I tend to agree. This my 2000 V70R is my first Volvo. I like the car, but the at ~90K miles, The electronics can be a nightmare. I had a similar problem, that my motor would run intermittently and unpredictable. Codes were read and they came back as " blower motor overcurrent drawn" or something to that effect. Sometimes with the fan on high speed I could hear a noise, like the blade rubbing also. Turns out that a louvre door arm was broken and would cause the noise, probably the noise an overcurrent as well. I replace both. Too bad the bury all this stuff so far in the dash.

In the process they found that the MOTOR that switches the ducts from recirc to fresh air doesn't work (I miss the good ole days of a mechanical lever/cable). I didn't have it replaced because of the sticker shock from having all the other stuff done, but perhaps I should have. Fans and A/C works fine now, but I am noticing something similar in that the flow of air is MUCH more with the car at rest vs. at highway speed (with no adjusting of the fan speed). I figure it has something to do with the recirc door and some effect of airflow at high speed?