£330 to change pads on a 1.6!
 

Spoke to the local Volvo dealer today and enquired about having the pads (front and rear) changed as they are down to 1-2mm. I was surprised that the car doesn't have a brake pad warning light, but that's another issue. The car is an '06 1.6 (so the weediest brakes Volvo make (i.e Focus 1.6 setup). Was amazed that Volvo wanted over £330 to change four sets of pads! Ford dealer quoted £140 for the equivalent operation on an '06 Focus.

Incidently, the car has also just gone through a 25'000 mile service (where they failed to advise me that the pads were down to 1-2mm) at a cost of just under £300.00 for what amounts to little more than an oil change. This is some £39 more than the 20000 mile service that I have just paid Porsche Reading for on a 2006 Carrera 2S!

And I thought that after Porsche dealers they couldn't get any worse! I will strongly consider taking both our Volvo's to an independant from now on. I understand that as long as they use OE Volvo parts the warranty will still stand.

I really thought that after experiencing the horrors of Porsche dealers for a few years things couldn't get any worse. I really like the S40 and V50 we have bought, and they have been good cars both but the service costs are not acceptable for what are little more than runabouts. Why should they be so much more than the Ford's they are based on? The discrepancy between what is percieved as common (Ford) and "premium!?!" (Volvo) seems to be far larger than between Skoda, VW and Audi, who all seem to charge reasonably similar prices.

Needless to say I will seriously reconsider replacing the S40 with another.

Rant over.

Justin.

Surely they must of made a mistake. Thats mad money and I am sure they must of misquoted. Phone another dealer for a quote.

Did they give you a breakdown of what the charges are for the parts and labour? I would assume the parts costs are pretty high but it still does seem to be very expensive. I would recommend calling MRG Chippenham (01249 443300) and asking them for a quote. Alternatively, why not consider coming down for our meet at MRG in just over 2 weeks' time? This is precisely the sort of work which they will be able to advise you on; details of the meet are here (is just under an hour's drive from Headington):

http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=45755

I know that the front pads for an S40 are about £25.00 as I recently bought some for mine, Rears were about the same for Volvo pads from PFV, so £50 for parts, that gives £280 for labour... I don't think so!!!!

Just spoken to my next nearest dealer who have quoted the following;

new pads all round - £310.00 inc. VAT
new discs (which I don't need yet!) and pads all round - £330.00 inc. VAT

So just £20 more to get 4 new discs fitted. What is going on with these dealer service prices!

Justin.

Hi again Justin,

I've taken the liberty to contact MRG Volvo in Chippenham to get some prices on the items you've mentioned and here they are:

25,000 mile service for MY06 S40 1.6 - £168.02 incl VAT
Replacing front and rear pads for MY06 S40 1.6 - £246.05 incl VAT

And just to point out, MRG are an official Volvo dealership, not an independent specialist. It all very much depends on where you are but not all Volvo dealers are "sharks". :)

Thanks for your efforts in speaking to MRG.

After questioning the quote of £330.00 with my original supplying dealer yesterday they came back to me today and have quoted £246.00 (same as MRG). I did not ask if they had been merely trying it on the first time, but it looks to have saved me £90, so it is worth asking as the other post on the forum suggests.

The 25000 mile service cost is interesting though, as looking back through the history for the 25k service in August 2007 they charged £267.00 inc. VAT, which is a £99.00 premium over MRG's quote.

As the 37500 will be due soon I may well be taking the car to Chippenham. I am aware that each dealer is different and some are better than others. It is unfortunate that people are quicker to complain than they are to praise but that's human nature I guess!

Our other daily drivers have been Honda's and Toyota's before who have never offered anything other than good value and exemplary service.

Justin.

Just checked with our local independent Volvo specialists, because my S40 will need new pads soon (46,000 miles on the first set!). Prices are for all pads, front and rear.
Using genuine Volvo parts, price with fitting = £153.00
Using aftermarket parts, price with fitting = £143.00

FIND a decent indi!!!

I got to agree with you. Use a good Indie. I am lucky to have one here at nottingham.

Volvo dealer prices leave me shocked at times. They are not in a premium car sector but seem to think they can charge as if the car was super premium. I wish VCUK get down to basics and rethink how they work out the manhour units to charge.

THe key factor, if ford can do it for much less on effectively the same car, than why does the cost differ so much between volvo and ford.

cheers

Volvo dealer labour rates + £82 per hour
My Indi labout rates £40 per hour.
Fitters get almost the same pay,. but at our indi don't have to worry about getting through the traffic into Norwich and back, so as they are all local guys, effectively the difference in pay is made up by the lack of travel costs.