I have a 1998 S70 that has 150K miles. This is a second car for me and I only drive it once a week to travel to my home office which is 240 miles round trip. All service work is still completed by my local volvo dealership but as we all know things can get pricey. Last time I was there I had my oil changed and a few other minor issues addressed however they are telling me that I need new front struts. Can someone tell me what this should cost and should i just let them do it or save some money and take it to a different mechanic.
Thanks for the time and help!

 

for a good service the parts are about 120-150 per wheel and you should have the lower control arms done caseu they are cheap and easy to do with it apart and they can do the alignment

I;d have an indy do it if they are expensive

 

You probably don't need new struts. But changing them will improve driving over irregular surfaces, and will also drown your pockets about one grand

But I know the dealers get almost as excited as when making love when they tell people to change parts that have some wear.

Anyhow, when you go over a bump, do you hear the front suspension bouncing? Does the front end seem too harsh over street bumps?

A shock absorber can have wear and still be safe on the road. Just walk outside and do a quick push down on top of the wheel with your body weight and quickly release. The car must bounce once up, once down and then stop bouncing. If it keeps bouncing more than that then the shocks are dead and need to be replaced to keep the wheel safely in contact with the road surface.

 

+1 (Love it).

When our S70 GLT needed front struts the car bounced like crazy when it hit a bump or went over a dip. It actually would bottom out at time on normal road dips. So I replaced them with some HD Bilstiens. My daughter will not give them up. Handles and takes humps like a spider.

I think I mentioned shocks and struts near the end of this video.