Last week I turned a corner and my 2001 V70 XC's (60K miles) performance died. I limped down the road to a parking lot, shut it off for an hour, and then started it up. The problem disappeared, only to return 2 days ago. I shut it off again, waited a few minutes, started it up and drove it to my dealer. As some of you probably suspect, the dealer said I had a faulty electronic throttle control module and it would cost about $900. After telling him to fix my car, I came home and searched the Brickboard forums, finding all the previous posts about this problem.

The next day, I called my dealer and spoke with the service manager (in a civil manner). I told him this problem was unacceptable and that I wanted to talk with Volvo NA rep. He interceded on my behalf and called Volvo NA, who offered to pay for the part (about $580) if I would pay the shop labor ($240). Naturally, I accepted.

I think this is the best of a bad situation. Granted, the ECM is a POS, and I would have rather had the dealer eat the labor, but I'm happier than I would have been if I hadn't searched these forums. I'm also thankful that my dealer isn't like some of the dealers I've read about that you out there have dealt with.

I hope this helps some of you who may encounter this problem in the future (no doubt there will be many in this predicament).