My 18 year old daughter just purchased her first car using her life savings. It's a 2009 XC70 3.2. I found this car for her and encouraged her to buy it (I'm a proud owner of a '93 940T wagon that will never die). As I was driving her car home from the Volvo dealership in Charleston, SC where she purchased it, I noticed vibrations in the front of the car when the speed reached 60 MPH (shame on me for not doing the test drive on the freeway but it was rush hour so I didn't want to get stuck in traffic). I am going to take it to get the tires balanced on Monday but my fear is it may not be the tires. The vibration seems greater under acceleration and even goes away sometimes when cruising at a steady speed. I've seen something similar on a 2009 Ford Flex and I was told is was an issue with the torque converter and it would be a very expensive fix.

Any suggestions on what it could be on this XC70? How can I diagnose it and what can be done to fix it? After I rule out tire imbalance, I plan to take it back to the dealership in Charleston (2 hours away) but we bought it "As is" so I know they will tell me it's my problem to fix.

Thanks in advance for the help.

Jeff