"only a dealership will do any work on a volvo"

[scotlandtim]

Hi.

Can you settle a dispute for me.

I've been told that 2nd hand Volvos are a bad idea because most mechanics won't touch them so you end up back at the dealership.

I do most of my own mechanical work, but it would be good to know I can take it to soemone other than the dealer should I need to!

I'm based near Edinburgh and Stirling so if anyone can recommend a good indy up this way that'd be just lovely!

Probably going to buy a '52 plate v40 1.9d from a friend.

Cheers.

[t5_monkey]

utter rubbish mate!

plenty of garages will repair them.. they're just a car like any other.

[stephend]

^^^^^
wot t5 monkey said!

My local indie looks after my Volvos (a V40 and a 740), and drives a V70 himself! There may be some diagnostics that can only be done with Volvo software, which an indie may or may not have, but that's true of recent models across all makes. For the vast majority of work, a good indie should be fine.

[scotlandtim]

Thanks guys - I couldn't see that he was telling the truth, but wanted to get an opinion from people who already run Volvos.

Ta

[Toplights]

I find most jobs fairly straight foreward on my V70 at least.I recently removed my heater matrix as it was leaking,it turned out to be one of the easyest jobs i have done on the car in five years.On most others makes it would be dash out ect.Whoever told you no one would work on them, was tallking out of his ar@e. As with other car forums you will find invaluable help on this one.

[RUTV70]

As the others have said...total crap.!....it's a car not the Shuttle.!
You'll find most garages are more than willing to work on them.
I use a Saab Indy for instance...not a problem....they are people I've used for a few years and trust them.

Neil

[andy_d]

there are a couple of bits that "main dealers" have the kit for and a lot of others dont
BUT a decent odb2 scanner sorts those out , or a indie with vadis/vida and a vct2000/dice unit (same as a main dealer) will see to those.
the rest is just spanner chucking, pretty much everything is "diy" possible
only helpful hint id say is use gen volvo parts for a easy life when doing anything
use of "FRF" or "Johnsons" on here (members discount section for info/how to contact) for discounts on gen parts and they work our a lot nicer on the wallet.

[popuptoaster]

There are some jobs on all cars that are "main dealer only" according to the manufacturer, they never stay that way for long though as someone always works out how to do them.

To be honest as i've been looking around my old 940 and gradually getting used to it it seems to be much simpler than most of the luxo barges im used to, cant get much more basic than an old 8v 4 pot, the whole car seems to be pretty old technology, just put together better than usual.

Dunno about more modern with all the modern elctronics on them, i steer clear of all that, seen to many cars in the written off 'cos they need some part that costs two grand and the whole car recoding to accept it. lol

[kebab10]

What rubbish. Took a Citroen GS to a Rover dealer for an MOT once for n MOT and he refused to do it as it was a Citroen. No problem at a FIAT dealer.
Needless to say didnt use the Rover dealer again. As for your mates statement, talking out of the hole in his ass!

[scotlandtim]

hehe - Rover dealers weren't known for their business prowess mind you!!