Don't get me wrong- I love my Volvo- even after reading about all the issues others have had (and even with my recent problems), I would still take my Volvo XC 1999 over any other car

with that said- I thought I would share the recent string of problems I had- maybe it will save someone the aggrevation I went through

At 45K, I went into my Volvo dealer for an oil change- they also decided to check for open issues- replaced a minor few items- but the major item was a SOFTWARE UPGRADE

By 47k I felt my Volvo was shifting a bit hard- it seemed to be holding onto gears for a bit too long- thought maybe it was just changes in my driving habits- I used to drive long trips, now I was doing a lot of city driving, very little highway- figured I would wait until my 50k serivce

At 49k I went in for service- warrantee was almost up, decided I better do something about the shifting issue- The dealer told me I needed NEW SOFTWARE-

By 49.5k I thought the care felt timid- couldn't put my finger on the problem- wasn't a shifting issue anymore, it just didn't feel right- maybe a big sluggish during acceleration

By 50K the car was sounding a bit strange, again, not a noise I could put my finger on- noise was in the lower gears, while mildly accelerating- sounded a bit higher pitch than normal.

At 50.5k, while driving home from vacation, the cruise control stopped working- no new noises, no new shifting issues

At 51.5k, the car was at a stop light and sounding like the engine was going to cut out. Light changed to green, acceleration was very slow amd the ETS light came on. Pulled over, shut the car off, restarted it, and the car drove normally- but the ETS light reamined on

At 51.5k went back to service for the ETS light- and guess what- more NEW SOFTWARE- then dealer put it under a goodwill warrantee- I was now a bit concerned that all of these software changes were masking a mechanical problem- was told no mechanical issue- they were just following Volvo protocol, and according to my car codes, all I needed was software

By 52k the car was again, not feeling quite right- hesitant- again, no issue that I could put my finger on

By 52.5k the car was surging a bit, not much, but while mainting speed to slightly accelerating from about 30-50mph you would feel a surge periodically- didn't think it was tied to shifting

At 53k (yesterday-today)- car lost the ability to go up a slight incline, ETS light cam on, car in part was idling very loud, and seemed to be idling too slow. Turned car off, turned car on, drove fine, but ETS light back on. This morning brought it back for service. Dealer said, NEW SOFTWARE-
I said no- NEW ETM- so, $600 parts and labor- they decided to cover it under a goodwill

We'll see- this has been a very frustrating ordeal so far- but maybe my "big brown moose" is on the road to recovery?