So the 2002 Volvo V70XC that I bought a year ago from an auction turned otu to have some tranny problems. It had all the symptoms mentioned in the threads (3-2 downshift clunk, clunk from stop to 1st or reverse, flares between shifts) and it finally had a major event that triggered tranny service, check engine codes and limp mode. The dealer and several other shops said that the AW-55 transmissions were "not repairable" and recommended a full tranny replacement, a $5000 repair on a car I bought for $6500-no thanks.
The remainder of this post is a song of praise for my mechanic, who apparently has become the Volvo tranny repair "guru" in the SF Bay Area.

My dad and I have had a relationship with Brian at Wise for about 10 years now. He has always been an friendly, honest, highly skilled and reasonable mechanic and has done work on all our cars ranging from a 2005 BMW to a 1969 Cougar.
Recently, I took my 2002 Volvo V70XC to him after the dealers, other shops and all the info from online forums suggested a full transmission replacement at a cost of $4-5000. This involved me towing the car from LA to the Bay Area to have him look at it (that is how confident in his ability I am, plus all the shops down here didn't seem to know the first thing about the complicated Volvo codes). Brian determined that is was a worn valve body, a common issue in these cars, and replaced it for $1800, which is a major job. After the initial replacement, the car still wasn't shifting correctly and Brian determined that is was a part issue from the supplier. He redid the entire job, which involves dropping the subframe, at no additional cost to "make it right". Where else will you get this kind of honesty and integrity of work??
Since the repair, I brought the car back to Brian again with a shifting issue. There were some residual "codes" that were impairing the engine, turbo and transmission function. He was able to diagnose the problem and clear the codes and the car is running perfectly. Again, this was at no cost to me. Unreal.
Since repairing my Volvo, Brian has become the go-to guy for Volvo tranny problems in the bay area. Even the dealers and Euro specialty shops are referring this common problem in the 2002-2007 Volvos to Wise. Apparently a problem that they feel is unfixable or requires a $5000 tranny replacement can be fixed for sometimes under $1500. Brian even mentioned that sometimes he may not even have to replace the valve body and that it just might need to be "tuned" to reflect the mileage on the car... We're talking crazy smart, scientist level knowledge here people.
Anyhow, I have neglected to write a review for Wise even after all these years of friendly and confident service. This last experience pushed me over the edge and I had to offer my 2 cents on the quality that Brian's shop provides.
In an era where is is hard enough just to find a good auto technician, Brian and the guys at Wise take it even further by adding integrity, skill and honesty that is unheard of in the automotive service industry. 10 stars all the way!
**By the way, they do all kinds of automotive repair, not just a tranny shop.

 

The AW55 transmissions are rebuildable. Two independent shops quoted me 3800 and 5500. I worked out a deal where I bought the parts and one of them supplied the labor, otherwise, the car wouldn't have been worth fixing.