I searched the web, and I'm kinda surprised that nobody has started a class action lawsuit about the S80 transmissions.

Yet.

Then again, Ford is getting sued so much at any given time they'd probably hardly notice.

FWIW, Honda has had some problems with it's Odyssey and Acura transmissions, not enough to even show up on the Consumer Reports "frequency of repair" charts, but they extended the warranty on the transmissions to 100,000 miles. For free.

We had purchased the "Hondacare" 100,000 mile extended warranty before the announcement because I had heard the rumblings about the Honda transmission problems. Foiled again!

This obviously doesn't help you with your present problem. IMO 75,000 is a little early for a transmission failure. Wife's - now my daughter's '88 Merc received a rebuilt one at 150,000 miles. It cost about $1200 I think, so $2000 for a Geartronic is probably not outlandish.

Anyway, you may want to consider the 100k waranty on your next (!) Volvo (and dump it at 99,999 miles) or take into consideration how different automobile manufacturers handle early failures and how often their components fail before you sign the check next time. (I certainly will.) Information about failure rates is available every year in the April issue of Consumer Reports for $4.95 on your newsstand.

-Punxsutawney Phil

'98 V70T5M 122,222 miles

"So many warranty service receipts they won't fit in the glovebox!"