Question on Repair Costs

Some of that is reasonable, $630 for the brakes sounds a bit ridiculous though, have you shopped around on that one? Brake booster seems rather high too, but then that is a fairly new car so parts will be more expensive and good used ones harder to find.

Is it under an extended service warranty? if so the dealer might do #2 & #3 maybe otherwise keep reading

Do you live near Washington DC? If so, I can suggest an alternative repair source. Wonderful people, highly qualified, in business 13 years, volvo parts, AND they stand behind their work. No they are not free and don't get it all done while you finish a cup of coffee. In fact there isn't a customer coffee machine. But the labor prices are better (well not as much as the neighborhood Volvo dealer), I think the parts are less and they tend to use Volvo parts.

Bethesda Import Specialist 5435 Butler Road Bethesda, Maryland 20816

Our phone number is 301-656-0056 Our fax number is 301-656-0071 email: snipped-for-privacy@aol.com and no i am not an interested party to their shop but I am a long time customer and they can't identify me from this post either (I think) In this area, look up washington volvo club, If not in this area, join volvo club of america;

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote:

...on a 3 year old car - unload it quick! I doubt any of those have ever been replaced on mine in 25 years and don't think any of it needs replacing soon. Specially rotors - if they are flat and grooves are smooth and run the full circle evenly... what's the problem?

Auto repair prices at dealers and elsewhere seem to have gone through the roof in the past 10 years. Personally I would do all of the work you detailed myself, but not many DIY folks have the equipment and experience I have accumulated in ~30 years of DIY mechanic work plus a bit of time out for my engineering degree.

I would try to find some reputable independent Volvo/European car specialists in your area and get a second quote. I wouldn't go to most do-it-all garages nor to most chain stores. There is a good chance such places will get something wrong and then your headaches really start!

You might post a question here with your general area and see if anyone has pointers on good shops for you.

John

Makes me glad I drive an older 240! Still, for a full service that is about right. You would pay about that much on any newer car.

OUCH! Does this job come with lubricant? I can get the transmission totally overhauled on my motorhome for over $100 LESS than that! Hit a few local brake shops and see what they say. It mught just be a leaky fitting, but you should be able to get it done for a lot less.

That should have lasted longer than that.

Eventually could mean in another 100,000 miles. The shops are in a big hurry to turn rotors if there is the slightest defect in them. They say it is becasue of safety and liability, but I have run grooved rotors for many miles on various cars and they work fine. Antoher way to look at it is that the surface area is increased which means better braking! ;-)

Once they have been turned it means that they are thinner and that means they are more prone to warping. If the car brakes straight and predictably and thre are no computer faults from the ABS system. don't let them touch them. Just make sure you get the pads checked and changed before any damage is done from metal to metal contact.

Wothout seeing the groove it is hard to say, but I would leave them alone. Especially at that price.

__ __ Randy & \ \/ /alerie's \__/olvos '90 245 Estate - '93 965 Estate "Shelby" & "Kate"

That seems quite high, but you do own a luxury car. If you live in the Philadelphia, Central New Jersey, or DC areas I can suggest skilled and less expensive independent shops.

You can also go to this page for a hint:

this one:

I think *some* hissing is normal. In any case $975 sounds amazingly expensive. I could not find the part on line, but for a grand I would live with it.

~50 to 60 bucks each for parts, I will be generous and say an hours labor and a full alignment, add 25% mark up and you are at no more then $225-$250 at a independent shop for one, if it's both then the Volvo price is starting to look 1/2 decent, but still I would rather have a relationship with a independent shop then the dealer...your opinion could well be different.

Assuming fronts you are looking at ~$200 parts and 1 hr labor. No more then $250-275. Add $25 or 40 if they are bleeding the brake system, which is always a good idea.

The dealers service department has a few advantages. They can do almost everything, they will stand behind the work, and it will make the car a little easier to sell, however a good independent shop will do a great job for less money. The service department is what keeps most dealers in business, and you don't want to pay for that lovely showroom and nice shiny painted floor in the shop do you?

Wait...every Volvo dealer I have been to has a wonderful coffee machine in the waiting area. that alone is worth a C!

Best luck!

if you think about it the grooves give you more brake area .Discs are machined to put grooves in them to allow gases to escape even if your grooves dont do this how could they hurt as long as they are round they will work fine .Sorry but at the cost you have shown you must be going to a full price dealer check your local Volvo car club for a pleasant surprise .We are a bunch of tight wads who wont pay those over the top prices .

Thanks for all the advice and tips. I do live in the Washington, DC area - Fairfax county off of Gallows Road - so I'll definitely look into the washington volvo club and Bethesda Import Specialist.

Thanks again.

Don Buyers Volvo does have those lovely 'free' concerts and book readings however!

...and you hope you're not waiting long enough for it to be the Mahabharata? Closest I have come to such in-house entertainment at a car repairers is the muffler shop where the doberman starts to like you if it's a longish job.

Jesus H C..... Well, I have an 03 and If I took mine in for the 60K and they wanted $3,000 bux for service, I'd introduce my XC to the boat launch ramp at Lake Mead. With my luck, it would take three days to sink!

Please...Give me a BREAK!!!! This is an extremely polite group, but....Luxury car My Ass!

Volvo of Las Vegas doesn't even stand behind a leaking valve stem when they install new tires and you return two days later with a flat in the cargo area.

Just one more thing about the coffee machine. I've noticed that the salesmen drink 85% of the coffee and when the pots are empty then never make any more. They just leave the grounds in the bottom of the empty pot and put it back on the warmer.

Happy New Year, all!

How appropropriate. Every time that I drive into the dealer I feel like I'm going to the Gallows...or since it's such a fancy-schmantzy dealership, more like lethal injection.

"Yes, sir, we know that it's a steep price but after all, you did get your face washed by the dog!" I know where the dog's tongue has been but I always wonder just where the dealer's tongue has been.

Tightwads??? I think Not. Do you realise that this service is going to cost the poster about $500.00 for every 10,000 miles that he has driven his vehicle, NOT including all of the cumulative costs that he's already put into it over the span of 60K? I just wonder how many XC70's that there will be driving around at the age of ten years once the unfortunate owners of these vehicles find out that it's gonna cost them $6 to $7,000.00 go get their pristine, shiny, dentless cars back into shape. The managing broker (Real Estate) in my office has a ten year old Rolls that has over

250K on the clock and he states that virtually nothing has gone wrong with it since he bought it new. After I emailed him this post he stated that he now knows why I'm never at the office in the mornings and always say that I'm at the dealer. He told me that someone in the office suggested that I might always be out driving around looking for sex. No such luck...I'm being screwed by my car.

Well what class would you put a $40,000 car in? The Volvo does appeal to different folks then a Lexus or a Bimmer and to be sure quite different then a MB...OTOH I also think there is a lot of the same type of buyer in the Subaru store as a Volvo store...

I think a lot of Subaru shoppers are Volvo and former Volvo owners wishing that a Subaru is a reliable Volvo. Alas, Subarus are reliable, but they're not Volvos.

Eventually, after 10 or 20 years of expensive Volvo repairs and a few dozen days spent standing on the side of the highway next to your broken $40K Volvo, many give up comfort and performance for reliability.

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-RL ('76 264, '78 264, '87 240, '89 240, '96 850, '96 850, now driving an Acura and considering a Subaru to replace the last ever Volvo)

That's a funny thing - my next choice (for a newer car, later) could well be a Subaru. Old volvos seem very reliable and new ones don't sound as though they are as good. I guess it means we are a discerning lot & Subarus are a good choice.

I spent most of my Thanksgiving vacation trying to get a new power steering pump for our '96 850 wagon in the back hills of upstate New York, after it failed (quite dramatically in fact, the shaft and pulley came completely out of the pump body, thus also disabling the serpentine belt, the water pump, and the alternator) in a blizzard, miles from anywhere and miles from cell phone service.

During the 2005 Thanksgiving-of-hunting-Volvo-parts, I got a good bit of experience riding around in my elder brother's Subaru wagon, of approximately the same vintage. It's a typical low-end japanese car, spindly seats, clicky controls, light-weight all around, poor low-end torque, etc. It's also rusted all around the wheel wells. If the Volvo were functioning, the Subaru wouldn't hold a candle to it, in any competition. On the other hand, he's had it for 10 years and it has never broken, other than routine maintenance, while our Volvo has had more major systems replaced than I can remember. He will never buy anything but a Subaru.

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-RL ('76 264, '78 264, '87 240, '89 240, '96 850, '96 850, now driving an Acura and considering a Subaru to replace the last ever Volvo)