Volvo Owner Shares Repair and Maintenance Estimate From Florida Dealership That’s More Than the Car’s Value
A 2017 Volvo S90 owner recently shared a dealership repair estimate that was about twice the car’s value. Is that normal? Some people believe that it is.
Bought new, a 2017 Volvo S90 cost somewhere between $47,000 and $63,000, depending on the trim. So getting one used for, say, $13,000 to $15,000, depending on its condition and mileage, seems like it might be a good deal, right?
It is, assuming that the 2017 Volvo S90 never needs any significant repairs. One Volvo owner learned that lesson the hard way.
According to a dealership repair quote shared recently on Reddit, it will cost between $14,000 and $16,000 to have all repairs and replacements on the S90 addressed.
The S90 does have 110,900 miles on it, so things will certainly need repair or replacement, but $16,000 worth?
Among the items listed on the repair estimate were the starter, both batteries, brakes, wiper blades, control arms, tie rod ends, motor and transmission mounts, and the timing belt.
Are repair bills typically this expensive for a 2017 Volvo? Or any other luxury vehicle?
Putting aside the dealership’s odd choice to lump the two timing-belt replacement options into the grand total, one commenter on Reddit called it “pretty normal.” That said, they added that the car actually needing this much work would surprise them.
Another commenter who said they have “dealt with hundreds of decade-old cars in similar condition” weighed in on the quote. They claimed, “It’s pretty normal for them to have a repair list this long when you go to an actual dealer.”
A third commenter agreed, writing, “Brakes last 80-90k miles before hitting replacementlevels if you don’t beat on them, timing belts last 100k or 7-10 years, tie rods should last 100k, Control arms and ball joints last 100k, motor and trans mounts should last 100k, starters in cars with auto start stop should last about 150k assuming city driving. And the car is 9 years old with 110k miles. It’s perfectly on par with how it should be.”
But what about lumping the two timing belt options into the total?
As for the two different timing belt options both appearing on the estimate, another commenter said that “most quoting software” doesn’t allow “either/or” conditions to “show two different totals.”
“It’s customary to add both options to the same quote and denote them as such,” they continued. “They also state that the motor mount work would be done for just the parts price if performed at the same time as the timing belt change. Nothing nefarious here.”
Perhaps the only nefarious thing in this case would be if the owner of this 2017 Volvo S90 tried to sell it for anywhere near what dealers typically list the car for. That’s why, when shopping for a used luxury car, it’s best to make sure a trusted mechanic has looked it over first.
