I was just quoted a repair to fix my timing belt, cylinder head and valves 4800 from the dealership. My car is a 2004 S40 with 84K miles. This seems like its not even worth repairing. Advice please.

 

You can find another shop. Where are you located?

Did they say why the belt broke?

 

That is alot of money. The dealer will usually be the most expensive option though. Explore your local independent shops who can find a junkyard motor and do a swap.

The actual cost of parts is about $500 retail to repair the old engine. The rest is labor. Have a friend with tools who needs some extra cash on the side?

 

Huh? I just did a head in our S70 and our out of pocket expense was about $850. Parts, special tools, supplies, bolts, etc.

 

I was told that the engine is totaled mechanically. I don't have much car knowledge. With a repair estimate of 4800 and a car value of 4700 I'm not sure its worth it to repair. I am also told that I would get $500 for the car if sold for parts. Anyone have any suggestions if that is the situation, where I should take it to sell for parts in the Orlando area? Thanks.

 

The dealer (maybe the mechanic) is trying to nudge you to sell the car to him for $500.They're lowballing the value of the car and exaggerating the cost of the repair. If you sell it to the dealer some dealership mechanic will fix it and make three or four thousand dollars.

The cost of fixing the car should be less than three thousand dollars. If you decide to fix the car you'll need to find an honest independent Volvo shop close to you. Not an easy task unfortunately. You can buy a rebuilt cylinder head from Clearwater Cylinder Head for the shop to install.

If you decide to sell it, advertise it on Craig's List for $2,500. There are lots of shadetree mechanics looking to make a buck by fixing cars like yours.

One more thing. Your car has low miles for a broken timing belt. Is there a story there? How long have you owned the car? Where'd you buy it? Maybe it was clocked and has higher mileage than shown on the odometer.

 

Thanks all!

I had the car towed from the dealer. It is now located at a local Volvo specialist repair shop. I've had the car serviced there a few times with no problems. In fact, I had the Alternator belt, drive belts and A/C belts all replaced along with an oil change in April.

After speaking with the shop owner, it appears as though debris hit the undercarriage of the car and caused an oil leak to soften the timing belt.

I purchased the vehicle in 2006 from the local Volvo dealership with 4k miles.

 

I was about to tell you that there is a good indi Volvo shop there. Glad you moved it.

 

An oil leak caused by road debris softened the timing belt? If the shop owner told me that I would conclude he was bull****ting me. There's no way that can be true.

An oil leak inside the timing belt cover could soften the belt. So maybe he's lying because he's embarrassed he didn't notice the problem in April. But what else is he lying about?

It's a sad commentary on human nature that there are so many people in the car business that view mechanical ignorance as a license to steal.

As far as I know your car only has one accessory belt, not three or four.

 

You are getting screwed over left and right.See a third opinion on your problem if nothing else drop a used working engine in there for about $1500.

 

I bought my current 2004.5 Volvo because of your same situation. I had a 2002 Land Rover Freelander that flew a timing belt. The cost, unfortunately for me, would have been over $6000 (I checked around to quite a few places. Parts sourcing for this car is almost mafia-like). It was more than worth it for me to get rid of the car. I sold it on eBay for $2500 as is, and bought my Volvo last year. Best choice I made.

For your car, I know the parts are a lot more reasonable. I would definitely check for more options. If you like the car it'd probably be worth it to you to get it fixed and keep it. You car could serve you for at least three times the mileage you currently have. My old car would have never done that. Good luck with everything.

 

$500 is not including tools and not using the super expensive exhaust valves. Plus I did the work maybe 2 years ago. Still, $500 - $850 is not too far apart for a job such as this. I'd be very happy to get my car running after a broken timing belt for less than a $1000.

 

Don't get me wrong, we are. We replaced no valves but did pay premium at the machine shop. Heck, $850 is just 2 car payments.

 

I see Little Rock? I used to work for the Arkansas Forestry Commission with a part time job at Autozone #12. Ah the good ol' (poor) days. Sorry to the OP for the hijack.

 

Listing the car on eBay with a bad head should bring at least $1500.

 

go and get the Oil Reset Tool X-200
you can reset the timing belt problem yourself
meet your willing of saving money