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Bubbling Door Panel (What would you do?) S70

posted by  someone claiming to be RPM on  Fri May 24 13:22 CST 2002 [RELATED]

My wife calls me tonight after picking up my '98 S70 T5a from the dealer informing me that their repair job was an absolute nightmare. I thought they (Volvo) were doing me a favor to cover the cost of the panel fix after the warranty expired 4K ago.

Now there is glue every where on one panel and cuts in the vinyl. The other door doesn't seem to close right anymore. The panels have bumps in them so they are frankly no better than before. The door that is the worst wasn't even bubbling before but they told my wife that they repair panels in pairs.

I warn you fellow S/V70 owners. Live with the bubble in the door. Its better than Volvo's so call repair job.







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    Bubbling Door Panel (What would you do?) S70

    posted by  wills on  Sat May 25 11:37 CST 2002
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    I guess I'm lucky. On my 98 R wagon there have been no defects on all 4 door panels. I have removed them a few times, but make certain to compress the retaining clips..not just pull them off. IPD has a special tool to do it, and makes the job easy. I can remove a door panel in 5 minuets, very basic job.
    You know the dealer makes the differance, they can always make the effort to retain your buisness, don't believe anything else.

    Be persistant

    Good luck

    Spence








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    Bubbling Door Panel (What would you do?) S70

    uid 1839's pic
    posted by  Brian M. on  Sat May 25 04:50 CST 2002
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    last visit: Fri Sep 5 08:08 CST 2014
    [RELATED]

    I had the same problem with mine. It took me 3+ months to resolve last year. During that time I was telling the service manager how I wished I left the bubbling inserts the way they were. The new inserts were not acceptable and had to be redone. They found out that they could not fixed it since the tech who worked on it put too much glue on the inserts and were hard to take off. They eventually decided to replace all panels with new ones instead of just the inserts.
    --
    Brian M. - 1998 S70GLT, 1998 S70, 1991 Maxima SE








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    Bubbling Door Panel (What would you do?) S70

    posted by  bryan goldberg on  Fri May 24 15:27 CST 2002
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    last visit: Wed Jun 26 12:41 CST 2013
    [RELATED]

    RPM.

    You got THAT right.

    The repair kit is a POS. The inserts are cheap and do not have the foam backing of the OEM panels.

    I bought the kit for @$40.US and installed it myself. The dealer allots 1 hour for the tech. It took me much longer and although I finally got it to "fit", it looks really cheesey.

    That's the reason the instructions say to replace both. You know, so it won't be so obvious to front or rear passengers that the stuff is Cavalier quality--or lower.

    I wrote a letter to Volvo to say how pathetic it is that they expect owners to accept a mediocre solution for their mistake. I received a very nice response that basically says "too bad for you."

    So, I ordered a new one from Swedish Engineering. Great prices and exceptional service--ask for Phillip or Lew in Marietta, GA.

    OTOH I guess the money I saved with doing my own brakes, timing belt, oil and fluid changes, etc. more than make up for the costs.

    It is an awesome car and no car is perfect.. Still, since Volvo knows that this is their engineering mistake, I think they should make a good will gesture to customers. Yeah, right.

    Bryan








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      Bubbling Door Panel (What would you do?) S70

      posted by  someone claiming to be Gary on  Fri May 24 16:37 CST 2002 [RELATED]

      Volvo pays the dealer about 1 hour per door panel and once a person's done a couple, it's really not all that bad. From what I've heard and seen, most people don't do a good job at it the first time so obviously no one would want their car to be repaired by someone in-experienced at that.
      I've also heard that this repair idea was created by a retired upholstery guy BUT as most can guess, most auto techs anywhere aren't also experienced upholterers SO that's why this whole idea wasn't a good one from the begining. The real dealer cure should be a new complete panel for best overall customer satisfaction but as usual, this cheaper fix (forced by Volvo, NOT dealers) is generated by the almighty $$$.








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        Bubbling Door Panel (What would you do?) S70

        posted by  someone claiming to be Punxsutawney Phil on  Fri May 24 17:03 CST 2002 [RELATED]

        Volvo WAS offering rebuilt/remanufactured panels up until a few years ago. They came in pairs, too, but were indistinguishable from the new panels. They were only available with the vinyl "leatherette" inserts, not the cloth. (I have the cloth, of course!) I have no idea why they stopped doing this.

        -Punxsutawney Phil








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          $$$ S70

          posted by  someone claiming to be Gary on  Sat May 25 01:44 CST 2002 [RELATED]

          The fact that the maker of these original door panels did a bad glueing job or used a bad glue ended up costing Volvo ALOT more than what they wanted to spend on repairing the warranty problem as this was/is happening to many '98 X70s and it's worse in some areas (like the south with more heat) than other areas.
          The bottom line is that Volvo went for a less costly method (a "fix") than to replace all those door panels BUT it's not been a good thing for many of those Volvo owners or anyone else involved, like dealer people trying to resolve a bad situation.








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            $$$ S70

            posted by  bryan goldberg on  Sat May 25 14:35 CST 2002
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            last visit: Wed Jun 26 12:41 CST 2013
            [RELATED]

            Gary,

            Yes, you're right.

            But Volvo should seek reimbursement from their supplier, not make their customers take the hit.

            Even if done well the inserts are not up to the same level of quality as the rest of the cabin. They should continue the exchange program for rebuilding them, just like mechanical parts.

            You know that if you replace the entire set of doors, the costs are equivalent to the 850 evaporator saga. Sure, Volvos cost less than Mercedes and BMW initially. But by the time you've got all the glitches corrected, they ending up costing the same.

            That's why the well maintained ones look new--all their parts are.

            Bryan







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    Bubbling Door Panel (What would you do?) S70

    posted by  someone claiming to be Punxsutawney Phil on  Fri May 24 14:14 CST 2002 [RELATED]

    Bring it back. Be CALM. Show it to the service manager, zone rep, your lawyer etc. Really, they should do the job correctly and not make the problem twice as bad. That''s not an unreasonable expectation.

    -Punxsutawney Phil








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      Bubbling Door Panel (What would you do?) S70

      posted by  someone claiming to be RPM on  Fri May 24 15:20 CST 2002 [RELATED]

      I certainly will bring it back and I’ll try to be calm (but it will be difficult). My wife feels so angry that they let her walk away without even telling her about the damage to the car.

      I wish I could go to a lawyer but even in their absolute carelessness they are better than the only other Volvo dealer across town. They are my only choice for now to do repairs with my VIP extended warranty.

      In fact my wife had a Volvo and bought a Saab partly because of the Volvo service in our town.

      So Volvo pays the bill and they think they did the customer right. I am having a little difficulty believing the caption "Volvo for life" if they don’t do something to fix the mess.

      I realize its not Volvo’s fault but then they came up with the repair kit solution which is obvious to me to be impossible to use.

      I have to keep on telling myself its just a car!







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        Bubbling Door Panel (What would you do?) S70

        posted by  someone claiming to be Gary on  Fri May 24 16:28 CST 2002 [RELATED]

        Just be calm and take the car back. It must have been done by a guy who's never done it before as a person who's become experienced with that job CAN do it correctly and it'll look good too.
        Worst case senerio....the dealer can call their rep and get you NEW door panels so you don't have to except a botched job.







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