£400 alternator quote????

[shedtastic]

Originally Posted by ALLMENPLAYON10

Newbie here. Have done a search but without much luck.

I have a 2001 V40 as my daily, never missed a beat and cant fault it.

The prob is the mother in law (her car not her for a change).
its an 06 plate 1.6 s40, the on board computer came on yday and read "engine warning power system service urgent" .
I only find this out today when she happens to mention that her local volvo dealer from where she purchased the car new has diagnosed it as needing a new alternator and the cost is £400!!!

is it me or is that steeep???
Plus alternator failing on such a new car, is this common?

thanks

Hi - We have a 1.8 Petrol V50 and had the same message last year. (accompanied by some quite unhappy noises from the Alternator) I was quoted over £600 by the Volvo dealership in Preston (not Stratstone, as they had lost the franchise by then, but the shared one with - of all things - Fiat). They never mentioned getting £100 back for the exchange of the old one. I was stunned that the alternator would fail so early (< 60K miles) and that a component on what is basically a Ford Focus engine could physically cost so much..

I tried shopping around but the independent garage that I use couldn't get the required part.

In the end I had the failed part rebuilt by an independent - who commented that it was a much more complex refurbishment kit and much more involved job than expected - but I think the bill came to £180 instead. Still shocking, but at least feasible, unlike the proposed £600+ bill.

Of course - in the back of my mind I worry that the refurbished one won't last as long as a brand new one..

Neil.

[pelirocco]

Just had the same message come up on my 54 Reg S40 2.0 Diesel 'Power System Service Urgent'

The Alternator has been checked though and is working as it should.

The powere steering is very heavy but the engine does not cut out.

Any ideas?
Sending it into Bells Northampton Volvo dealership to be looked at tomorrow.

[BigMart]

I was chatting to an owner of an s40 54 plate 2.0d who had just suffered alternator failure,
He was unimpressed by volvo prices and called into his local ford dealer.
(must have been painful!)

They cross reffered his alternator code to a diesel mondeo and quoted him about £250 IIRC.

to go one better he phoned around a few ford breakers and found one from a crashed mondeo for £50 +vat..

Mart