Well, five weeks ago I bought a cream puff '03 XC70 with only 48K miles on it, now I'm faced with the first big repair. My mechanic (independent Volvo guy who knows his stuff)gave it an enthusiastic clean bill of health when I got it. I had him change the oil and filter, and power flush the tranny (filled w/synthetic fluid). I towed my 2000 lb boat and trailer up to NH the following weekend. On the way I got a "Transmission service required" message. Stopped the car, called two local dealer service departments. Pulled the code (I travel with an OBD scanner!). It was P0740 - Torque Converter Clutch Circuit Malfunction. Told them the fluid level was good, no burned smell, seemed to be working fine. They both said "these things can throw faulty codes", dont worry too much about it. So, I cleared the codes and drove on without incident. Two weeks later on the way to work, not towing anything, the same code came on and ten minutes later a loud clunk and the tranny went into limp mode. Was only 2 miles from a dealer, had them diagnose it....they said the tranny is cooked, please pay $4400! Needless to say I had the car towed to a very good tranny shop here north of Boston and they say the TCC is cooked, can be fixed for $1600). Still painful but no where as bad as $4400.

Questions:
The dealer, the tranny shop and my mechanic tell me not to tow with this car. True?

I noticed when buying the factory hitch wiring that I could also add a "tranny shift" module to the wiring in the rear of the car. Does anyone have experience with this module? Might it make this a viable tow vehicle? The car is rated for 3300 lbs, my 2000 lb set up is well withing limits.

I'd value the opinion of any others that have faced this issue...

Thanks.