If you live in southern Cali particularly SFV marks independent Volvo in Chatsworth is the place to be!! I know forums are about fixing it yourself but not everybody has time or is technical to do it yourself. With that said don't waste your time at the dealer or with anyone else just call and talk to mark for 1 minute and u will now u made the right choice. I came from galpin Volvo and just had them rape my warranty for 2200 for a radiator, control arms and bushings. While at the dealer I found mark and and wanted to take my car to him for a repair that was not covered ad they wanted $1900 for it. Long story short I'm getting that repair done as well as spark plugs engine mount struts hood release brake fluid flush air filter for the same damn price.!! As well mark explains it soo thoroughly to you that you have zero doubts.!! Don't waste the time and money anywhere else.!! I made that mistake once and will never again,!!

 

Maybe you want to save your high praise for after you have had a few jobs done there? I hope it works out for you, and I also use independent Volvo shops whenever possible if I can't do it myself, but low pricing alone does not make a shop great. Quality work done right the first time at a fair price does, but sounds like your car hasn't even been in yet.

 

I agree. There's a reason it's cheap. If they are using cheap aftermarket parts, it's not exactly apples to apples. And did the dealer recommend the rest of that work? If they didn't and this shop did, there's a problem too.

 

As it is said so many ways.


Buyer beware!

 

I think part of having a good relationship with your indy is in understanding a bit about your car and the diagnostic procedures whether you do the work yourself or not. Also I don't understand the slamming of dealers - I agree there's a mark up on parts and labor that is quality based (you get factory trained techs, manufacturer specific tools, parts warranties etc) which not everyone values, but the work done under warranty is sponsored by the factory where there are other considerations (like known problem areas/bulletins etc) and approvals before a local dealer can start work. I had a recent experience on my 2012 VW CC where the alternator went at 49,000 miles (under a CPO warranty). Got the car back and 3 miles from the dealer my oil light flicks on and off, so I go back to the shop thinking they nicked the sensor wire when doing the Alternator. After replacing the sensor, they did a test drive and recreated the error so back in the bay where they put a pressure monitor on the port and ran the car through a test procedure to see where the pressure dropped below spec under certain conditions. Next step was to pull the oil pan, where they found metal filings in the oil pick up. So VWOA approved a new long block - $9500. Am I complaining? Of course not. The service tech could have cleaned out the pick up and marked as fixed and I'd probably be looking at a blown engine a year or two down the road - on my nickel. Point here is the dealer techs have the training/tools and support structure for anything that may come up and that gets bundled into their higher shop charge. If you have a mundane issue (say normal wear items like brake pads) then you don't get the benefit of the extras so finding a local shop is the right way to go. To my first point, I personally triage my issues into DIY, local shop and dealer repairs. Its helpful to read up on possible causes and related issues so you don't feel taken advantage of when the shop finds more faults or recommends repairs you weren't expecting. So today's issue is my daughter's S40 threw a CEL. Got a P0300 and a P0303 (generic misfire and #3 cylinder misfire). So I'm off to get new plugs, wires and coils to baseline the tune and be set for another 50K miles. A shop could have thrown in new plugs and declared me as all set or they could recommend $200 worth of parts. Who's right?

 

First and foremost.. Es6t, pkrface, and mt6127 with all do respect we all have our opinions. This is my 2nd German or Swedish car in this case with high maint. But luxury and speed at the Sametime. I previously had a vw Passat before& some old man ran a red and totaled it I had the most honest and great mech. An Indy shop he worked for the dealer for 25yrs then opened his shop. I expressed how much I loved my Passat and how hard I drive and always was ready and willing to spend the $ to keep it in top notch shape. He would take me underneath and from top to bottom and show me what was bad, going bad and give me options. Me being a enthusiast and love to drive id always fix things even when they weren't bad and he'd tell me to wait. Bottom line is what I said in my first post is exactly what I found at marks Independent Volvo. I like to be shown what is wrong and what's gunna be done and just the more 1on1 relationship you get at an Indy compared to the dealer where (you get raped) and everyone's running like a chicken with there head cut off and if your car is not within a year or two new everyone looks at you like what are you doing here.. Like our $/car is not good enough.!!

 

Dude, we are all pretty much on the same page here, except your concept of the dealer raping your warranty. Dealers have an overhead cost that far exceeds any indy shop and that reflects in the cost of ALL of there services, not just the ones indy shops can't handle. After 30 years in the industry I feel comfortable making that statement. That said, I only go to the dealer for those exact repairs. I recently had a failed security transponder in my key and didn't have a spare. I shopped it around and the dealer was the cheapest.

My only point in my first post was you were praising this indy having yet to have your first repair. Again, 30+ years and I have had many encounters with people who can talk the talk. Not all of them could walk the walk. I was simply suggesting you proceed cautiously until you had a few repairs done.

 

I never have a problem showing a customer what's wrong with their car or explaining why I'm recommending something be replaced. I wish more customers would ask the advisor to bring them back because 99% of the time they buy the work when I show it to them.

And you think we like working on warranty cars? Quite the opposite.

 

True that bro. I get the overhead and all just we're talking like a huge difference in pricing and just the overall experience. So it's been about 1,000 miles since I got the work done. Everything is running smooth as of now. I love the car and she is a needy biatch especially if you rip em all in all this had been a Learning experience none the less. I bought the car based on looks and didn't have a certified mech take a look before my purchase. I'm already married to her so I'm biting the bullet and putting the $$ into her and hoping she will last with minor issues/regular maint from here on out.

 

Lol your a funny man. But that's soo true. Especially in a case like mine where There is a lot to be done. It's quite a kick to the ***** when the service advisor just comes out with a bill almost more than I bought my car for. With no explaination or care if I move forward. And as far as warranty work what does it matter who is paying. So it takes a few extra minutes to call explain and get approval.??? That's why we pay thousands of dollars for them. In My case i paid 2,500 for my extended warranty and they've already repaired almost 7,000 thus far and there is still $$ left for more. It's not rocket science to see who won here.!

 

Also in reference to what you asked earlier if the dealer recommended the repairs NO.. So I had a vibration I was complaining about and also my steering wheel had some play which I know is not normal. They failed to address that. Also I asked about my front right headlight that would go on and of from time to time. The advisor said they don't work on lights.!? Wtf this is the Volvo dealer they should be able fixing anything and everything on your car. So the vibrations were due to my front axle assembly going bad not broke but going bad soon. The dealer gave me back my car with the axles pretty much shot and my steering wheel ready to fall off. Don't seem like they even gave a ****. Like I've said earlier if your car is not within a year or two new they treat u like ur a red headed stepchild. Those were my two main issues the dealer failed to mention. Other stuff I got done was due to be replaced or I just said todo it now so I know il be good. If I would've met u at the dealership who knows I'd prolly be a lot happier with the experience and would've paid the price and the warranty would've covered there share.

 

I wasn't being funny.

With regard to warranty, I was referring to cars under factory warranty. You said people look at you like "What are you doing here?" if your car is more than two years old. Any tech would prefer that to a car under factory warranty. We get paid less for warranty repairs.

As for extended warranty, it depends on the company. Some pay full book time. Some pay warranty times. Some want to send their own parts. Some won't put a new transmission in and make the customer take the car elsewhere (like in your case).

As for your recent dealer experience, if you complained about the vibration and they didn't address that, then they should have. Or, what might have happened is the extended warranty company declined the repair for the transmission, so they gave you the car back because the warranty company won't pay. Or because it makes more sense for the shop that is doing the trans work to replace the axles, since there would be no additional labor. If the warranty company isn't going to pay, then I would ship the car too. I don't know about you, but I don't work for free.

 

I couldn't agree with you more.!! I had to fight yell and scream with them over the tranny issue. Threaten to sue them and all kinds of ****. They said "pre existing" and would not fix it.. I said I bought "a used car and everything was pre existing" if you guys wanna say that then you should've sent a inspector to inspect before you warranty it.! I wanted it to be done at the dealer to know it's done right and be worry free. I didn't get that from them and now I'm in the situation I'm in. Overall I get it they try to **** ppl but in my case after I literally told them I'd sure them for everything and have jewsish lawyers they haven't even flinched when I call for warranty work as pay the full price. Granite the tranny was and is the most important issue I have a good relationship with the shop I went to being my work fleet I manage I take there for the tranny work. He's a decent guy but also I know ppl wanna make there $$ and sometimes half *** ****. The car is a beauty tho 06 fully loaded polestar upgrade just plush inside and out. With the help of the warranty and a few thousand outta my pocket I believe I finally have her up to spec.