Hi,

So I called the 2 Volvo dealerships in San Diego county and they both refused to install my new Evolve S80 lowering springs claiming that they won't put on any non-dealer parts.

Obviously with such a nice car as the S80, I don't want to go to some rice-rocket, shady custom shop so I was wondering if anyone had any advice or referrals for the San Diego area for install?

Thanks for listening,
Weston

 

Go find a euro-independent shop... They will do it and for half of the dealers price

 

Do u have any friends who are mechanics? SOmetimes they're well hearsed and can help wih that.

 

Thanks for the ideas guys. Good news I got a hold of a different person at San Diego Volvo (Kearny Mesa) who was much more informed and they quoted me $453 for the install including alignment for toe. I asked Don at Evolve/Elevate and he said it's a fair quote for the amount of labor involved with the front springs install.

Carlsbad Volvo of San Diego was totally off-putting though, avoid if you're in San Diego as the service manager is snooty and won't even consider doing the springs.

 

Thanks for the advice. I just bought an S80 and I am moving it down with me to san Diego in april

 

Update 2-9-10...Turns out that after taking my 2007 S80 to Volvo of San Diego in Kearny Mesa, they decided not to go through with the install after having it up on the rack. They told me that a hi-end alignment shop down the street would be a cheaper option and they would be more equipped to handle it. Lame, I know.

So I only had Volvo update my rear emblem to the latest V O L V O and that was around $93 parts and labor. Turned out nice. They also had to fix my strut bushings.

Anyway I ended up taking it to TrueLine alignment in Kearny Mesa and they put the Elevate lowering springs on within a day for under $400. Unfortunately after driving the vehicle home I started noticing excessive amounts of loud creaking sounds from the front end. It was most noticeable at slow parking lot type speeds. Sounds like you're riding in a creaky old car with bad shocks or something.

Anyway I was really irritated at this point and I just dropped the car back off at the alignment shop about 20 minutes ago. Hopefully they can fix whatever the creaking is because it's embarrassingly loud. Anyway have any idea what it could be? Maybe the new lowering springs have a breaking in period? Or maybe they aren't seated properly?

 

Good news, I just picked my S80 back up from the alignment center and they fixed the creaking/squeaking issue. They noted on the repair invoice that the plates needed to be lubed. Not sure what that means but it worked!

The ride after having the Elevate springs installed is definitely different. There is good and bad. The bad is that it doesn't quite ride like a luxury car, even in "comfort" setting for the suspension. It's not uncomfortable, but it's not like a pillow like before. The good is that it can corner and and handle much, much better. It's dramatic actually if you compare the before and after. Even in comfort mode, you can feel the car stick to the road and the body no longer sways like before. The car feels much more in control and responsive now.

 

That's the good and bad about lowering any car, glad everything turned out well.

 

Hi Weston. Is it possible to find out what the shop actually did in terms of "plates needed to be lubed?" I actually just lowered my 2007 S80 and am hearing the same noise you described up front at low speeds. Any help in finding out what plates and how they lubed it would be helpful.

 

SKIMSHADY...I'm not sure what they did exactly but everything revolved around the plates specifically. I am still getting a really annoying knocking/creaking noise on the front left strut that's driving me crazy. The shop replaced the plate itself and that still didn't change a thing. I have a feeling it's the way the spring is seated as it sounds like it's rubbing against rubber or something. I think it may be crucial in how the spring is initially seated so that there's not friction or rubbing. I'm probably going to go to another alignment shop as this place has had 3 chances to fix it and it's still happening. Wish I had more info. I'm assuming an alignment shop would know what to do if you described the situation though.

 

It is the upper strut mount plate that is causing the squeking noise. I accidently stripped out one of the strut mount holes in the plate and replaced the plate itself and the squeaking noise went away. I still had the noise on the other side so I replaced the upper strut mount and bearing to be safe becuz I didnt want to go through the labor again and it fixed the issue on that side as well.

Make sure you get the parts from the Volvo dealership. The OEM parts are made much more rugged and better for this application then aftermarket. Also make sure when you get it done at the shop that the bearing and strut mount are lined up properly. If you lived in Kansas, I could you help you fix your problem.

Anyway, good luck!

 

Thanks for that update. That's what's confusing is that the shop tried to adjust everything the first two attempts, and then when that didn't work on my 3rd visit they replaced the plate entirely. Yet that still hasn't changed a single thing.

So you're saying that there is more than one plate per 4 corners of the vehicle? I'll definitely try to get the dealership to look at it next time but they were the ones who referred me to this alignment specialty shop because they didn't want to install the lowering springs. They said their rates were much much more expensive anyway so it saved me money I suppose.

I wish I was closer too as you sound ten times more knowledgeable about the issue than these so-called experts! ;p

 

I'm just talking about the front and not all four corners. And I'm not saying to goto the dealership to get the work done, I'm saying to buy the parts from the dealership since the OEM parts seem to be built better than the aftermarket parts. Look at changing the upper strut mount and bearing where ever you get it done.