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'99 S80 90K service horror story - Volvo of Stamford (CT)

Took my S80 T6 to Volvo of Stamford for a 90K service. Told them, while it's here, replace the timing belt and drop the pan on the transmission, replace transmission filter, etc.

They kept the car from Thursday morning till Monday afternoon (gave me an S60 as a loaner). Got the S80 back after paying $1528. The car seemed a bit "jumpy", like transmission wasn't engaging quite on-time. Didn't get a chance to check it, nor was I sure what to check for two weeks (800-900 miles). Finally decided that I'd better check the ATF. The dipstick was completely DRY. I wondered how well they "Checked/adjusted all fluid levels". Checked the rest myself, the Powersteering dipstick DRY as well. The rest of the fluids fine, except for Windshield Fluid 48 ounces short (remember all were supposedly topped off within two weeks).

Started checking further, the "Rotate tires" item resulted in two of the wheels being mounted with the "Rotation->" indicator Backwards! The "Checked all exterior lights/signals" item was apparently completed without the cracked foglight being noticed. The "Cleaned Power Antenna" item was completed on a non-existent antenna.

Time to check the bill - I was billed for 4quarts ATF (the transmission holds 7.9). Bought and added 2 more quarts. I was NOT billed for the transmission filter. Asked the service rep why there was only a "Gasket" charge ($31) and no filter charge. The rep said "it's a kit that includes the filter, the filter was definitely changed". Asked the parts dept - they said that the gasket is just a gasket and the filter is a separate item @$49.

Brought the car back, did a bit of yelling. They corrected the mis-mounted tires, added ANOTHER quart of ATF. Now the service manager wants to get the car back and "re-do the entire service, including the transmission filter". I'm not sure I want to let them touch the car again! I'm also wondering what damage to the transmission occured as a result of 900 miles on half the ATF.

Reply to
line123
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You paid $1528.00 for this service? This seems outrageous.

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Reply to
Jethro Jackson

yep....i would have a "sit down" w/the manager and tell him/her you are filing complaints w/the different agencies that would give a %$#^....oh yea, and go to the papers, media, and internet groups...make sure you have names and titles, so we all can learn from your expierence...

thew owe you some $$...probabally all of your $ spent...$1,500... i would demand a full refund & assurance that the next time you bring in your volvo for service, it will be done right.....man, that would sure piss me off....

Reply to
~^ beancounter ~^

Yep. $1528 for this "service" oh, they also found a bad engine mount and replaced it - included in the price.

One Item on the bill was very funny:

4 "Screw" $8.07ea - sort of re-defines the word, doesn't it.

as far as names, etc: VOLVO of STAMFORD, CT. Tech #393, Service rep Ed and Service Mgr Mike... (203) 359-2255.

Maybe I should have learned my lesson when after the 30K service I drove less than 2 miles to get the coolant low signal and find the overflow tank empty - came back to the shop to be told "oh there must have been an air bubble in there, we'll fill it right up..."

Reply to
line123

Send a complaint to Volvo Motorcars Headoffice, Goteborg , Sweden they will listen !.

Robert

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Reply to
Robert J. Veldkamp

I don't like to defend Volvo dealers, because there's way too much of what you reported in your original post, but filling the cooling system is a real pain on these cars. On my x70s, they take more than a litre of extra coolant after a few heat/cool cycles.

As far as the original post, the only thing there that was OK was the first part of the transmission fluid change. When you drop the pan, you don't get all the fluid out. So even though the transmission may hold

7.9 quarts, they wouldn't get it all out. If the fluid is in poor shape you need to do a flush, which would take considerably more than the 7.9 quarts. You can see details of a flush at:
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You can do thiswithout that fancy machine. This, of course, doesn't excuse them notrefilling the transmission properly which does not suffer from the samerefilling problems as the cooling system.
Reply to
Mike F

Reply to
Mike M

Mike, I agree with what you say about the cooling system. I noticed mine had a significant "burp" when I changed my coolant a year ago. I think I had to add more than a quart after the first stop.

The dealer obviously didn't even do a test drive or "QA" their work. That is a pretty bad messup for a 90k mile service! I know if I lived there, I would never bring my car there for any work. Parts... maybe.

That is also why I do as much of my own work as possible, and get on groups like this to exchange information on these cars :)

Reply to
Jim Carriere

That's why anyone who works on any of the transverse engines regularly buys one of the air driven evacuators that pull ~25 inches of vacuum on the cooling system and allows refill without air bubbles. No air, no air pockets, no bubbles. Absolutely the best service tool ever.

Ditto.

Bob

Reply to
volvowrench

"volvowrench

Very interesting, I've never heard of such a thing.

Reply to
Mike F

I have just had a 90k service completed on my 1995 850 by a Volvo dealer, the cost was £330 ($570 - wow good exchange rate, must buy some $ !!!!) this included a thermostat change and top engine mount change.

Reply to
Me

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