Greetings,

About two weeks ago, I had a blowout in the rear passenger tire on my 1999 XC. I bought this "certified" car a couple of months ago w/ 50K mi and am assuming the tires are it's second set. After changing to the "spare" tire, I drove driectly to the Volvo dealer. I have read the brickboard and am aware of the tire size issue & possible damage to the bevel gear so I asked the "service manager" if I had to replace all four tires. He looked at my car, felt the existing tire tread with his hand, said that my existing tires had enough tread and that I didn't need to replace all four tires. I am guessing the existing tires have approx. 10k-15k miles on them but have no way of knowing. He said I could replace the one tire & to leave it on the rear, which I did. Now, over the weekend, I noticed a small amount of oil had leaked on my driveway (don't know from where yet) and am fearing the worst. Did my dealer give me completely bad advice ? If the one new tire is/has caused damage, would it happen this quickly ? The car has an extended warranty so I won't be paying for any repairs, but if the bevel gear is replaced, how long until it fails again (assuming I keep the same tires)? I can't believe Volvo would offer an extended warranty for such an expensive and fragile part... I'd rather make Volvo pay for the repair than shell out $600 for a blowout.

Other problems since buying this "certified" gem three months ago (all covered under warranty but the repeated trips to the dealer are getting really old):

Missing emblem & grill piece-I thought the certification process was supposed to catch these kinds of things.

Replaced dead battery-supposedly checked during certification.

Replaced both front wheel bearings-Wondering if this car is really certified.

Flat tire in driveway-before the blowout

Empty power steering resevior-no leak detected-again, supposedly checked during certification

I also never recieved a copy of the 130 point certification inspection. I called the manager and was told one would be sent but it never arrived. Now I'm wondering if somebody is trying to pull a fast one. I guess I'll find out when I take yet another trip the the repair shop the get this latest problem fixed...

Sorry about the rant.
Any feedback is appreciated.


NattyDerek

2000 S40 1999 V70 XC