New owner: annoying problem on first day!

**Ernie Ball** · 07-14-2012, 10:00 PM

I bought a 2000 V70 XC SE with 111,000 on the clock yesterday. Car was in excellent condition with full service history (maintained by Vol-Tech volvo specialists in Portland) and the guy I bought it from did all maintenance when it was needed.

Overall, I'm pleased with the purchase but we were out for our first drive in it to a place I wasn't familiar with. Had the GPS with us. I plugged it into the 12-volt socket on the console and the socket punched right through the wood (or simulated wood)! So annoying. I can't fish it out and even if I could, I'm not sure how I'd mount it so it wouldn't happen again. The wood does appear to be chipped at one part of the ring.

I'm guessing I'm not the first person this has happened to. Anyone got any ideas about how to repair? I could take it to Vol-Tech but I'm guessing it's going to cost more than I want to pay for something like this.

Great forum, glad I found it.

**BEJinFBK** · 07-15-2012, 12:46 AM

In your position, I would remove the console for further inspection.
It's a relatively simple thing to do that will provide the access you'll need
to make a good, solid repair. For now, you can just use the rear outlet.

**JRL** · 07-15-2012, 04:48 AM

I can shed some light.
The socket is held on to the console by a cheap plastic clip which now is broken
Regardless of what you do the console needs to be removed.
If it's not in perect condition try finding a good used one
Erie vovo has some good used consoles ( www.erievovo.com 1 888 volvo 13)
When the console is removed, you can see how badly the clip is broken, if it's a straight break you can possibly epoxy it back on, if not, find a good used console piece and still support the bracket underneath with adding some epoxy around it before you reinstall it.
I also recommend a new shifter bulb while the console is out, if it's working now, it may go bad soon (12 years old) and now would be the time to replace it.

If the wood is chipped around the socket, it may already have been repaired once

**Ernie Ball** · 07-15-2012, 01:19 PM

Thanks for the advice, guys. Anyone have a quick link to console removal instructions for this car? I've googled but only come up with instructions for consoles that don't look like mine.