How to go broke owning a VOLVO. Cost of Ownership.

The Volvo dealer in Hermiston, OR also has locations in Boise and Twin Falls, ID. I have only dealt with the Boise location because I live in the area. While not perfect, I have no hesitation in taking my truck there for service or recommending them. I have never gotten even a hint of the treatment that Minder Kat describes he got from the dealer in Denver. I have dealt with a few other Volvo dealers, primarily in the eastern states for mostly minor repairs with no issues.

The dealer in Fond du Lac, WI(my home town) mentioned by another poster seems to be allright, though I never had my truck actually worked on there. I was at my parents for Thanksgiving 2010 and that was the first cold night since I bought my 2007 Volvo in mid-October. Found out it had a coolant leak when I got up in the morning. It lost enough coolant that the truck would shut down after going down the road about a mile. Got it to the dealer and they were closed the day after Thanksgiving. After a bunch of screwing around I was at the dealer again later and there was somebody there doing something outside. He ended up helping me out explaining why the truck was shutting down and gave me a gallon of coolant and wouldn't take any money. He said they should have been open to take of me(It was the first time they had closed the day after Thanksgiving.)

So, yes there are some decent dealers out there.

 

I guess I have been blessed then that my 2004 vnl 780 has not been a problem to fix. Of course I have the Cumminis engine that Nashville Cummins rebuilt a couple of years ago but for 90% of the repairs I take it to a local mechanic and they handle all the issues I have taken to them.

The Volvo dealers in Joplin, MO, Lexington, KY and Nashville, TN are good dealers that I have had work on my truck with no issues.

 

You buy the trucks everyone else buys and you go broke like everyone else does.


My truck engine/transmission have no wiring harnesses or ECMs. Never breaks down either.

 

A good number to call Volvo customer service 1-800-52-VOLVO.I had a problem years ago when a Volvo dealer in Cleveland charged me almost $1,100 to replace my starter and in the process they broke a $287 sensor and spent almost 7 hours on that starter.I had to pay to get my truck out but I called customer support and 2 weeks later I was paid back by the dealer $650.Had another problem in 2000 with a brand new Kenworth I bought.It had only 8 miles when I got it.After 1 year and a half of problems I got a lawyer and sued Kenworth.They took back the truck paid my lawyer and labeled it a lemon truck.Just don't let it go $$$ doesn't grow in trees.

 

To the OP:
I wouldn't put the blame on the truck(in this case being a Volvo) but on the dealer.
A bad dealer is a bad dealer whatever brand it is.
You got screwed by that dealer..............and yes,i would do what laurentiu1 said,which is to call Volvo with all the invoices and reports ready to be emailed(allready scan then to your computer)

As for venting or complaining.................don't stop doing it,it will take pressure off your heart and will make you live longer.

 

As a mechanic, I can sympathize with this. I work for a trucking company that has 10 '05-'06 Volvos. The company bought them cheap thinking they'd save money on repairs. It turned out to be just the opposite. Fortunately, I don't have to pay the bill for the parts, but they do pass through my hands. The prices on parts alone is staggering. Again, the dealers are terrible to work with. I call up and order parts and I can just picture the guy behind the counter scratching his head. These guys have no clue whatsoever, I'd swear they've never even seen a Volvo truck. I get the wrong part sent in 3-4 times before I get the right one. I can fax them diagrams and even list part numbers and they still screw it up! Meanwhile I have trucks out of service that desperately need to see road duty.

Anyway, these trucks are a mechanics nightmare. I've never been to school for truck mechanics, just picked up it from jumping in a figuring it out. I have noticed that troubleshooting in itself has become a dying art. Nope, let's just throw a fist full of money and parts at it and hope for the best. Are you kidding me? I cannot believe they wouldn't let you talk to someone about your truck. The best way to diagnose a problem is to talk to the person that drives the #### thing every day! I talk to the drivers of these trucks about the conditions they're experiencing and 9 times out of 10 it's a whole lot of useful information that ends up atleast pointing me in the right direction.

Why does it cost so much for repairs? I can do EGR valves on a D12 in 3 hours as well as a water pump or a starter without any special tools. If you take your time and you're careful and check over your work, anything can be accomplished successfully. Sounds like these shops are unorganized/dont care/dont know what they're doing.

I hate how things nowadays are made intentionally so the average Joe can't turn a wrench on 'em. Take it to the dealer and pay $100+ an hour. This is exactly why I don't even own a new car.

I've been a longtime Freightshaker fan as we've had tons of 'em. We had a whole fleet of '98-'01 FLD's and had very few problems ever. Our parts dealer was great to work with and the 60 Series Detroits and Cat's were a no brainer to work on. Although we received 10 2012 Cascadia's last year and I've seen quality go down the tubes. Everything just seems cheap and poorly made. One truck dropped a turbo at 41kmi, another a DEF pump at 50kmi, as well as a power steering pump at 80kmi. The pump that Freightliner won't replace because there's nothing wrong. The truck was there for a week, it doesn't steer, but there's nothing wrong with it. Once again dealers are the worst to deal with. If it wasn't for the warrantee, I'd put it in and it'd be fine.

Oh well, I'm just ranting now. From a mechanics point of view, I say to heck with Volvos.

 

AlbanyTrans, I disagree with almost everything in your post. Your parts experience I cannot comment on because I don't deal with the same parts people you do. As an owner, driver, sometimes "admitted" shade tree mechanic and last but not least, an ex owner of 2 Pete's, a 99 379 and an 03 379, I wont go back to a Pete.
I was very skeptical when I bought this 07 Volvo because of all the "ranter's" issues with electrical problems and maint. issues. I did my home work, got warranty report on the engine and liked what I saw, so bought me a 2007 Volvo and have not regretted it one day since purchase almost 2 yrs ago. The parts dept. at my local dealer is good at getting the right part the first time,most of the time, the Frieghtliner dealer...... not so good ,Pete dealer....... proud of their parts. I work on my truck sometime when it is something I can do and I have the time, rest of the time I have a local shop that has been working on my trucks since I bought my 99 Pete. They gave me heck when they found out I had bought a Volvo, now they understand why I did. The mechanic that works on my truck most of the time has told me that for a "plastic" truck, it is one of the better trucks to work on as for the lay out and ease of getting to things.

As for myself working on it, I have only had to deal with a couple of those electrical issues that people on this forum like to site so often, man what a chore. I had a problem with passenger side head light, bulbs were good but kept going off. I figure it could only be the Volvo wiring, so I replaced a little 12 inch harness from the headlight to the harness that goes across the front of the truck, whew what chore , unplug.... replug, done. As for the other electrical issue, every time my truck got wet my fuel gauge would quit working until it dried out, oh boy, more Volvo wiring issues. Get a new fuel level sending unit, unplug old one, unbolt it and remove it, install new one , bolt it in, plug it in and done. Neither electrical issue was hard to diagnose or repair.

I have gone on a bit of a rant here myself and I'm now done, with one more toss of my 2 cents, if an unbiased person would stop to look at the design thought that has gone into the maint. and repair process it is impressive, i believe. From removing the valve cover to removing the radiator the steps are few and simple.

Ok folks, just my 2 cents from an owner, driver and sometimes shade tree mechanic.

 

I own a 2006 Volvo 780 D12 with 700k miles got from Lone mountain. Three years down the road, no major issue except a u-joint that I ignored for 6 months..later rear short drive shaft broke off, was later replaced.
EGR harness replaced at one point in time and that's it! Other small issues are the regular small truck stuff ...like any other...once in a while.
The Volvo motor secret is...be proactive, get underneath and under rhe hood and keep ya eyes open and listen...otherwise , on the open hwy.... dont try to keep up with petes, KWs or a f/liners. be gentle to the gal and you'll the good side of Volvo...gas mileage...and comfort of course.

 

You just cited one of the biggest differences in owning ANY brand of truck. The dealer from the day you buy it, through the shop when needed, parts(& getting the right parts) to resale. Granted, you do not know the last part of that one yet, but the first three are huge along with the other shop that you mentioned that does work on your trucks.

I know of guys that have driven to our local Kenworth/Volvo dealer from 250-300 miles away to do business because they have issues with their local outlet. There are two Pete franchises 100 miles in either direction of me & are typically night & day difference on both parts & service.

A couple farmers around here had some 02-03?(guessing) Volvo's with the D12 & liked the trucks. Don't remember them mentioning wiring issues, only thing they ever brought up were injector issues back then.

 

Yakima, Wa. About a 1/4 mile from gearjammers truck stop sits a Volvo dealer that is as fair as I have ever seen. Please note, I did not say cheap, I said fair. They stand behind their work at decent wages.
I would recommend them to anyone.

On the other side of that coin. I live about 5 miles from the Volvo dealer in Wichita Ks. I wouldn't recommend them to my worst enemy. They suck! High dollar as hell. They tried to charge me $1500 for 3 new batteries and a new starter solenoid installed, and one starter cable. The cops were almost called lol. $30 in shop supplies ya know. The mistake I made was telling them the truck would be covered under warranty from the place I purchased. They seen $ signs big time.