Hi folks, hopefully I can get a little input on this one and it would be greatly appreciated.

My wife was driving her '07 V50 T5 and BOOM!! drivers front coil spring broke completely. So much that it immediately started digging into the tire (smoked like a mother!)
Towed it to the nearest Volvo service center, they want $1100 to replace two front coils and a new tire. Just one new tire....
I'm not paying $150 for one tire that is probably crap anyway so my plan is to have the coil and labor done but buy my own tires. That's if the dealer will let me bring two new tires and have them install them.

Anyway... my main question is what are any suggestions on what I should be paying for this coil change job? I plan on calling around for prices but I'm just wondering if I can get some input from a few people who have no $$$ to gain by feeding me BS! Haha!!

Any help would be appreciated. My wife is quite worried about this and admittedly, I am unable to do the labor myself. I don't have the tools or the garage space to do it.

Thanks a TON!!

 

So if you cannot do it yourself then your choices are limited to the dealer you have it at, another dealer close by, or an independent shop close by. Obviously the latter two involve a tow, so that may negate any savings. Just get quotes from another source or two and then either offer the existing dealer to match thereby saving the difference and the tow, or get it towed to the best deal assuming there is enough savings to justify. Just make sure that all bidders are quoting equally in terms of parts. It makes no sense to allow someone to quote cheap Chinese parts unless the savings is so significant that you are willing to accept lower quality.

 

Does that include struts and an alignment? Did you ask the parts and labor breakdown? I assume not, since you didn't ask what kind of tire. And if they were really out to get you, they'd sell two tires. Maybe you don't need to replace both though.

I don't know why people trust random people on the internet so much. I see it all the time. We quote a job and a customer will call back a couple hours later acting like they know everything. They read on the internet that it should be a certain price. But they didn't realize the quote includes something not included in the post from some random guy on the internet who has it out for the dealership. Then we go over the cost, showing the parts and labor and the labor time guide so they see they are paying the correct labor and they cool off.

 

Great points! And don't forget that labor costs in Dayton, OH can be vastly different than LA or NYC.

 

Exactly.

It may also include the strut bearings and mounts. When I replace struts on the P1's, I always recommend them at the same time. Some service advisors don't bother explaining that to a customer, unfortunately.

 

Good advice here. One consideration is the mileage on the "good" tire and other parts. If the remaining tire has low wear (say under 5,000 miles) you can pair up with a same model/ new and match to the best of the 3... (you want two alike in the front to maintain size). The idea of replacing both springs is to maintain balance left to right - springs do sag and lose some bounce over time so again if your car was say newer I'd consider only replacing the broken but for an 8 y/o car, its good advise to do both. Also, considering most of the cost on struts is the labor, if you have over 75K miles on the struts, I'd do the struts, spring seats etc. With any suspension work you need to do an alignment. With all that said, there's nothing here an independent shop can't do and there are many good aftermarket parts available if you want to save a few $100 on the job but to do it right, you should replace both springs, the struts and the wear parts like the seats/bearings then wrap up with an alignment. For the tire your choice is based on mileage/wear.

 

I'm having the same conundrum. I have chosen to do a full coilover kit instead of replacing one shock. But I can't find a set that is specifically for an awd model don't know if it matters though.

 

whoa - we went from "should I do one or two struts" or "should I do the struts myself" to asking about coilovers? Not sure if this helps Somnospeed's original question, but I see too many people posting used coilovers and reverting back to stock which prompts me to note they are not marketed as a kit replacement for OEM. They are designed to change spring rates/shock valving to improve handling and to allow the owner to adjust ride height (typically to lower and to balance weight by wheel). Nothing there that says "100K miles" Considering if you're talking about a daily driver, ride quality and longevity would normally be key decision factors to me. To Somnospeed, you may want to check in with eeroparts.com - they've just announced a kit with preassembled struts - $650 for S60/70s so they're not cheap - and I'm not sure if they have a kit for your model. Seems your choices are 1) pay an indy to do the work right (ie by the book) 2) buy the parts online and ask an indy to install (you won't get any parts warranty or reinstallation if some part breaks or is wrong) 3) buy the parts and do the install on your own. You may need to buy some wrenches and a spring compressor ($50 at Sears) and watch some vids on Youtube.

 

Coil overs sounds like a big investment for a 2007. As for tires, I find there are great deals on the Internet for slightly used tires. I found a set of almost new Michelin pilot sports 18 inch for $700.