I remember about a post on a forum, a Volvo owner who mentioned he used to wait at a traffic light with the transmission in N. He mentioned the transmission failed some time later on. Was it due to having it often times in N while the car was idling ? Who knows, but just to be safe I leave in always in D. Maybe in N with the engine idling there is not enough pressure to lubricate all bearings - but this is just a huge assumption of mine. Worth noticing that the transmission is not designed to stay in N with the engine running in any specific situation. The N is there only for some safety reason, so the R and D gears are not close to each other. Also remember the 'neutral stop shifting' problem with the 01-02 transmissions. I prefer to keep it safe when there is no clear answer.
As for 'engine breaking' with these automatic transmissions, in hilly areas I would just shift it in 4, 3 or even 2 if the car doesn't go too fast (but the 2nd gear seems a little 'rough' on these transmissions)
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