OK let me start this might be long but it will put in place the issues I faced when I bought my S80 (used 80K great cond. at least I thought it was).

Back in Sept I bought my S80 with 80k on it and thought I got a great deal, well at the time I thought I did.

When I closed the deal on the car the inspection sticker was 6 months old. I told the dealer I want it re inspected with a new 1 year sticker to seal the deal. They agreed!

I took the car home and not even 4 days later I hear noises in the front of the car when going over bumps. Rattle type noises. Took it back and they replaced the sway bar linkage free of charge.

Two weeks later I hear a noise in the rear of the car. Take it back they said there was an issue with one of the struts? Fixed.

Two months later another noise. Took it to my buddies garage and he said the struts are shot. As a matter of fact the right front strut, the bolt on the top of the mount was OFF! Luckily sitting there on the mount. He tightened it down but said the struts are shot!

Now I am thinking man this is really starting to make me worry!

Now about a month ago I started to hear yet more noises in the front, rattles!
Take it into my garage and sure enough the control arms are SO far gone they should have NEVER passed inspection when the dealer had the car. Not only are the so far gone the mechanic stated that they would have seen this when they fixed the sway bar linkage back when they had the car fixed 8 months ago, thats how bad they were. I will admit I heard slight bumps in the car but it drove fine and straight at that.

So $1800 later with control arms, new struts, labor and an alignment I am so ticked at this car dealer.

My serious question is this, couldn't they get in trouble for passing a car with this many issues? I think if they would have inspected it properly and as I presume just slapped a sticker on the car they would have and should have caught this stuff up front. Trying to save a buck obviously as others I am sure do!

Do I have any recourse at all? I want the dealer to pay half as I clearly stated when I purchased the car I wanted it inspected (which by law if they place a sticker on they should do it properly) and gone over quite well.

What can I say to the dealer to leverage with them if anything? I am going to mention all the issues I had at the beginning and discuss that I feel they did NOT inspect the car properly and I am sure the state inspection license would not want to hear about this.

Any suggestions?

Thanks
Spankey.

 

What year is the car? You should try and get in touch with a Volvo Factory Rep. My daughter has a 99 S80 and had all kind of trouble with it when she first got it and the dealer was great at fixing problems with little or no charge. The S80 is a Volvo that is known to have many problems in their first years and 99 was the first year for that model.

 

Well it depends partly on the inspection. If it is required by state law then I think you would have a more secure legal standing for some type of compensation. If, however, the inspection was just something they did as a dealership then it is much more gray. You might then have some rights in a civil suit against the dealership.

 

Each state has a motor vehicle code which, among other things, legislates what equipment a car must have. Most state inspections are checks to see that the car meets the requirements of the state's motor vehicle code. And nothing more. The state inspection won't tell you, for instance, if the trans is on its last shifts, or if the radiator hoses are leaking. It will tell you that lights, brakes, horn, wipers, brake lights, turn signals, defroster, seatbelts, etc. work. They're usually not too interested in the car's dynamic performance, and are often static inspections where the car isn't moving.

Pass the inspection, you can get a license tag. Doesn't mean the car is driveable. Maybe your state inspection looks at suspension performance. If so, you have a claim, maybe. Problem is, you're looking at months of wear and tear, driving on different roads, etc. Mechanical things do wear out. How do you prove they were bad at the time of the challenged inspection?

 

Thanks all, I didn't get an email that replies were posted or I would have posted sooner.

The shop that did the work gave me my parts and he showed me where the lower control arm's where the bushing linkage is was totally rotted out. They should move a little he said such as flex but these you could move 360 degrees in a circle. They were so far gone you could pick them and peel them with your finger tips.

Then when they took the lower control arms out a strut fell out on to the floor. It was broken and rotted off the mount. So again, little things that lead up to others.

I am being 100% honest here, the car made minimal noise at all when driving it. When you would go over a bump it would lightly thump or rattle. But no play in the steering and handled great. So I wasn't overly concerned because when I took the car back after the second time, I stated "PLEASE" look this over very well. I don't want any surprises.

Our state inspection does not check on performance it does however check for saftey and such. The mechanic today told me if the person replaced the sway bar linkage he should have looked at the other mechanics of the car. Especially seeing how they just put a "new" sticker on the car a week before hand. They didn't or they hoped that when I took it home I would go over my millage/monthly warranty. I bought the car at a small dealership not a full out Volvo dealership. They do however have a great reputation so that is why this blew me away.

As for the year it's a 2004! So it's not all that old.

Thanks for the replies and suggestions everyone. Much appreciated!
Spank.

 

Sounds to me like you let the mouse guard the cheese. They sold you the car and was not about to tell you that it needed $2,500 worth of spension work because it seemed to ride smooth. They are not going to tell you that a few weeks later when they do a patch job on the sway bar or whatever totally failed. Sorry to tell you but they GOT you. Not sure who is to blame but someone knew something was wrong when you took it in there for the check up on the noise. NOT SURE if they said knew it was blown apart when you purchased it. To some people, CHECK EVERTHING out means, oil, fluid levels, heat/air interior controls work. Does not always mean check struts, mounts, etc.

 

Well they gave me a check for $200 and to me that admits guilt! I guess I will have to settle for that but I will NEVER refer anyone to them ever.