Often we complain about the way we are treated by our Volvo dealers, and I suppose often the criticism is valid. But, I thought it only fair to comment on a good experience with the dealer. My local dealer bought their dealership from what was the Benz/Volvo dealership around the time that I had only Benzs and not Volvos, so I had only a few experiences with them. Though they honored the same discount I had with the previous dealer, they did so begrudgingly as if I were taking advantage of them. That was maybe 8 years ago. Since I got another Volvo a little over a year ago, and it was time for a timing belt change, I thought I would give them another chance before ordering from Tasca.

I told the parts man that I would prefer to buy my parts locally and face-to-face, but only if the cost difference was not too great. I showed him a few examples of what my cost would be to order out of town, and he compared them to his retail prices. He said he couldn’t match the price, but he did offer a discount that narrowed the gap to a level that I thought acceptable.

In addition, without my requesting it, he ran my VIN and found two unfulfilled recalls, and he printed out and gave me the workshop manual sections for changing the timing belt and replacing the heater core. I requested that he enter me in the system so that I would get the same pricing if he were not there when I needed parts. He did that, and then he got the service department to enter the same customer number in their system so that the discount would apply to service as well. While it is rare that I would have the car serviced by someone else, there are some things that I can’t do. For example, I bought a spare ignition key, and it has to be programmed. Next week when I have the key done, I will see if the discount works out for the labor charge.

All said and done, I paid about 30% more than it would have cost me from Tasca, but I feel I got some value for my money. Your mileage may vary.

Charley