Transmission issues, first noted in reports from volvo dealership from original owner at 107k miles. Hard shifting, revving into the next gear. Needs a new transmission according to the shop I took the vehicle to look at it 2 days after buying the car. I have all the documents from the original owner which I found in the glove box, in which he spent over $15k in repairs for this car over the 8 years he owned it since new.
Volvo XC70 harsh shifting problems
16 of the 418 owner complaints about the Volvo XC70 describe harsh or hard shifting, most of them for the 2004 model year.
- owner complaints
- 16
- worst model year
- 2004
- typical mileage
- 89,000
Is there a fix? No recall or service bulletin covers this area of the car yet.
By model year
- 20061
- 20046
- 20032
- 20024
- 20013
Often reported together
Transmission failure 5Slipping 4Coil spring 4Jerking 3Loss of power 1Hesitation 1Airbag light 1
What owners say
While driving on smooth surface- heard a sudden loud sound as if something large dropped on the road. Car continued to drive normally except with a loud clunky sounds heard over bumps. Less than 5-miles later, when I pulled over to the garage- I recovered a piece of the spring coil which dropped: the driver side coil spring had broken/failed instantaneously. This uncommon problem appears to be common with xc70 owners- and could result in potentially serious accidents.
The car was going 60-63mph down the highway there was a sudden hard clunk in the transmission and my guage cluster went dead and lost all power options. Was almost hit as I tried to pull over with no blinkers, flashers, etc. After about 10 minutes I tried to start the car again and the dash came back but SRS warning was up on the info cluster. Took my car to the repair shop (authorized volvo repair) and was told there were no codes present. They drove the car for a week and same thing happened to them. They suggested that the cem volvo part number 30657629 was no good. To replace it would be 1300$ after some research I found that there are a lot of other volvo owners who have had this same occurrence, and even been in accidents due to this failure at different intervals in mileage ranging from 50k and up. Seems to me there should be a recall and some repairs made to the cem on the v70, xc70, s90, s40 etc as they all seem to do it.
During acceleration the gearing slips between 1st and 2nd gear causing a very hard shift (due to engine acceleration) when the 2nd gear engages. It is dangerous at times in ice or snow.
My wife drove our car a 2002 volvo xc70 station wagon from our second home approximately ten miles to san luis obispo calif. For shopping. She parked the car in the parking lot and went into a store. She came back out, started the car and backed out of the parking space. When she put the transmission lever in drive the engine went to full RPM and lurched forward, she applied the brakes which could not hold the high engine speed pulling the car forward. She quickly shut the engine off with the key avoiding a potential accident. The cruise control was not on and there were no objects I.e., floor mats or other items, near the accelerator pedal. Thank god my wife or no one else was injured or killed. I am a retired fire captain and private fire investigator with 30+ experience. This scared the hell out of us and we do not trust the car. I previously took the car to the dealership and reported the transmission 'clunking' they recommended that I drive it till it failed because of the high costs involved. Now, I am reading reports of coil spring failures and bearing problems. I bought this car specifically for the safety features; now I am very disappointed and extremely concerned.
Normal driving, at approximately 142,000 miles transmission service required light came on after transmission began slipping and "clunking". Transmission failure on 2001 volvo xc70. $4,000+ repair, common to the 2001 xc70 model.
2003 volvo xc 70 with geartronic transmission failure at 75k miles. Transmission flares when shifting gears and makes clunking noise when downshifting into first gear at stops. Transmission fluid has been changed and software reflashed, problem remains.
Shaking of vehicle, clunking and slipping of transmission. Transmission failed. Transmission replaced with factory remanufactured unit..
Had a transmission software update that solved a neutral shift problem, where the trans would lurch into gear from a stop. Now the transmission slips as I drive, especially when turning a corner. If I accelerate normally, the vehicle revs then clunks into gear. The dealer on the trans shops say the trans needs to be replaced. Now, I have 183000 miles on the car and bought it, hoping it would be a reliable car...I was so wrong! I purchased the car for $16,000 five years ago with 64k on it. I now have about $12,000 in repairs into this car. Needless to say I am nowhere near happy or satisfied. This is, by far the worst vehicle I've ever owned. It is like a money pit. I just wish a company like volvo, that once had a great reputation, would own up to the junk they are putting out and make some recalls. At this point, I will never purchase a volvo again and am spreading the word. Come on volvo, just own up to the problems and fix them. Do the right thing and you will be noticed. Do nothing and again, you will be noticed but not for a good thing.
Volvo 2003 xc 70 transmission shifting problem, loss of 1st gear along with hard shift between 2-3rd.
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the Volvo XC70 harsh shifting
Which Volvo XC70 years have harsh or hard shifting problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2004 (6 complaints), 2002 (4 complaints) and 2001 (3 complaints).
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