Our family owns a 2001 XC70 that we bought second hand. Thankfully, I purchased an extended warranty. We did receive the Dec 2005 software upgrade which appeared odd, but we complied. Since then the car actually started to run more poorly. We brought the car to the local dealership in ann arbor several times. After I spoke to the service manager and suggested that I had read about the ETM failure and was concerned, I was told that they would fix it under warranty. Dealership was very courteous, but I suspect that their hands are tied as one of the service managers told me that Volvo warranty required them to do the software upgrade, then the cleaning and then they could replace the ETM. My concern is that the new ETM will fail again and pose a danger to my family. My wife uses the Volvo to Transport our three children in. I find it outrageous that if it is true that Volvo intentional mislead the public about this safety defect given that I did not have a problem paying premium dollar for our first Volvo because of its reputation and advertising regarding its exemplary safety record. I would be willing to help your Agency investigate this problem if you need me.

- Ann Arbor, MI, USA

I was driving on the interstate at roughly 70 mph in moderate traffic with my wife and 2 young boys when the accelerator no longer responded. The vehicle would surge when I stepped on the gas then "stall". the check engine light appeared with a message "performance reduced". fortunately we rolled off the highway over the median and onto the frontage road and into a parking lot where we stopped the car and restarted it. We called the dealer who instructed us to bring it in right away to have it diagnosed. This was actually the second occurrence of this failure the first being a week early on July 9th with similar circumstances. In the first one our steering wheel locked up as we entered a gas station. We were told we needed a new throttle body approximately $900 to replace. We only had the vehicle for 6 weeks so were obviously unhappy. Although no one was harmed in the case of our failures there certainly was the potential given the high speed of travel and traffic surrounding us. We are fortunate to have been driving in the right hand lane in both instances. The Volvo dealer retained the old ETM.

- Fort Collins, CO, USA