I'v found a number of V70 owners now with similar problems. One owner had the harness go up in flames. I was lucky, it only melted the harness wires. I'm getting absolutely no resolution from Volvo. The dealer is discounting the parts but that's all they are willing to do. It's not the dealers fault, it's a Volvo responsibility. I'm not sure how to process with this, if in fact I have a case to stand on in the first place. As a past hardware design engineer, in my opinion, this is a design fault. The current rating of the wire was exceeded before the rating of the fuse. The job of the fuse is to protect the circuit.

Any suggestions as to how I should proceed and who I should contact are welcome.

I went the wagon route as an alternate to an SUV. The fact is, like you indicate, we need the room so the RX300 is the logical choice. Not the agile ride that the Volvo offers but comfort it has, and that seems to get higher on my priority list as I get older. We have a 300SE that just keeps on ticking with never a pause. Prior to these we've always had a Camary and an Accord, again with never a problem.