Yeah I'm fine with that price. 325 for the belt and tensioner, 84 for the seals and the rest fo the oil change. My friend's Dad who co-owns the place told me the computer misdiagnosed it at first. Doesn't explain them telling me there were dings on the piston and valves though. I've priced jobs they've done at other places and they are consistently 20-35% cheaper. I just need to be educated and communicate with them on the big things like this. I know they've never worked on another 1990, or 240 for that matter so I'm going to cut them some slack. My only other options are to try another shop which may very well try to hose me, or go to the only Volvo dealer in the area that might be much more expensive (though certainly highly knowledgeable.)

I have a few more things that need to be done, radiator, the parts that attach to the front bumper, new struts, both rear windows no longer come up (I'm going to try to fix that myself with new switches), new clutch within the next year, and a new blower motor which they quoted at 625.00. I might ask the Volvo dealer for a quote on that and see who wins but I know that job is several hours and a giant pain in the ***.

 

"My friend's Dad who co-owns the place told me the computer misdiagnosed it at first."

Sorry, but that statement alone proves that they are totally full of it!
There is no computer involved in any of this...

 

well, they could be using some shop computer to tell them what to do... following a troubleshooting flowchart on AllData or something.


Sadly, dealers are no longer prepared to work on 20+ year old cars, either.

 

Sure but I would think the dealer mechanics would have at least serviced/seen other models like mine a few times considering they're literally the only Volvo dealer in about 250 miles.

 

the guys who worked at the dealers 20 years ago are probably all retired or independent now, or doing something totally different.

 

I still see a bunch of them on the road, they gotta get serviced somewhere, hopefully at the Volvo dealer.

 

The Volvo dealers DO service these cars but at pretty steep rates, so this presents a problem, defeats the purpose of owning an old Volvo. BTW, I'd wonder what the Dealer would have charged for the work you just had done...

It varies greatly where one is located. In Portland, OR for example Volvos are big and there are shops specializing in Volvo all over, not that they are all good... Some are good, some atrocious scammers. What you want is a grimy shack that does only Volvos with twenty-odd Red Blocks sitting around, with a couple of old hippy type guys who are hard to get on the phone but you can talk to.

What you don't want is a place with leather couches, cappucino machines, cute receptionists, and a big banner that tells you how much they care for you and your... (insert car make). These kinds of places usually have every thumbs up recommendation from the universe certifying what beautiful people they are; run! They are usually clueless except for the talent of getting your money which in business is unfortunately what counts...

So, not easy to get a good shop that will do one's old Volvo right, sorry to say. One has to know, and that kind of knowledge is an ongoing process that takes much time and bitter experiences to arrive at some knowledge base. These types of forums help but on the other hand as all things internet, one has to beware of the advice received.

 

in Portland, see Alamo Automotive for your red bricks. They treated my 19 yr old daughter right, fixed her erratic stumble problem right up, and only charged her $150 total, and then only after "why don't you take it back, and drive it a week and let us know if its really fixed".

 

I didn't want to name names, but yes, Alamo is the one I go to if I needed something I couldn't do myself. I have sent them much business over the years. TVG is another decent shop.

 

I live in Suburban Detroit so Portland is a liiiiiiiittle far for me.