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Tue, 01 Jul 2008Volvos and CountertopsPosted to Annoying categorySukki's car broke down this weekend. Shane and I were going to fill it up and pick some things up at the drug store and the dry cleaners. On the way, someone flagged us down and let us know the brake lights weren't working. I checked once we got to the dry cleaners and sure enough no brake lights. After getting home, I looked at the obvious things, bulbs and fuses, all seemed ok. I then looked online and saw there is a recall for 2002 Volvos for the brake lights and the write up seems to be exactly what was wrong with Sukki's car. The service center at the dealership is closed on the weekends, so I told Sukki she had no car, which didn't go over well, till I could take it in.On Monday I called the dealership and they set me an appointment for today. Sukki took the day off as she didn't want me to drive her to work. When I got home Monday night, the kitchen was torn apart. I'm pretty sure I didn't ask for my kitchen to be destroyed... Turns out, my brother-in-law, came over since Sukki was home and they refinished the countertops, using some sort of paint enamel that is supposta look like granite. Since the entire kitchen was taped and roped off, we went out to eat. Had the worse waitress ever at Chili's, more on that story after I've had time to elaborate it. Today I bring Sukki's car in. I mention that there was a recall on the year newer model that is exactly what was going on. The service guys get all defensive, and claim no such recall ever existed. No one was looking anything up, and I called them on it. One of the service guys claims he knows all the recalls and doesn't need to look it up. I'm a little pissed off that they are calling me a liar, so I go out to my van and get the recall number. When I bring it back, I get told this isn't an official recall and was asked what web site I pulled it off from. I couldn't remember, as I had only cut and pasted the recall info. They estimated it would be $125 to fix the lights and look at why the damn service light was on. Then he tells me the car is past due for it's 90,000 mile service, which is $680, and if it would be alright to do it now. I said no, but wanted to know what was covered in the service. He said "oil change and sparkplugs mainly". I asked him why the $680 bucks for oil and plugs? He said "well they check a lot of things". I told him no thanks. He mentioned as I was leaving the 105,000 mile service is $1000+ because they replace the timing belt, as if that would make me want to buy the $680 service. I went into my office for the morning, figured I'd give the dealership time to call me before going up to work at my client in Boulder. They called around 10:00 and I picked up Sukki and went to go pick up her car. I turned out to be $150ish and he pushed the service on me again. I told him I'd rather do it myself than pay that much. I also called him out for calling me a liar eariler. I had printed out two different copies of the recall, one from Volvo's site and one from the NHTSA. I told him I realize my wife's car is a year older than what was covered in the recall, but I don't like being called a liar, and I threw the printouts on the counter. I got dead silence, then a bunch of apologies, then I was referred to as "Mr. Doyle" and "sir", which probably translates to "asshole" in dealership speak, but I was happy I wasn't being treated like an idiot anymore. When I got home, the fumes were pretty strong, as Sukki's brother had been over and sprayed some sealer on the countertops. I think they're going to come out pretty good. Hopefully it's a inexpensive alternative to replacing them, which they needed. I'll post pics if they come out well. We never did get the gas... Posted at: 4:49 pmComments
Re: Volvos and Countertops Same thing happened to me with my car. I bought my car new in 2003 and have 29,000 miles on it. I went to have my oil and air filter changed and they tried to get me for $500. I said "what, has the price of oil gone up that much?" He didn't think that was funny and showed me a ton of things 'the book' said I needed to have done. One was Transmission oil needed to be changed, I never remember Daddy ever doing that and I recall he said the recommended idems in "The Book", were not necessary. I told them I had a 1,000 more miles before all that was necessary, so just change my oil and air filter. That was $39.00. On the way home the car started coughing and I pulled into my local mechanic's and he showed me the air filter hadn't been changed and a nest with accorns was in it, proving it had never been changed. I got my $39.00 back from the dealer, they lost a customer and now only go to my local mechanic, who told me that list in "the book", was not necessary and only makes the dealers rich. I'm debating if I should trade in my car and get a new one, after the five year mark, the trade value isn't very good. With a new car the guarantee would be back. What do you think? ReplyYour Comment |