So I have had a problem with this for quite a while. I bought a 2000 Volvo s80 about 6 months ago, other than the A/C and this bottoming out issue, it runs GREAT! Anyways, after I bought it I went over a dip in the road and "BAM" the car hit bottom, it freaked me out because other cars I have been in never did that. So I had my dad look at it and my Passenger/Right lower Control Arm was worn out. He bought it and replaced it, and so we thought the problem was fixed. Nope. A few days later it hit bottom again. So he suggests that I buy new Struts. He replaced them and the car drove so smooth and nice, but unfortunately, it bottomed out AGAIN. Now he is telling me its probably just normal for Volvos and believes that I just dont know how to drive . But I learned, and now slow down ALOT over the dips, but I will hit bottom if I go over 30mph. What do you guys think it could be?
My brother claims I should just buy something to lift it a bit, but I dont know about that...

Thanks in advance :-)

 

if anything your springs could be worn out, making the car sag down towards the road more than normal.

 

You bought a 2000 6 months ago which mean it 12 years old, which probably means it has over 100k miles. Mccaffrey is right, springs are what you need your father put struts on which only dampen the up-down motion the car does when going over bumps, springs are what resist the car from hitting the ground. In theory, buying new struts with worn spring could have made your problem worse.