Yea, thats high, we are on a variable rate, anything 5hours and under is 92, and anything over is 115, i think thats it, im not real sure..but i know we start at 92..

 

Don't actually know what the labor rate is at my local Volvo dealer (as I haven't used any of their labor yet)... just in case I gave anyone that impression. I heard someone biatchin' about getting charged that much. Don't know what part of the country he was from or what dealer he was talking about though.

 

You may get a discounted labor rate at a self employed mechanic's shop, but you dont always get the best service. Alot of those guys dont have the right tools to do the jobs, so they "make it work" Also the dealer has more rescources and compitent mechanics. Im not saying there arent good mechanics who dont work at dealers, but most are shadetree and do rally shotty work, but as long as the cust doesnt know, its ok.

Another thing the dealer will do for you, is if you take your car there, and service it, if somthing does go wrong, there more likely to assist you on other things.. Atleast my dealer does.

 

Better yet is doing it myself and not having to pay anyone for labor. In fact, I think what I like best about DIY is screwing Uncle Sam out of sales and income taxes. And it's all legal too so must be the right thing to do.

 

Well, When you can replace parts that require software downloads, or expensive specials tools and/or wireing diagrams let me know.


The main reason why dealers charge more, is because your paying for the use of our tools, our knowledge and the shop supplies and getting rid of certain things, such as used motor oil, trans fluid, coolant etc.. Youre also paying for our training that is very expensive.

In all of that, you get the fact that the person working on your car, knows about your car, the ins/outs of it, and although some problems are very difficult to solve and sometimes become rechecks, in the end the call WILL be fixed.

My dealer is VERY good about customer service. If your car comes in and isnt fixed the first time, your prior money will be reimbersed, you'll get a free loaner the 2nd time in, and the car will stay until we can prove its fixed.. We are very good at our jobs, Our shop foreman is a 8time Vista winner and has over 36years of volvo expierence, So at our shop your car will get the attention it needs, and problem cars have more than 1 mechanic working on them. Our foreman also drives ALL cars when their "repaired" to make sure they pass his Quality control and checks over all work.


I LOVE when someone has taken their car to an independant and he has charged the customer 300+ $ for a part that, all the car needed was a software update. It crackes me up..

I also love getting calls from the independants wanting info on howto put cars back together they've torn apart. And getting cars in the shop with all parts in the boxes..

Its great..

We are the last resort in most cases. But no matter the problem or how good your mechanic is or says he is. One day your car will end up at the dealer. And when it does. and you have noo history of ever being at the dealer. except for this one issue no one could ever solve. you wonder why we charge so much.. its because we'll never see your car again, unless its another PITA problem.. and you havent been a good customer..

 

I don't know... these forums are full of messages from people who paid dealers, in some cases several times, to fix a problem and ended up having to fix it themselves anyways. And it's clear to me now why I can't update my own software for $45,000 I think they could have afforded to throw in an OBD-II/CAN to USB cable and some software for my laptop. I kind of feel sorry for Volvo dealers though, as the way I understand it corporate extorts money out of them the same way they do me... the local (dealer) computers don't store my control files, they're stored on central servers that the dealers gets charged for accessing. In any case, as far as I'm concerned I think I should be the only one with access to my files, especially the ones with security implications, and I'm willing to hack my own car to make sure of it. If dealers or Volvo or the Department of Fascist Security has a problem with that, well that's just too !@#$ing bad.

 

What files on your car would you be talking about? Volvo doesnt extort money from its dealers, the dealers buy parts/products from them, then sells them for profit. Also all of our service dept's is all profit, except for volvo warranty, which volvo pays a lower labor rate.. but the dealer still makes a tad bit of money.

Also, you're not a volvo mechanic, so how or why would you be able to update the software on your car? You wouldnt even know what you are doing. Or what the software is doing.

I also dont think that you or anyone on a message board would take there car to a dealer and PAY them to fix it, if it was somthing they were able to fix themselves. Also, all dealers are different, i guess mine is better at customer service than most others..


What security implications on your car are you talking about? Its a freaking car. Not the office of homeland security..

And as for the servers,

There is a fee for the downloads, which we directly charge the customer for. we only make labor on s/w downloads, not the actual software.

Vadis showsus whats in the car. has nothing to do with volvo's servers. We also have other computers that show us thing. But nothing thatwould tell us anything about you. Except the fact of what level you want your seat heaters on.. lol..

Obviouslyyou dont understand how the volvo/dealer partnership works. And if was explained to you, it was wrong.. very very wrong..

If it wasnt profitable there wouldnt be dealers..

 

yeah my experiences at volvo were good, except the timeI had to nearly take them to court, they ended up paying out. (this wasnt related to the service dept, was realted to sales dept)

the local Volvo delearship has done a lot for me. Infact everytime I've gone in, even on the first times for repair they have always offered me loaner and its always been free. I can even remember the times where my delearship gave free breakfeast sandwhiches and donuts, a dunkin donuts run for the people in the waiting room, and one time they even did lunch when I was there.

They probably didnt do USB to prevent people to take adavantage of their cars and softwares.

After I bought my car from the delearship they covered me under the Volvo Factory, and kept covering me till 11,000 miles after that.

 

Because you're the ideal customer, you take your car there, and give them a chance.. They gave you good customer service. All dealers should do that. And alot do.. because we have to because of our labor rates compared to. But i honestly beleive there is no comparison between 90% of the independant mechanics, and the dealer mechanics, We ONLY service volvos, so we know our product very well. And we have the resources that no others do.

Glad you have had good expierence..