I just bought a used 1998 s70 with 35000 mi. Even at the dealer it seemed aggressive. I have to apply the brake when stopped, if I let off then the car moves on it's own. It is much worse in reverse. Whenever I stop I can't stop smoothly. I always have a little jerk no matter how gently I try to apply the brakes. The idle is about 1000 rpm. After I've stopped I sense a pressure wanting to make the car go. Sometimes when I let off the brake the car "relaxes", but not always.

Overall this would seem like too high and idle, but the dealer says the idle can't be set.

The dealer said this is normal for this car (I didn't try reverse there, it is much worse in reverse. The car really gets going with no gas).

Is this aggressive behaviour normal for this car?

Though all cars with automatic transmissions will roll at idle when no brakes are applied, yours seems a little excessive. If the dealer insists that this is normal behavior, have him demonstrate that "normal" behavior on a new car or a used car (similar to yours) that he has on his lot. Chances are he will fail to prove his point.

Good luck.

What are you talking about ? Have you ever had a car that didn't move when it was in drive. Every Automatic that I have ever owned would move in drive on a flat surface , with the engine at idle.

How's your fuel mileage? Have you ever had a throttle body service?

This sounds like a prime candidate for the throttle body service. Basically, they detach the duct work for the intake to the throttle body, use some BG44 brand carb and choke/fuel injector cleaner in an aerosol can that's oxygen sensor safe, and spray it into the throttle body. They also use a small brush to help scrub it clean. You'd be surprise just how incredibly dirty it can get. All this dark brown/blak gunk gets dissolved by the BG44 and little dribbles out. After using the cleaner and a small brush, as well as working the throttle butterfly or plate back and forth to make sure no varnish is left, they'll button everything up and voila.

The idle sounds high to me. I had a similar problem in a chrysler a while back, the idle air control valve had gunlked up preventing it from closing down all the way (i.e. the computer could not reduce the air flow to the engine to reduce the idle to normal). I was able to fix it in my car by removing the electonic valve actuator and spraying a little gumout carb cleaner in the by-pass hole, I then used some tri-flow lubricant on the actuator.

good luck

Rob, '98 s70 T-5m