I obviously can't tell how the car was driven by the previous owner, but it had a full service history that showed a gearbox oil change. I think this was at 40,000 miles, but can't remember for sure.
Interesting to note that Ford literature suggests that the Powershift should be maintenance free for at least 130,000 miles.
To reiterate, I fully expect that there should be a small number of these units that fail ahead of time and you take that chance when you buy a second hand car. What I struggle with is that Volvo are not investing the tiniest fraction of their advertising budget in helping out the very few customers who get caught out by a simple fault that their service department is not equipped to diagnose. My car seems fine once the engine has been stopped and re-started. It is just like replacing an engine because the mechanic has neither the diagnostic tools or the training to know that the water pump has failed.
I have called a few gearbox specialists. None is able to help. I asked one if they could do a swop if I found a written off car with the same gearbox. I was told that this probably wouldn't work. It may not be the box itself at fault, but the control system, and even if both were swopped out, the software would probably need to be sorted.
In the not too distant future I can see quite a few cars being prematurely scrapped because their second hand value is the same or less than the cost of a replacement Powershift gearbox.
I bought my 940 second hand for £2000 and I reckon it would be well worth replacing its auto box if it failed. The car is seventeen years old. I am all for the new technology, but I think the manufacturer needs to be serious about supporting it if they want it to succeed.
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