Cost of a timing belt and water pump change on an S70
 

Hi there, I believe this is a pretty time consuming and therefore costly job. Been quoted £530 by a garage I trust implicitly and have used for 20 odd years - non Volvo.

Can I ask if that seems to be in the ballpark figure for independent Volvo garages? Don't have any near me and the dealership I phoned for a quote hasn't called me back 😬.

I paid £365 for mine recently, non-Volvo mechanic who works for himself

I think you will be suprised at how cheap volvo sometimes are. I doubt it would cost anything like that for a belt replacement at Volvo.

The water pump on mine (I did my D5 XC90 myself) was like new. No erosion, no sock etc etc and it does seem the water pumps have a very good service life.

Having done the job myself that sounds like a lot. I assume this is using genuine Volvo parts?

Only thing is, at what price do you put your own comfort? If you are really happy with the person then maybe swallow the cost.

You don't say what engine you have, but its not an especially involved or difficult job on any of the 5 pot motors.

It was only £400 without the pump on my D5 at the dealer. Chuck in the cost of a pump and a little more labour and youre looking about the same price youve been quoted for a dealer to do it, and a lifetime guarantee on the parts.

At the price youve been given I can see little incentive for taking them up on their kind offer.

If they are replacing the water pump and the tension pulley and they are using genuine Volvo parts then it's still a bit steep. They should also be replacing the aux drive belt at the same time as good practice.
It's not a difficult job, took me a few hours do do mine without changing the water pump, most of which was spent trying to lash together a tool for pulling the tensioner off and locking it!

As above, a bit on the steep side. IMHO you want them to include new tensioners and idlers, but question the waterpump, these have a VERY long service life and if the existing one is an original Volvo part and is running smoothly with no leaks I'd leave it, which will also cut the cost a bit.

Independent non volvo garages are charging as near volvo prices as they dare get these days . prices of everything are going up too as we all know .

When speaking to a Volvo dealership recently they stated that often independents are using them. Customer pays and they indi sends off to Volvo.

I think Volvo are often cheaper than people think.

Try Volvomax in Springboig ( outskirts of Glasgow ) Dougie is a Volvo man and his prices are very reasonable

Phone can be busy but it's worth the wait

The national Volvo labour rate is round about £100 + vat , there are regional variations though .