Volvo Service Price Indicator - Beware!!!

[marc]

Originally Posted by NJC3107

Having experienced issues with the local Volvo main dealership I now use an independent. This came about as at 82,000 miles and less than 10 years old I was advised my C30 D5 required a timing belt and water pump change as part of the service. They also told me the brake fluid required changing, although it had be changed the year before last...
It seems they just try to frighten owners to make unnecessary changes, or am I just being cynical....

Had my C30 D5 serviced last week, now 10 years old and 45K on the clock...service cost me £400 and I was told I needed a few belts changed, that'll be another £900 (all dealer pricing).

Safe to say that once this is done I'll going to a reputable independent garage in the future.

[froggyted]

Thanks for all the posts to this thread, folks, and I'll respond in more detail soon. The latest is that Volvo UK have forwarded my feedback to both their Web team and Aftersales Dept. When I heard this I thought I might be offered some grace payment towards the service for my feedback, but so far I've not heard back from them so it doesn't look as though it's going to happen. As things stand I'm delaying my service until May or June, when the car actually becomes 10 years old, in the hope that the belt doesn't break beforehand, since I simply don't have the funds just now. As things currently stand they still haven't updated their website, which still shows that belts are due for replacement at 150,000m/12 years. Moreover, no mention is made of replacing the water pump. (My vehicle is 2009 model 2.0D S40: https://www.volvocars.com/uk/own/mai...rice-indicator

[froggyted]

An update to this thread: You can see from the date of the top post the approximate date that i contacted Volvo UK about this issue. About three weeks ago, to rub salt in the wounds, they sent me a template email me notifying me that my service was overdue and that i could use their 'new' online service price indicator to get an idea how much the service was going to cost. Assuming that they had taken action on the strength of my feedback i went online, only to find that this tool was still (and still is as i type) advising that a belt change was not required until 12 years/150k miles, despite three main dealers assuring me that it's needed at 10 years/125k. When i pointed this out to Volvo UK by means of another email they assured me that it was being looked into and that they'd contact me in due course.

Well, three more weeks have gone by and still no communication from them. I have to say now that if my timing belt fails before i get it replaced it will be very bad publicity for Volvo.

[Bendolfc]

Why are you assuming the dealers are right and volvo are wrong. The belts are due at 150k miles. The dealers are giving you bad info. Although to be fair it is 150k or 10 years not 12.

[froggyted]

Originally Posted by Bendolfc

Why are you assuming the dealers are right and volvo are wrong. The belts are due at 150k miles. The dealers are giving you bad info. Although to be fair it is 150k or 10 years not 12.

I'm just wondering where you are getting this information from? Official Volvo dealerships use service schedules provided to them directly from Volvo (presumably from their headquarters in Gothenburg rather than Volvo UK).

[Bendolfc]

From said service schedule from my last service. You should have a copy of you have your car dealer serviced as it is a tick sheet that should be filled in and left with customer.

[froggyted]

Originally Posted by NJC3107

Having experienced issues with the local Volvo main dealership I now use an independent. This came about as at 82,000 miles and less than 10 years old I was advised my C30 D5 required a timing belt and water pump change as part of the service. They also told me the brake fluid required changing, although it had be changed the year before last...
It seems they just try to frighten owners to make unnecessary changes, or am I just being cynical....

I think it's standard Volvo procedure to change brake fluid every two years because it absorbs moisture. Overkill, perhaps, and something you can opt out of if you wish. With regard to your water pump, i can't find that in the service schedule anywhere. I guess it works out cheaper in the long run to change this at the same time as the belts, but does anybody know the expected service life of these, because as i say Volvo don't even build it into their service schedule? I say 'expected service life' because with the vehicles built under Ford's stewardship i don't think a lot of these components last as long as they should - my alternator started playing up at around 45k.

[Bendolfc]

When I had mine done, dealer said they normally inspect pump and only replace if it feels "notchy" as they tend not to fail. B in my case they replaced it but didn't charge for it for some reason.

[froggyted]

Originally Posted by Bendolfc

From said service schedule from my last service. You should have a copy of you have your car dealer serviced as it is a tick sheet that should be filled in and left with customer.

You are correct, i have checked. Strange, as the normal expected mileage per year is 12,500, which gives 125,000 at 10 years. This is the mileage shown for ten years on the website Service Price Indicator - where it shows only an oil, oil filter and cabin filter change required for my vehicle. This tool shows the belts needing changing at 150,000 miles as per the tick sheets, but shows the service interval as 12 years rather than 10. So, all very inconsistent information.

Here's another quirk that the Service Price Indicator throws up. If you select a 2009 model 2.0D S40 (as mine is, even though it's an 08 registration), the estimated 10 year service cost is £250, as is the 11 year service, with the 12 year service estimated at £1,340. (Remember, this is inaccurate, as per the thread, since the belts have to be changed at 10 years). However, if you select an 08 model the 10 year service is estimated the same at £250, the 11 year service at £705, and the 12 year service at £870. So both these vehicles would cost more or less the same to service over years 11 and 12, and the only difference in the schedules in terms of components is that the DPF filter is replaced at 11 years on the 08 model and at 12 years on the 09 model. That makes the cost of replacing this filter either £455 or £470, depending on which way you calculate it, which to me is a surprisingly large amount of money.

[Bendolfc]

At 10 years old the service price indicator becomes a bit iffy as many dealers will start to discount the labour rate a fair bit, I'd phone them and get a price then ask them for their best price, you may find there is a fair bit of wiggle room. In my case servicing at Kastner in Exeter (wife is from down that way so I am frequently down there anyway) is not hugely different in price to Southport Auto Centre who are a respected indy not hugely far from where I live.