I am considering buying a 2003 S60 from a dealer, but I know that the 2001 and 2002 automatics had the inevitable transmission failure on most of the cars with higher miles. My question is does anyone definitively know if the 2003 model has the same trans in it and the same problems, or is it the better tranny that is in the 2004?

What plagued the earlier 5 speed auto trannys is the software, not hardware. Except for the solenoid cover on some 03-05 models. The ATF does need a flush by 90K, but do not use a machine to flush.
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My name is Klaus and I am a V♂lv♂holic

Interesting. I didnt know what the issue was with the early trannys, just that they were problemtic. So a hard shift is the issue, and mainly affected the 01 and 02s, and the solenoid cover on the 03 - 05. OK, I have to ask, why is the solenoid cover an issue?

http://www.ipdusa.com/products/5538/107960-automatic-transmission-b4-servo-cover-update-aw55-50-51
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My name is Klaus and I am a V♂lv♂holic

FWIW, I have an 07 S60 and I plan to get another tranny flush soon as I feel the car is getting sloppy when speed is around 40-50 MPH - and the car struggles to figure out whether it wants to stay in 4, 4th lockup, or 5 (at around 48MPH). I acquired the car with 65k for a decent price and had the tranny flushed at 70k with Mobil 3309 as a precaution. I now have 94k on it and plan to flush soon, figure a 30k interval is good as I near the 100k mark.

During the cold bitter winter in MA this year I took the car to a local dealer for an oil change. They are nice people and offered to perform a CAN update on the modules. Let me tell you, this had an immediate improvement on the overall shift quality of the car and the best part is that it was free under the Volvo free software with normal scheduled maintenance deal :)

I am very happy with the car, audio system is mediocre in my opinion but the seats are typical Volvo - awesome....I still do miss my previous S70 and subsequent V70XC. I feel the 1998 versions of these cars were some of the best around. I really do enjoy the S60 though and plan to keep her for as long as possible or until I decide on an upgrade to the current chassis S60 ;-)

Regards
Steve

Hi Klaus,

Getting a new solenoid cover and software update will fix the problem???

Thank you as always.

That was an answer to a generic question regarding 03+ trannies. Usually, there are 2 different problems, both relating to hard shifts. Keeping the software up to date is important. The solenoid gasket and cover will also help. Neither is labor intensive, but the software does not come free from the dealer as it should.
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My name is Klaus and I am a V♂lv♂holic

Hi Klaus,

Double checking... Thank you.

Don`t know if it`s the same tranny but FWIW, my wife has an 03 XC70 which she has owned for 5 yrs & no transmission problems. Some electronic issues, ie, DIM but that`s a Xemodex fix.
Rich