2002 Volvo XC70 2.4 turbo
Summary:
Nice car shame about the reliability
Faults:
Auto transmission started to fail after 18 months. The local dealer was very good, but they couldn't rectify the problem. The car had the gearbox changed twice, it is now on number 3, and was then told it was was a software problem. Specially written software for us still didn't work.
Driver's side seat started to get a bit soft where the weight is most whilst getting in and out of the car.
General Comments:
Volvo went to a nice shape in 2002 but they didn't back it up with reliability which used to be their good point and the reason we bought it. They went and tried to be too clever with an "Adaptive" gearbox. We sold it on three months before the warranty ran out because we had no faith in its long term durability.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No
Review Date: 8th May, 2005
2nd Feb 2009, 12:06
I bought my 2002 Volvo XC70 as a "Volvo Certified" used vehicle in 2004. The car had about 48,000 miles on it and it now has 96,000 miles on it. The warranty that came with the car as a "Volvo Certified" used vehicle ran out a few years ago.
Since the car has nearly 100,000 miles on it, I recently drained out of the transmission about one gallon of fluid and replaced it with about four liters of transmission fluid I purchased directly from the Volvo dealer. Once the new fluid was in, I rolled the car off the ramps and took it for a test drive only to realize that when the car shifts from 2nd gear into third, it's like shifting into neutral; then engine revs and there is no forward propulsion of the car. In other words, I changed the trans fluid and effectively ruined the transmission because it has no third gear anymore.
I've searched around the Internet a bit and found many woeful tales of XC70 owners and their extremely fragile transmissions. I'm not the first person to change the fluid and have third gear go away. Apparently the "fix" (a used transmission) costs no less than $4,000 and doesn't provide much confidence because they tend to fail for odd reasons as well. I don't know what to add other than it's frustrating to receive marketing material from Volvo when I am so deeply unhappy with their product.