Does my car have a case of Last Car Paymentitis?

I have a 2002 V70XC Sportwagon. It has always been very reliable and maitained well. Now that I have 1 payment left it decided not to start. You can turn the key and electrical comes on but won’t roll over. I had it towed to a local import service and they have had it a week. He can find nothing wrong with it. The car started everytime! Help!

What did the mechanic check? It could be the battery, starter, ignition switch, or even the gear shift. Does it make any noises when you try to start it?

It sounds like it might have just been a dead battery. If the mechanic tested the battery and it is fine, is it possible you left the lights on inside the car or something like that? Sometimes a battery is too dead to start a car but still has enough juice to power the dashboard lights and other accessories.

Maybe you should just buy yourself some good jumper cables (if you don’t have them already) and drive it to see if it happens again.

Judy, It Does Sound Like A Case Of “Last Car Paymentitis”. Get Plenty Of Rest And Hang In There Or It Could Turn Into A Case Of The Dreaded “New Car Fever”.

Buy your car something nice . . . I know. . . Has your car ever had the battery replaced ? If not, that old battery doesn’t owe you anything. It’s due. Your car will thank you and say, “How did you know my size ?”

I would much prefer an experienced car that has no payments and a case of temporary irregularity to a new one, feeling fit, with a case of “Paymentosis.”

This too will pass.
CSA

First of all you do not need a specialist in imports to fix this simple problem. I assume the engine sort of begins to try to start but quickly loses cranking power.
Many chain operations can and will diagnose your problem. Most likely you have a weak battery, which are always suspect after five years. Aside from that, your battery connections may be corroded (which should be a very inexpensive repair, say twenty to fourty dollars). You might just have loose battery terminals. See if you can twist either terminal by hand - if you can, that is likely your problem.
Otherwise, get a better mechanic. This guy you are using is just stringing your problem along as some diagnostic mystery that he will use to keep the money flowing from you to him.

If the car’s starting motor was spinning the motor and it won’t start running; that is common when the fuel pump fails. I had a '98 V70XC that just won’t start one morning and it was due to the fuel pump dying.

If the starting motor won’t turn over the motor at all; could be a bad connection to the battery and the ground. Clean off all the connections to both sides of the battery and where the cables connect to ground and the starting motor (or starter solenoid). If the battery and connections are good it could be a bad starter with with “dead spot” or a bad solenoid.

Not a sign of last payment, but rather a Volvo getting old. My V70XC became so expensive due to multiple repairs I had to sell it or go broke. A Volvo like yours gets very expensive to repair, if you keep it be prepared for more repair bills - big ones. You can expect to pay about $3,000 a year for repairs every year from now on.

I read your post as meaning that when the key is turned to the START position that the starter motor itself does not physically rotate the engine and that you do not hear any sounds when this occurs.

If this car has an automatic transmission the most likely cause is a faulty neutral safety switch.
Other possibilities after that could be a faulty ignition switch or starter relay if so equipped.