[COLOR=blue]Hi-
I am new to the forum and I wish it were under a better circumstance. Had our cross country towed last night for the third time in a month. Keep getting an immobilizer alert on the message board. Our service dept at the dealer did replace the antenna ring once but the problem occured again. Got the car back after the second repair and all seemed well but within 4 days the car failed again.
Any thoughts??? So frustrating and I'm afraid to take our children out in the vehicle for fear we will all get stuck somewhere. Thanks for any thoughts anyone may have.............

Is the problem happening with all of the three keys provided by Volvo? It might just be one bad key?

Hi buffalo-

I am new here and looking for the same answers! I've totally stopped driving our xc after three strandings because of the immobiliser. Luckily we have a "spare"; our "hauling" car- an old 850 that I am driving everywhere.

My husband keeps trying with the xc (he must be more optimistic than I am) and he is stranded yet again today. It is the second time in two weeks.

The dealer keeps telling us to wait five hours then it will start. As if this is a good option while standing in a parking lot somewhere...

It happens with all the keys; we've had the ring replaced...still no luck.

Maybe more people will chime in with success stories. Otherwise I love the car!

I had my 2001 XC70 parked in the hospital's garage while my son was being born. On one of my many trips to the car over those 3 days I found a set of keys I had lost and replaced long ago. Since it cost me $300 to replace them, I was happy to have a spare. I wondered if the remote would still work and tried it out. Doors locked just fine!

The day we were sent home I went to the car so I could pull up front and load my wife and son. Car would not start. "Immobilizer. See Manual," read the message board. I didn't have a manual with me. I jumped to the conclusion that I had triggered some sort of anti-theft device by using the long lost, disabled remote, so I called my dealer.

"Have it towed to us. We'll have you back up and running in a couple of days." This was not an option, so I searched the internet. Lot's of questions about this, but no answers and I needed to get my family home.

I ended up calling a friend for a ride and had the car towed. At the dealership the guy took my keys and locked/unlocked the door 5 times in a row with the remote. This reset the immobilizer and I was on my way. Obviously they couldn't just tell me that over the phone, but good god. I hope this info can help someone else.

Just to add to this:

My volvo S40 1999 wouldnt start. Ignition turned, didnt start, and all the dash lights came on. Immobilizer light was flashing. Just would not even turn over.

Done the instruction below from Obey the Fist and it worked fine.

I ended up calling a friend for a ride and had the car towed. At the dealership the guy took my keys and locked/unlocked the door 5 times in a row with the remote. This reset the immobilizer and I was on my way. Obviously they couldn't just tell me that over the phone, but good god. I hope this info can help someone else.

Thanks guys. I will try this next time. My problem was that I put my key next to a magnetized key from work. I ran into an another problem, I spent 10 mins trying to start the car, then it finally started but my check engine light went on. After driving for 15 min I turned the car off and then turned it back on the the check engine light went off. Did anybody else experienced this.

I am experiencing the same problem with my 2001 V40 in the last few weeks. Sometimes it would start perfectly, sometimes it requires 3~5 tries before it starts. A few times it won't start altogether. I realized it was a faulty immobilizer when I checked the dashboard, as there is a blinking car icon with an "X" over it. This icon means the Immobilizer has been activated and hence won't allow the car to start. I tried the locking and unlocking of the doors five times with the remote to reset the immobilizer and it seems to cure the problem each time. I'll report back in a few weeks to confirm if this is indeed true.