Volvo Essential Service?

[Alec Dawe]

Got my issue of Volvo Driver today, and I see that our worthy Chairman (can I say Chairman or must I be PC and call him either a chair, or a chairperson?!?), anyway, that he has had his 240 serviced by a main dealer on something called Volvo Essential Service programme. He was quoted £70 for this.
Does anyone know any more details about this programme, what does an Essential service consist of, and is this scheme operated by all Volvo dealers, or do some opt either in or out of the scheme?
Anyone know anything more?

[imac]

Got my issue of Volvo Driver today, and I see that our worthy Chairman (can I say Chairman or must I be PC and call him either a chair, or a chairperson?!?), anyway, that he has had his 240 serviced by a main dealer on something called Volvo Essential Service programme. He was quoted £70 for this.
Does anyone know any more details about this programme, what does an Essential service consist of, and is this scheme operated by all Volvo dealers, or do some opt either in or out of the scheme?
Anyone know anything more?

As far as I know its basically a check over and a change of fluids.

My local independant does the same for £45

[Velorum]

Ive never heard of this and when I investigated servicing at a Volvo main dealer a while back it wasnt mentioned.

I now take my 240 to an independant Volvo garage - 10000 service about £150.

Ian

[DickyB V70R]

Basically the Volvo E/Service programe is for any car that is over six years old (iirc !).
Its the basic oil & filter change, check over of Brakes etc, they do it cheaper so you keep going back to your main dealer. Stamp in your service book aswell !

I think its a very good idea for the older car. (not that six years is that old mind...lol) :)

[2003V70]

Phoned up SMW Belfast today to book the V70 in for its annual check-up. It's due for 7th year service (goofed when choosing my username, the car is a 2003 not 2004) and after having forked out £450 for the last annual service I thought I'd go with "the low-cost alternative to standard servicing for older Volvo cars."

The first person I talked to had never even heard of VES (she was trying to book me in for the normal service despite me specifically asking for the VES) and they seemed to get a bit tetchy when I pressed them for more info.

Eventually, I was told in no uncertain terms that the Volvo Essential Service is basically "just a safety check" and the log book wouldn't be getting stamped as "it's not the same as an annual service."

It's put me off maintaining my full Volvo Service history tbh. Especially when before I started pressing for more info they were going to take the car next Thursday. 5 minutes later they were fully booked until the 27th.

:-/

[southportvolvo]

It's usually a ploy to "get you through the door" and see what else they can bolt on.

We do the same service and call it a summer or winter check, we charge £25.00 inclusive.

[2003V70]

It's usually a ploy to "get you through the door" and see what else they can bolt on.


Indeed. To be honest even if they had taken me for VES, I would have been expecting the standard "oh, we noticed X,Y & Z need doing" and a corresponding bump in price from the original quote.

[Clan]

The Essential Service has been going for years at dealers .. back to the 400 days ..
It is basicly and oil and filter change and throrough check over , it uses volvo compiled check sheets just like the full service .
Recently they re-launced it to cover models 6 years + old .

Remember if your car goes into your volvo dealer for anything , you get a comprehensive health check done and a report of its condition , thats worth having .. Repairs are not compulsory! People above complain that they get a list of things which need doing , but wouldnt that be a bonus ? wouldnt you rather know ?
Strange world we live in ..

[tt82]

The Essential Service has been going for years at dealers .. back to the 400 days ..
It is basicly and oil and filter change and throrough check over , it uses volvo compiled check sheets just like the full service .
Recently they re-launced it to cover models 6 years + old .

Remember if your car goes into your volvo dealer for anything , you get a comprehensive health check done and a report of its condition , thats worth having .. Repairs are not compulsory! People above complain that they get a list of things which need doing , but wouldnt that be a bonus ? wouldnt you rather know ?
Strange world we live in ..

Yes its worth knowing, but i would really complain if some of the items on the list that needed attention were actually fine (and I have had this happen with a Volvo dealer that is no more, good ridance)

[grass hopper]

It's usually a ploy to "get you through the door" and see what else they can bolt on.

We do the same service and call it a summer or winter check, we charge £25.00 inclusive. a ploy ! not at all.

the E/S is a oil and filter change and thorough check over and any recalls carried out,the service is about the same price as a indy/specalist carrys out but looks better with a volvo stamp.

the summer/winter check is not the same !!!!

volvo do these for free when you call in for any repair,it is called a health check.

[grass hopper]

As far as I know its basically a check over and a change of fluids.

My local independant does the same for £45£45 for a service including oil and volvo filter ! and check over.

i cant see the indy trading for another year with profit margins like that !

[Scooser]

Sorry to bump a thread that was started over 8 years ago, but as I've just found out Volvo Essential Service, and it appears it is still available.

Need a 6 year service on my V70 D5 R-design, and as a major service will set me back around £400. Now, a VES costs less than half of that.

I'd like to retain Volvo stamps, but what do you think - a false economy?

[GrahamBrown1]

it depends what your millage is, the 400 pound sounds excessive for the yearly service so other items must be included. this would mean they need doing at that interval whether it be millage or age so the essentail service is just an oil chnage and a look round but you dont want to skimp on important service items that save you money or failure in the future

[Kugaman1]

Bumping a very old thread here, but my local Volvo dealer is offering the Volvo essentials service for £200 - but the difference is that its available for cars from 4 years old! I know what I will be doing next year!

[Kev0607]

Bumping a very old thread here, but my local Volvo dealer is offering the Volvo essentials service for £200 - but the difference is that its available for cars from 4 years old! I know what I will be doing next year!

Its not much of a service though… it’s basically just an oil change and a health check. A fuel filter for example isn’t included in that. If your car hasn’t been serviced for a while, as in, it hasn’t had a full proper service, then an essential one really is as basic as you can get and you could be missing out on parts that actually need to be changed or due to be changed by going down the “essential” route because you’re paying for a bare basic service.

A basic service is better than nothing though, but I wouldn’t be making a habit of it (if you own the car and actually plan on keeping it for a while). Yes, they do a health check too, but if you only pay £200 for a yearly service, the chances of asking them to fix things they pick up on (which they usually do) will be left, (generally speaking) because all items they find that need changing are extra’s to the “£200” Invoice. Then your £200 service could end up double that, quite easily. What’s the chance of paying that when one wouldn’t pay for a proper service in the first place? I say “one”, as I’m using this generally speaking, not aimed at you personally.

Don’t skimp on servicing if you want a reliable car. A basic service is okay if you’re not doing much mileage or its old.

[Kugaman1]

Yeah, agreed mate,
However, I aim to change to a smaller car once my xc60 is around 4-5 years old.
Its an R Design pro mild hybrid petrol - amazing car, but not one I would want to keep for much over 5 years old…..the amount of expensive equipment on it, like air suspension, birds eye cameras, pilot assist, pan roof, etc,etc means there are going to be some very big bills down the line…..

Its 3 years old next week so is in for its 3rd service and first MOT tomorrow. Ive taken an extra years Volvo warranty at a cost of £500 or so.

Next year an essentials service and mot will do fine and carry me over into year 5 when I can look to change it. Probably going to get a Kia Sportage for the 7 year warranty and the fact theres a dealer a mile from my house…..My Volvo dealer is 35 miles away…

[Kev0607]

Yeah, agreed mate,
However, I aim to change to a smaller car once my xc60 is around 4-5 years old.
Its an R Design pro mild hybrid petrol - amazing car, but not one I would want to keep for much over 5 years old…..the amount of expensive equipment on it, like air suspension, birds eye cameras, pilot assist, pan roof, etc,etc means there are going to be some very big bills down the line…..

Its 3 years old next week so is in for its 3rd service and first MOT tomorrow. Ive taken an extra years Volvo warranty at a cost of £500 or so.

Next year an essentials service and mot will do fine and carry me over into year 5 when I can look to change it. Probably going to get a Kia Sportage for the 7 year warranty and the fact theres a dealer a mile from my house…..My Volvo dealer is 35 miles away…

That's fair enough. You don't want to be paying top whack servicing for a car that you're probably getting rid of soon (ish)... I get that. The more there is, the more there is to go wrong! The only way you could keep a car like you have currently without potential eye watering repair costs would be to keep it under extended warranty like you have done, but that gets pricey too.

Kia make nice vehicles. They're very popular and the 7 year warranty gives piece of mind. I believe MG also do a 7 year warranty with their vehicles. Although, Kia won't be a patch on the XC60 in terms of comfort, but hey, its in a total different league/price band, so that's to be expected.

I understand why people buy Kia's. They're decent cars and were overlooked by the badge snobs up until prices for vehicles went through the roof.