That price won’t be for a full flush. That price sounds like a simple drain & fill, which means its a partial fluid change because there’s still going to be several litres of old fluid inside the transmission. You can’t empty all the fluid on a drain & fill, hence why drain & fills are done repeatedly to get as much of the old stuff out.

I doubt for £100 that this is what they’ll be doing (repeated drain & fills). Its more like they’ll drain what they can & fill it back up again. Better than nothing though...

If you want spotless fluid, depending on the condition of your existing fluid, they’ll need to do it at least twice. If its really bad, it could take 3/4 drain & fills. I doubt a single drain & fill will give you very clean fluid on a car with 100k on it... it sounds to me like this is what they plan to do (just one single drain). I may be wrong, but its worth checking.

A full flush via the transmission oil cooler, renewing all the fluid in one go costs about £300.

Yes they said this is 2 fills and suggested would replace about 80% of it, so seemed to know the scoop

That’s very reasonable so.

show me your evidence ? It's in the VIDA service requirements ...

yes unfortunately with the high rate of service adviser staff turnover and not getting the same one two years in a row they will never get it right ..

If its in the VIDA service requirements, why is it “optional”?

If its in the service requirements, it should be mandatory.

Evidence? How about dealerships telling people the transmission fluid doesn’t need to be changed.

This.

I have had a main dealer telling me it doesn't need to be changed, and never coming back to me with a price to renew the fluid after I insisted.

It's not an old wives' tale.

what it needs for you to be talking to volvo higher up the chain about these incompetent advisers really , talking on here does nothing to address the issue ...except open up how wide the problem is ..:confused_smile: Volvo have mystery shops 4 times a year at every dealer service, parts and sales department and 2 audits a year , the bosses do all they can . The bosses would like to know their adviser is doing them out of £300 at every lost auto oil change requested !
Regarding the OPTIONAL items mentioned above since 2014 services are flexible ,( the old fixed service check sheets are long gone ) there is also an essential service for occasions such as now when mileages are low for the year . they should have the skill to build a service to suit you and your requests , all the software is at their hands to do it ..

That doesn’t answer the query.

You said Volvo don’t claim their transmissions are “sealed for life”.

VIDA has a service schedule for the transmission.

If VIDA has a service schedule listed, why is it optional? Why isn’t it a mandatory item?

Bottom line is, dealerships don’t mention a transmission fluid change & your singing praises for Volvo. Do you think if I rang them or went in to complain about this that it would make a bit of difference? Who am I at the end of the day?

Stop with the blurb & be realistic... Volvo don’t tell their customers about transmission servicing & that’s the bottom line. They also say their transmissions are sealed for life... I’ve heard it on many occasions.

If a fluid change is an “option”, they should at least mention it. Then its up to the customer if they decide to get it done, but they don’t. Here’s an analogy for you;

“Hi there, I’d like my fluid change in my transmission”

“Oh, there’s no need to do that. Its not a serviceable item”.

Funny that... why is there a drain & fill plug on the transmission then? :shocked:

I’ve read my owners manual & the only reference to a transmission fluid change is if the car is used for towing or in arduous conditions. It doesn’t say anywhere that it still needs to be changed, even if the car isn’t used for towing etc.

Its a simple case of common sense & owners taking it upon themselves to go elsewhere to get fluid changes done. Sadly, many don’t do this because they’re under the impression that the fluid doesn’t need doing because dealerships tell them it doesn’t have to be done!

........

Have to agree with Clan on the staff issue above. My experience of Main Dealers in my area has been very, very poor.

I've always found that the service advisor knows very little about the product; far less than I do on almost every occasion. Why do they seem to recruit people who have no interest in Volvos? I guess they look at it as just a sales role?

But then I assume I am not their target audience. I get the feeling the dealer is only interested in you leasing the car, servicing it as told, then changing it after three years for another on a lease deal. People like me who are often the 3rd, 4th, 5th owners with higher mileage vehicles don't figure in the business model, as we are more likely to use independents for our work anyway.

I feel totally alienated at a Main Dealer and it shouldn't be like that. Volvo don't have to sell me a car, as I'm not going anywhere else! In the future, hopefully I'll be driving a V90CC (once the XC70 is no longer) then the electric equivalent after that.

However, some of the parts guys I've dealt with are excellent. FRF Swansea (Simon etc.) are exceptional as you probably all know. Always go the extra mile.

My localish Volvo dealer, Donald's in Colchester, have an annual open day where our local VOC can meet and the techs are on hand to put your car on a ramp and just chat. Great initiative and really builds trust. I'll give them a try next time I need any main dealer work.

I'm sure lots of people who work for Volvo are like me, passionate about the brand, but I've not met many. Probably this is not just confined to Volvo, it's industrywide. I'm naive enought to think it's about the cars but like everything else, it's just about sales.

Anyway, off to change the ATF on my C70. Good discussion all. Very enjoyable. :regular_smile: