Sorry for the long note...The car in question today is a '98 S70 GLT with around 96k on it. My other ride is a 99 V70 which I recently had to replace the struts on at 107k. The ride on the V70 got really rough and I asked our mechanics to give us a verdict and the front struts had seized up on both sides. Fortunately the rear were ok. Lately the ride in the S70 was starting to duplicate the V70 with a shimming sound coming from the right front while turning left(especially driving over coblestone driveways etc); but its not a CV creaking sound more of a rattle. Having read these forums and learned so much from my Volvo brethen, I knew that struts typically don't fail on these cars (until later). However....I brought in the S70 today for an oil change and they called me back and told me that the axel shaft assembly on the passenger side was badly damaged. Apparently the boots were really torn and subsequently the fluids and grease around the axel assembly was gone. I am not an in-depth mechanic so this sounds like a bad deal overall. They are charging $400 to fix it and as luck would have it our regular shop is closed on week-ends so a second opinion would be greatly appreciated. Any ideas on what to do here?

 

Could very well be the axle.

 

Looks like it will set me back $400. Without putting anyone on the spot, is this too much? It's cheaper than a new transmission that's for sure. Thanks.

 

You can buy it alot cheaper and do it yourself.