We purchased this vehicle about 5K miles ago and it currently has about 188K miles. It used to have pretty good acceleration from a stop and ran pretty well overall.

Recently however, my wife was complaining that it was running a little sluggishly and seemed to shift abruptly. I took it for a test drive and confirmed it. It accelerates very slowly, then shifts into second gear abruptly.

It does not seem to be bogging down and the gas mileage doesn't seem to be negatively affected. The check engine light does not come on. I checked the transmission fluid level and color - both are fine. I don't think it's the ECT sensor -- we already have experienced that issue (loose wire) & fixed it. The symptoms are not the same.

Any ideas on what the likely causes could be and what I should check first? I don't really have the budget to take it to a mechanic right now.

Thanks in advance.

 

Even if you don't have a cel check for codes anyway. Somethimes the bulb is bad and I have heard of them being totally missing. Check for vacuum leaks, loose lines.

As for the shifting it may not be related. When we got my daughters S70, it shifted kinda rough. Turned out to be the lower torque mount was worn/weak. Felt like it was shifting hard from 1st to 2nd mainly.

 

Thanks. I checked all the codes. A2 (Fuel System) no codes. A6 (Ignition) didn't flash at all. The only codes I got were B1 (Climate Control): 412, 414, 417, 418, 419, B5 (SRS): 127 and A7 (Instrument): 113.

Not surprised about the climate control - my AC works intermittently and seems to quit working when putting load on the engine.

 

When was the last time the car had a tune up? Could be a worn plug or something like that. Also, check all the vacuum lines, that could be the issue too.