To all those affected by ETM issues I sincerely hope that now it has gone on Watchdog the momentum will grow, as it looks as in this case Volvo/Ford aren’t listening to what there customers are saying (SAFETY, UNPREDICTABILITY AND FINANCIAL LOSS THROUGH A MISSCONCEIVED DESIGN) without which they would not exist, just look at the USA market.
Eventually through the determination already shown and revising your strategy Corporations eventually succumb.
I wish you all well and a successful conclusion to this whole mess.

My my200 t5 etm failed I fortunalty had a aftermarket warranty and it was covered and I was fully reimbersed. I no longer have the car but if you have a used car warranty it may be worth checking I had mine with warranty direct best 300 I ever spent got a geartronic bos as well

BBC Watchdog
 

While waiting for the MoT to be finished yesterday at an independent garage, I was handed a flyer about re-manufactured ETM units, as I had earlier discussed the symptoms with one of the mechanic. My car has been converted to dual fuel and is much more sensitive to fuel problems while running on LPG.

I called the company, who quoted £250 plus courier plus VAT and said the car would be off the road for three days. I then started doing some research on the internet and came across this site, and realised this was not the 'isolated' problem the dealer I had bought the car from had alluded to.

After collecting the car I called Watchdog and left a message and then called Volvo, and also left a message. I didn't realise Watchdog were running the piece and did not see it. However, Volvo called back late this afternoon, said they had been 'inundated' with calls today and that I would get a free software upgrade.

Time will tell whether that solves the probnlem, but at least they have now been forced to concede there is a problem. I was very close to ordering a re-manufactured unit, and am glad I came across this site.

I'm glad it worked out well for you. However, when I last had a warranty policy with Warranty Direct, they did not cover "manufacturing defects" which left me hugely out of pocket when my dealer admitted to them that some repairs they did were to correct a known issue. Hence, all those with aftermarket warranties should definitely check this with the respective companies because VCUK might have just done you the additional 'service' of voiding any cover of the ETM with this public admission.

Sadly this whole mess is going to be hugely damaging for Volvo and as much as I'd hate to say it, they thoroughly deserve it for the way they've handled the issue.

My efforts to defend Volvo and prove an insight into whats happening have obviously been taken far too seriously so I will just be quiet on the matter.

My efforts to defend Volvo and prove an insight into whats happening have obviously been taken far too seriously so I will just be quiet on the matter.

volvo source the parts so they're responsible for their reliability,if they have problems with a component then they should get onto the manufacturer.We buy our our cars off volvo,not marrelli!

After-Shock,

As a consumer, your comments seem very odd. Without wishing to appear paranoid, have you been tasked to make these remarks? I certainly hope not, that would be far too sinister.

I guess it is natural that you feel an affinity towards your employer. Believe it or not, I also feel loyalty to Volvo. I have had good service over the years and have no doubt that the older Volvo models (particularly the 240 and perhaps 740) were superior to their competition. That's assuming one values safety, durability and reliability above handling and high speed performance. Though as I and others have said, the ETM problem is real and unsatisfactory and not what one would expect from a quality brand.

Incidentally, the increased problem in the USA maybe caused by driving conditions causing increased localised wear on the potentiometer track - American roads are straight and very long.

Melvyn Smith
PS Incidentally, why is there a tendency on these forums to hide behind pseudonyms? At best this seems somewhat impersonal.

My father owns the dealerships all across the US and is one of Volvo's largest dealers in the world. And you would be mistaken about the part not having an almost 100% (94% to be exact before 100,000 miles) failure rate. The Volvo documents in federal court in the United States (which Volvo lost the fight to have made hidden) prove this. See, this is one time you should not have been speaking when you truly didn't know what you are talking about.

Also, Aftershock, did you know that it is against Volvo corporate employment policy to speak on forums like this even when it is to help? Volvo Cars UK verified this for me today and have been reading your posts and will be making contact with the site owner to obtain your information because by law (and yes I am a solicitor) when you are employed by a corporation and make these somments you are speaking for the entire company by proxy and Volvo Group could be held legally liable for the comments you make as an employee. Trust me, if the BBC could get my information to contact me over this Volvo can certainly get yours. And I do know for a fact that Volvo Customer Care UK and their management team are watching this forum because they can repeat back to me word for word what I am writing.

And just so you know, the ETM part by the manufacturer is the same in the US as it is here as it is in Australia (where they are also being investigated as this is now a safety issue in both countries). I verified this by having my part number of my failed ETM compared against those in the US and they are all from the same plant.

Are these documents in the public domain?

This shows the power of web-communities to make corporations sit up and take some notice. If the Watchdog programme brings more people to this forum, the momentum will grow.
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On a slightly different topic, there is some interesting research by Cambridge University on the rate of safety related recalls by different manufacturers in the UK over a ten year period. Volvo come out mid-table with a rate of 53% (recalls as a percentage of total registrations) between 1992-2002. Far east manufacturers typically had recall rates below 30% and some (Subaru and Isuzu) had a ZERO percent rate. Several different theories are proposed for why this might be and if you're really interested, you can read the full report at http://www.cbr.cam.ac.uk/pdf/wp295.pdf