So took my V70 R into the volvo dealer to address a few things including a sale on an oil change that was a pretty good deal to get the volvo techs to look at the car without paying the $125 minimum inspection fee...

The tech there was actually really helpful, I got to go back to the repair bay with him to discuss some of the issues. He pointed out that the undercoating wasn't volvo and on the dented front left panel, there had been some shifting of the nuts and a bit of overspray, so he's pretty convinced that there had been some minor work on that side and probably explains my air leak. However, they couldn't narrow it down without taking out the wheel well and that would have required drilling out the rivets for the well and mud guard so I decided to let that go for now.

The mechanic was a bit disappointed I went with synthetic, he said that with regular oil changes at 3k I was just wasting my money. However, I think that with the location I'm at most of the year, the synthetic will be worth the extra cost. Overall I got out of there for only $110.

For the trunk latch, he didn't want to move the post because there was no way to duplicate the issue in the shop...I asked about just loosening them so I could adjust it later because they are stuck pretty tight but he didn't want to do that seeing as it fit very well right now and he didn't want to open it up to not being aligned like it is now..

They diagnosed the ticking/rattling on the right side of the car as the tension pulley, so he lubed it and told me to keep an eye on it.

He managed to finally get the dipstick for the trans out of the tube...said that they didn't grease the o-ring before jamming it in there but commented that the trans fluid looked nice and red, so for 123k miles, it must have been replaced some time just before I bought it...so that saved me +$100 to change out. I know a lot of the brickboarders would do it themselves but my knownledge and working space/equipment is limited so I do what I can.

I got to see the car on the lift for the first time, so I took note of a few things like the rear air dam/protector on the drivers side underneath in front of the rear tire. I had noticed it hanging down quite a bit but never knew why...turns out there is a crack in it near the bolt, so it's hanging down farther than it should. Not a biggie though, getting a replacement shouldn't cost much. Just another small fix-it like the cracked fog lamp..

So yeah, the guy was really helpful and I got to see things from a tech's perspective as I was standing there. When they did the oil change they used Mobil 1 synthetic, just in case anyone was wondering...