Went to have my US Volvo pass federal inspection in Canada so I can get it registered here - it failed because of a bad L/F ball joint. It is now at the local Volvo dealer having that repaired so I can get it passed. Only 36,000 miles on the car - is this normal? I had just had it in a month ago for the 37,500 check (a little early, but it was there for a failed electronic transmission sensor so I decided to do it all at once) and nothing was detected - how can the dealer miss this but the Canadian Tire guy find it?

FJDale
2001 V70 2.4T

dealers are..........(fill in your own statement here)
while the car under warranty, they will not point out to you defective items, unless you complain about an issue; they want you to come back; that's how they make big $; check-up is nothing but a money grab;
sorry bay......not all of them, but that how it is in most cases

I have had two ball joint replacements on a 2001 V70. The first was before 10,000 miles. The second, if I can recall correctly, was around 35,000.

"how can the dealer miss this but the Canadian Tire guy find it?"

You have to assume that the problem was there when the dealer checked it to assume that the dealer missed it. Bad assumption, you don't know, no one knows. Even if you assume the dealer did miss the problem and could prove it, what are you expecting to happen?

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Rich K. http://www.volvospeed.com/bay13.htm bay13@cox.net

The car had just been in for a 37,500 check (early) . I had paid $400. It spent the entire month of Feb. in a body shop, one week later had an ETS failure which required another tow to the dealer (this is when I had the routine work done) and then, a month after that, had the tires changed. You become somewhat cynical about the dealer when the car is in the shop so often and can't pass a federal inspection.

I'd be highly sceptical of your Canandian guys findings. Unless you did something to cause that ball joint to fail prematurely 36K is way way premature for it to be failing. Not that I haven't replaced some 850 ball joints but they are not on the regular hit list of things that I look for on the 850's. Sounds a little fishy to me.


Rule 308

The Volvo dealer did acknowledge the failed ball joint and replaced it under warranty. Even if I were skeptical, the car would't pass inspection without the repair and therefore couldn't be licensed here. I finally got plates today - after a month of agony (border inspections, title inspections by both the US and Canada, taxes, duty, waiting for a letter from the Registrar of Imported Vehicles, then the failed ball joint business.)

I love the car but the repairs are horrendous (I've had two major warranty failures - the other being an electronic throttle sensor ), many minor warranty problems and expensive routine maintenance visits ($400 a shot minimum.) To top it all off, there is no way one can drive the regular V70 (not all wheel drive) in Canada without winter tires - the all weather ones don't cut it. With an odd wheel size, the only decent tires available are roughly $300 each. Would love to trade it in but when one brings it across the border, one committs to keeping it for a year.