60 000 mile service

Hello all, I'm in need for a 60000 service on my XC90 and wondering
what others do for this. we have a V70 where we did it at the dealer
and it was over $1000. I'm thinking it can be done for less than
that... are there any major service dealers who can do that full
service or would I have to go to a local shop ?

any ideas/experiences would be appreciated !
Gaute

 

Have you checked into all of the work that will be performed? Or are
you just trying to get the cost down without regard to what might be
missed?

Why are you thinking that????

All Volvo dealers will perform a major service, so I do not understand
your question.

If you want to pay less just consult the owners manual to find out
specifically which components are replaced at that service interval.
Buy the components at pep boys and then ask your local gas station to
perform the replacement.

I'm one of those guys who is willing to pay to have a competent set of
eyes look for problems while performing all of the required
replacements and services. I'm also one of those guys who intends to
drive his car for 300,000 miles.

 

Roadie, it's good that you take the time to reply to posts. What
isn't so good is your attitude. This guy makes a valid point: When I
bought my '86 Civic new, and for the next ten years, dealer service was
affordable - a bit more expensive, but more comprehensive. Then the
prices started to rise, while the thoroughness actually dropped. Now
it's reached the point where we can't usually *afford* to have a dealer
do major service. I was recently quoted *$1400* for this sort of work on
our 13 year old Camry wagon. I know that some of the techs agree: the
dealers are driving people away, and cars are becoming less well
maintained as a direct result, especially when the indie shops peg their
prices close to the dealers.

Getting back to your tone: why are you so hostile? Are you a dealer?
If so, why did you get all bent out of shape when I noted that
Valvoline's oil change chain has been turned into a high-pressure sales
multiple service center? Do you just take the contrarian position
because it's more fun? I've been both asking and answering questions in
the Volvo forum for about a decade, and one of the reasons I like it is
that *most* of the people here are both helpful and genuinely nice. I'm
not asking you to be nice, but how about "polite"...? "Not hostile"
would also be fine!

 

I'm not a dealer and I've owned and performed self-maintenance on a
lot of cars. If I read his post correctly he is concerned about cost
and cost alone, which is a very shortsighted way to approach the
maintenance of cars that cost $30k or more. My point is that it costs
money to do the complicated job of maintaining a car the right way.
Either he pays someone or he does it himself, but the costs are still
there. I'm at the point where I will pay someone to do the proper
servicing. It makes no financial sense to shortchange service on
cars.

The cost of dealer or reputable independent service really has not
changed that much if you convert the dollars to some constant base.
Comparing absolute dollar cost of service in 1986 to service in 2008
is pointless because it ignores the effect of inflation on all
prices. It's a bit like looking back wistfully to when a loaf of
bread cost $00.50 but forgeting that salaries were commensurately
lower back then too.

 

Hey Roadie, glad you have money to pay dealer price for their service,
as long as your happy with it thats all that matters...

I bought this car because its safe, 4WD and has room. fact is I never
considered it to be reliable, any volvo for that matter but willing to
live with it.... the service needed isnt different from service I
needed on my 1972 POS VW. If it included: service fiberoptic
Navigation and antenna coupler along with biturbo Central Processing
Unit I think I'd have second thoughts but to me any shop with
experience should be able to do this just as well as volvo, if not
better. BTW, didn't mention that the $1000 service included rotating
tires... that was the only think I knew how to check and they DIDNT do
it.... I had to return 3 times to get that done. Do you know what they
did with your car all day ???

All I did was ask if there are opinions about other places to get
service and you gave me yours, much appreciated.

FYI I found a local garage who will do it 40% off the volvo price with
original parts if any replacements are made and with all recommended
oil specifications. they didn't offer me a loaner so I have to walk to
Budget and rent a budget car for $29, I'll do that to save $300. I
also got to talk to one of their customers who have the same model car
and taking it there for 2 years since factory service expired.... its
a mom and pop shop who service swedish cars for 30 years, think I
might stick to that.

 

never use the dealer unless you have to.....their
overhead and profit % are crazy....see those nice big
buildings and showrooms...guess who pays for it...see those
salaries and wages? guess who pays for that.....

 

If you are using a local garage that will do the work for 40% off the
Volvo dealership price for parts and labor, will use Volvo quality
parts and most importantly will do a complete job and will be able to
spot problems before they become serious, then go ahead. It sounds
like you found the rare free lunch that many others have looked for.
I find it very difficult to believe that a garage can attract
mechanics of the same competence as those at the Volvo dealership by
paying them 40% less however.

But since you acknowlege good experience with this service garage I do
not understand why you asked the original question.

 

We here down under can afford our Volvos thanks to small specialist Volvo
workshops who are Volvo nutters and helpful and much much cheaper

If you are using a local garage that will do the work for 40% off the
Volvo dealership price for parts and labor, will use Volvo quality
parts and most importantly will do a complete job and will be able to
spot problems before they become serious, then go ahead. It sounds
like you found the rare free lunch that many others have looked for.
I find it very difficult to believe that a garage can attract
mechanics of the same competence as those at the Volvo dealership by
paying them 40% less however.

But since you acknowlege good experience with this service garage I do
not understand why you asked the original question.

 

Salaries & wages Most dealer's do not pay there technicians the money
they should be getting per hour. So please do not make it sound like we
are getting paid top dollar when we are not. We are not guarantied 40
Hours so when business slows down we do not take home a lot of money .
Example the labor rate @ our shop is $105.00 per hour out of that the
dealer makes 80% of that the rest goes to our hourly rate I am all for
people having a choice to repair their Volvo's as long the quality is
the same.
Glenn K
Volvo Certified Technician
ASE Certified Technician

 

Roadie, I had various experience with my dealer and mostly this is
about price. sure I expect everything to be perfect for that kinda
money, why the heck would I not.

I dont think the local dealer is a free lunch at all, he has the same
parts and do the same labour, he even gets to keep all the money I
pay... thats the way I expected it and I think he'll do just as good a
job for it. the inconvenience is that I dont get to have a "loaner"
and I suspect I dont get to pay with credit card.. also I was on 1
week waiting and the dealer could take me in right awway.

I'll post on here my experience but I think shopping around for
anything is what consumers should do.

 

thanks for the feedback Glen, I'm thinking if a brand mechanic was
making 12 000 a month ($100 an hour) I think I'd go back to school...
I'm hoping more will go to the cheaper service so Volvo can turn more
competitive on the pricing... then again they might not care with new
car sales the way they were (were is key word).

 

I have been working on volvo's since 1980 & in the dealer since 1988 & I
am not making a killing like most people think if i was making $30.00 an
Hour I whould be happy but not close to that with all the years
experience I have. Its getting harder to make a decent living working
for a dealer these days you have no job security & as I stated above we
are not guarantied hours so if there is no cars to repair I do not make
any money as all dealers rely on the flat rate pay system

 

The local Volvo dealer (Nemith Motors, in Latham NY) told us we
needed a $3000 rebuilt automatic transmission on our old 240. I
researched the symptoms here, ordered an O/D engagement solenoid online,
and for a total of $300, the car was fixed. Nemith shrugged and laughed,
essentially. I could tell an even worse tale of what happened with the
gasoline leak our Camry sedan had - and still has, after a new gas tank
and filler pipe were installed by a Toyota dealer. You can keep your
dealer "competence."

 

Since we are talking about Volvo dealers...

The situation from one dealer to the next can vary greatly. To give
you an example, I know a guy who owns 20+ dealerships. Volvo, BMW,
VW, etc. For financial purposes, the guy would transfer "losses" from
other dealerships he owns to the Volvo dealership I go to. This made
his Volvo dealership a looser. After doing that for a few years, he
forgot about such system and was pissed that his Montreal Volvo
dealership was losing money, so he jacked up the hourly rate from $80
to $120 and increased margin on parts.

Not only that, the SOB is charging customers for the time the techs
are on break and on lunch. i.e. if the tech start working on you car
at 8:00am and finishes at 3:00 pm, you are charged 7 hours. You just
paid for two 15 minutes break and 1/2 hour lunch the tech took.

In Ottawa where I live, one Volvo dealer is incompetent/corrupt, while
the other one is a pure thief. To give you a single example of the
thief, he once tried to sell me a non-OEM Volvo part as a OEM Volvo
part. The OEM was $800, while the non-OEM sells for $300.

I'm sure that this problem is not limited to the Volvo brand. But
it's making me quite sick that Ford/Volvo is letting this happens.
One thing for sure, I will NEVER buy another Volvo unless I can do
most of the work on the car. I don't like thieves and I don't like to
be treated like an imbecile.

 

You will be an unusual home mechanic if you find a way to do most of
the work on "any" car these days. Not impossible, but requires a lot
more skill and tools than most of us have.

 

I was refering to the 240. I don't consider myself that good with
repairs.

 

Finished service... end result is I'm very pleased and the car seems
to be in better working order. I paid $500 for the service and they
did a few things thats not part of the regular service. one was to
replace the air filter, they showed me the one on the car and I'm
amazed any air got thru all the seeds left from our tree in the front
yard. they also replaced the fuelfilter and said it was very clogged
and again not checked before. both of these items were in critical
condition and though I only saw the air filter I believe them,
neighter was part of the service and I paid only a small premium.

One surprise I had was the check engine light came on immediately when
starting, I thought "here we go again" but took it back this morning
and the super friendly mechanic showed me what was forgotten (a plug
for the airfilter was not fully connected) and why, it was the last
thing he did as he needed my approval to replace the filter since it
was not part of the original bid. he reset the service light and no
charge.

If anyone needs a Volvo mechanic in the South Puget Sound area WA I
will gladly pass on their information.

thanks to all that replied you all made me look outside dealer and I'm
happier for it, atleast so far ) I will definately take my car back
there and feel good about saving $400 and finding someone I trust.

 

If anyone needs a Volvo mechanic in the South Puget Sound area WA I

I'd be curious to know what this place is. I'm "married" to a few too many
Volvos and would like to have a decent place to direct people to when I
don't have time to take on the job.

 

Here's their website:

http://isolympia.com/