My wife was driving home from work and noticed that the car was making a squealing noise as she made right and left hand turns. When she got home I checked the power steering reservoir and found that it was empty. There was no warning of this happening, there was no fluid on the floor of the garage. I immediately purchased power steering fluid and filled the reservoir. The next day the floor was covered with fluid. I contacted my former Volvo dealer and asked if they could look at the problem and was told that the vehicle was unsafe to drive. They recommended that I take to a local repair shop that specializes in import cars. They identifed the problem as the rack & pinion and said not to drive the car as it was unsafe. I authorized them to begin the repair process and was advised that the cost would be about $1000 dollars. When contacting the customer service department of Volvo North America I was told that they could not assist because the car was not in warrenty. The vehicle has 16,532 miles and has been garaged kept and maintained by the previous Volvo dealer where the vechicle was purchased. I hardly think that any vehicle with such low mileage should have to have the rack & pinion steering replaced. I am very disapointed with the approach that Volvo has taken to assist with this problem and have seen where other owners have experienced this same problem. When you pay $42,000 dollars for a car, you certainly expect that it will not require costly maintenance such as this with such low mileage.

- Winchester, VA, USA

I had a major leak in my 2000 Volvo S80 power steering rack at 36000miles. Called the factory and they said there was a backorder on the part and they were not sure when they could replace the part. Seems there must be a recurrent problem here and I am wondering if a recall is in order. Volvo declined to help pay for the repair/replacement.

- Longview, TX, USA

Took my car in and found that rack & pinion needed replacing. Was advised by mechanic that Volvo dealer told them there is a nationwide backorder on this part and it is not available. Sounds to me like there is a recurring problem with the rack & pinion on the Volvo S80 (mine is a 2000 model year.

- Lighthouse Point, FL, USA