Battery drained by open trunk over three days. At starting, dash lights on but engine makes only a ticking sound. Dead battery. Closed trunk and connected battery charger/starter. Lights brighter, engine turns over, catches and dies. Immobiliser does not recognize key.

Leave car, lock/unlock with remote. This does NOT clear problem so call dealer who suggests what I had just done, then says battery not charged enough to maintain required voltage so must leave car on charger for three hours then repeat. Follow instructions; no joy.

Have car hauled to dealer. They cannot start so push into bay (on Wednesday noon). I wait. Problem? "Do you have your other keys/fob with you. Computer detects immobiliser problem and either you have a bad computer or a bad key chip. Need other keys to confirm." Drop off all keys/fobs 0630 Thursday. They call office to confirm failure of computer. They need to order: computer module, two software sets, three new keys. They need to charge for: five hours diagnostics, one hour labour. Parts will be in on Friday (I'll be out of town) and I can therefore pick it up on Monday.

Arrive home Saturday night to phone message from dealer. "Volvo will not send the parts without further diagnostics to confirm exact problem and reason for failure. They will be contacting us on Monday to offer tech support. Your car cannot be ready before Tuesday at the earliest."

Has anyone already suffered through this particular pain and offer me the correct solution to pass on to the dealer. This car is no longer under warranty and hence the labour cost is becoming worrisome.