Thank you for your e-mail below. The unit does not meet emission laws in
the USA and therefore under their laws they have offered an extended
warranty on the part. The part meets our emission laws and we have no
intention at the moment to launch any similar action here in the UK.
Should we do so you would be informed.
If you are experiencing difficulties with your car, whatever they may
be, we would always recommend that you take your car to your local Volvo
Authorised dealership for investigation, diagnosis and repair. Any
accident arising after you have noticed a problem and not had repairs
carried out would be your responsibility. Your local Volvo Authorised
dealer can diagnose if the symptoms are related to the ETS. It is
possible that other issues may exhibit similar characteristics but in
any event the car should be taken to an Authorised Volvo dealer or
repair centre to ensure correct diagnosis.
Volvo do not consider the issue to be safety related and like many other
manufacturers, will only use 'limp mode' under very specific conditions
to prevent damage to the car and more importantly to allow the driver to
stay in control of their vehicle but with reduced acceleration and top
speed. Limp mode is designed so that the car does not come to a sudden
halt and can still be driven to a position of safety. (There are varying
levels of limp, depending on driving style some drivers will notice
little difference, whilst others may detect a slight performance
reduction. Only in certain scenarios is Mechanical Limp Mode activated
which restricts the speed of the car.)
As your car is one of those that may be potentially affected by the
issue raised on Watchdog in February 2006 Volvo Car UK Limited would
like to arrange for your car to be upgraded with new software to improve
the performance of the ETS. The new software is going to improve the
operation of the ETS, however, if the ETM is faulty it will not cure it
as this is an electrical component and as with any component it may
fail. Your dealer is best placed to determine what is going to be
necessary to repair your car once they have had an opportunity to
inspect it.
We are in the process of rolling out the updated software and your
dealer will be able to tell you whether it is currently available for
your car or not. If not we will be in contact nearer the time to arrange
a convenient time for the software to be installed free of charge. At
the same time as the software upgrade we will take the opportunity to
clean the throttle body and check the engine crankcase ventilation
system of your Volvo. All of the this work will be carried out free of
charge by your Volvo dealer.
Experience to date shows that some cars submitted for this work have
been suffering from other faults or failures within the engine
management system. It is therefore important that your Volvo Dealer
checks your car for any Diagnostic Codes prior to commencing work for
the software upgrade. Any such additional work would not be covered by
our goodwill gesture.
As with all components the ETS can be subject to failure. As the ETS is
not subject to a recall in the UK we would view any failures on a
goodwill basis dependent age, mileage, denied usage and loyalty to the
dealership network as demonstrated by a full Volvo dealership serving
history. If the diagnosis is that there is a problem with the ETS (it is
possible that other issues may exhibit similar characteristics) there
are several measures that the dealer can perform to resolve the issue
they can clean & refit the ETM; they can replace it with a new one;
apply the ETS software upgrade when it becomes available.
Your dealer will be able to contact us to discuss your case at which
time we will be better able to determine whether we have a
responsibility to assist with any costs involved and if so, to what
degree.
Veronica Knight
Customer Relations Consultant
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