Car - Volvo S80 T6 SE - Black Body, Leather Suede Interior
Year - 1998
Mileage - 57k
Reliable - BIG HEFTY MONEY CRUNCHING NO!
Good For - Lockable Shed, or kit car donor......bin the gearbox!
Just over a week ago i changed the cv joints, did a good job and then the dreaded transmission service urgent came up.
I had to get it looked at but that would have had to wait as the person who fixed it was 250 miles away. It did come with a 6k mile or 6 month warranty. I knew it had to go back but it was just a time issue. I could live with driving in gear-tronic.
I previously owned and still have (semi-retired) '93' BMW 325 coupe individual with 175k on the clock. I have ran it for over five years (putting 80k on the clock) without so much as a blip from the engine. Ok its had the usual, new battery brake shoes/discs etc ... maintenance stuff. BUT IT NEVER GAVE ME ANY MECHANICAL GRIEF LIKE THIS BUCKET OF HORSE MANURE! I had a choice of the vulva! or keep running the beemer. The choice was the volvo for mainly the safety features or the beemer as it hasn't got any, apart from a six cylinder engine!! lol (ps, still angry) It was a no brainer at the time as i live in an area where a lot of people drive drunk and/or with no insurance! Scum
Summary.
2009 - volvo transmission serviced £1100
Feb 2010 - cv joints replaced £100,
2 hours later - transmission service urgent appears...limp mode (which is basically the right description)
4 mornings later -Some how on the way to work i selected reverse while travelling at 40mph merging into traffic.
You can imagine what happened!! Thought my arse had fallen out
No drive!! All i could see was more flaming money spent on a swedish pile of turd! Sorry about the language, i don' mean to offend but i could use a lot worse...easily
, cv joint snapped! Lucky really 
today - CV joint replaced and picked up from garage. Warning info disappeared (due to the diagnostic and reset they did) cost £240
this evening - started off for home, started climbing a hill...guess what 'transmission service urgent'' appears again!!!! Proper angry! Why the hell am i bothering. I mean, it wasnt worth much in the first place! I have now basically doubled its price.
I beg anyone who is thinking of getting one of these..........please don't. I have also warned my parents to get rid of their 4 year old XC90 and opt for a X5.....OR A TRUSTY BRIT MOTOR - LAND ROVER.
The garage who sorted the cv joint out wrote down some codes and readings.
P1171, P1181, P1618 - "Manufacture Specific Code". I put these down the low washer fluid and a lambda sensor third one i am not sure. One more code appeared...
P0756 - "Shift Solenoid 'B' Performance or Stuck Off. This was one of the items that got replaced last year.
I have calmed down with a cig and a cup of tea now so tomorrow i will call the transmission engineer to see if he knows what these codes mean.
thanks for reading this chapter of woe but does anybody know what the codes mean?
Lee