XC70 problems - what should you look for when shopping?

wwilme · Post by **wwilme** » 12 Mar 2005, 22:17

The '93 850 (193k) probably just crapped its tranny and we test drove a few '01 and '02 XC70s today. They seem like great cars, but what is the dealer not telling us? Any mechanical or body problems we need to be looking for? Any experience will help!! thanks.

White850Turbo · Post by **White850Turbo** » 13 Mar 2005, 08:51

Go for '02. '01 models still had some issues with the ETM (Easily a $1k fix).

wwilme · Post by **wwilme** » 13 Mar 2005, 15:12

Can you tell me more? What is the ETM?

White850Turbo · Post by **White850Turbo** » 13 Mar 2005, 18:37

wwilme wrote:Can you tell me more? What is the ETM?

ETM is electronic throttle module. The version of it used on the '99 to '01 models WILL fail if it hasn't already. This problem was addressed on the '02 and newer cars. Basically, the ETM starts to mess up and you'll get rather erratic idle and eventually, it'll fail and the car won't stay started. Volvo issued a service campaign for this problem sometime in mid-01 though, so if you're buying the car from a Volvo dealer, it should've been taken care of. If not, tell whoever is selling the car to knock $1000 off the price b/c that's about what it costs to fix the problem.

Post by **dosbricks** » 13 Mar 2005, 19:37

Early XCs had a lot of drive shaft problems. $$$$.

wwilme · Post by **wwilme** » 15 Mar 2005, 05:43

Thanks folks. We did pick up a Volvo Certified '01 with 40k on it last night. It was a Volvo lease buyback. The bumper to bumper warrantee covers for another 2 1/2 years or to 100k. The sales guy didn't know about the ETM. I'm assuming that there should be a record of this repair if it was done at a Volvo dealership? There wasn't any for this car. If it's not a recall, then I can't make them replace it before I pick the car up, but it will be covered by the warrantee. When does this part typically go up? In my case, hopefully during the warrantee period!

White850Turbo · Post by **White850Turbo** » 15 Mar 2005, 08:43

ETM's typically go bad b/t 80k - 110k miles. I have read that the occasional cleaning of the throttle body w/ a TB cleaner soaked rag every 5k miles can help prolong it's life.

wwilme · Post by **wwilme** » 15 Mar 2005, 08:49

Is this from personal experience or can you give some references? It might not go bad in the certified extended warrantee period, so I'm trying to negotiate its immediate replacement with the purchase of the car right now. Any ammo would help!

wwilme · Post by **wwilme** » 15 Mar 2005, 08:50

Is this from personal experience or can you give some references? It might not go bad in the certified extended warrantee period, so I'm trying to negotiate its immediate replacement with the purchase of the car right now. Any ammo would help!

White850Turbo · Post by **White850Turbo** » 15 Mar 2005, 09:00

Nope, not from personal experience, but I spend A LOT of time on different Volvo forums and people w/ '99 to '01 cars always show up as first time posters when their cars have somewhere b/t that mileage complaining about "searching" idle. You can also ask Rich (Bay13Admin) over on the Volvospeed forums. He is a Volvo Master mechanic and works on them for a living, so he'd be the expert.