle module (etm), which will cost about $1,500. This car has 85,000 miles, virtually all of which were highway miles as it is used to commute from ma to ct. A search of the web indicated that this sensor--the etm--was defective in 1999 and 2000 volvos. In July 2001, Volvo issued a tech bulletin stating that problems occurred only when the owner made many short trips. Further, the tech bulletins said the etm could be cleaned (but not replaced) if the car still was under the original warranty. This car has 85,000 and has always been serviced by a Volvo dealer.

Related recalls

NHTSA investigations

Acceleration complaints in other V70XC years