My vehicle is a 1994 940 wagon, non-turbo automatic with about 130K miles.

I recently moved from the DC area to Nebraska, where Volvos are a rare sight indeed.

My car tends to lurch or jerk when I first apply the brakes, especially above 30 mph. However, the car stops straight.

The handling also seems to become looser over time.

Could this lurch be from bad radius rod-control arm bushings? Maybe, but...

This used to happen when I was in DC, but the Volvo dealer (Martens Volvo) fixed it whenever I had the car serviced.

After service, the car handled like new. The steering was tighter and no more lurch. By the time I was ready for service again, the steering would be starting to loosen and the lurch be coming back. But the dealer would tighten it up again.

My local mechanic in Nebraska is honest, but knows nothing about Volvos. I copied the applicable pages from the service manual and asked him to tighten all the suspension items, but this only helped a little.

What was the dealer in DC doing that my Nebraskan mechanic is missing?

Or is this just a symptom of worn out bushings??

Thanks in advance for any advice.