I have been driving a 93 Corolla for the past 14 years, and it finally pooped out at 107000 miles. The rings were damaged and we were told that the engine needed to be replaced…plus our 14 year old 6 ft 2 son was growing out of the backseat!I have always wanted a Volvo…I found a 99 V70 wagon with 75000 miles…it’s in pristine condition and seems to have been well taken care of…it’s a beautiful car…I am concerned that between 20 to 35 mph when accelerating it seems to be gutless and I really have to push the gas pedal to get some speed. Is this how these cars are made or am I just not used to driving this particular vehicle…mind you I was always a light foot on the Corolla, because when I gave it too much gas…smoke would come spewing out the backend! Followed by curses and waving fingers from all of those in the vicinity of my tailpipe…yikes…This is not the Turbo model…I am just wondering do I need to get used to this car or is just the way these are made…it just does not seem to have much kick to it…it is steady and slowly accelerates, but seems to be a little gutless…Is this just the way these cars are built? I did have a prepurchase inspection done by a Volvo mechanic and he did not find any major defects in the car, just a few little things (a few little expensive things) Is it also true that these cars are expensive to maintain, I had always heard this but really didn’t understand until getting an estimate from the mechanic…A little advice from anyone who is experienced with Volvos would be much appreciated! I am a little concerned that I have made a mistake and purchased just a little too much car!
your problem description is very subjective. Try pushing harder…
Any chance of your test driving a similar model? Or, perhaps you could time the 0-60mph acceleration (or 0-50), that would give us some data to start with. I assume this is an auto transmission. Just find a vacant highway, car well warmed up, in drive. From a stop, push the pedal to the floor and time how long it takes till the speedo hits 60. There will be someone here who can tell you if it’s good or not.
The throttle position sensor may have a dirty spot causing this. There may be a shifting problem causing this. You are most likely going to have to have a shop look it over.