Mechanic Suggestion Volvo 740 Turbo 88

Could somebody please suggest a good mechanic for my volvo near
Champaign, IL.

Thank you very much.

cc

 

How about a factory authorized dealer maybe?

 

Hmm, never been in one in my life. I have the idea that autorized
dealers are out there to get you and are incredibly expensive for any
thing regardless of how trivial. I figure it is probably not so
generally speaking, but I don't feel like risking it. The car costed me
$1500 and I want to keep my expenses within reason.

Thanks for the suggestion though.

cc

 

Not in my experience. Generally they are going to correct the problem
with factory parts which may be more expensive than after market, but
the quality in in many instances equal or better too.

When I have brakes done at volvo they use factory pads, which may not
last quite as long as the much harder after market pads. But they are
generally quieter and rotor wear seems lower.

Think of $1,500 as money that is sunk, gone. As with any other used
car the repairs are what it costs to have transportation. You could go
pay money for another used car and be faced with yet other repair
expenses. My opinion is that you will be money ahead by paying what it
takes to keep this inexpensive car running for as long as possible.

 

For a nearly 20 year old car? You'd have to be nuts to take it to the
dealer for work, well or have more money than sense.

 

Some dealers won't work n older cars.

 

No, but I'll tell you how you can find one.

Look in the Yellow Pages under "Auto Parts: Import"

Call several different store and ask the guys there for a
recommendation.

If the same name pops up: Bingo.

 

You could try checking with members of the Illinois chapter of the Volvo
Club of America.

Chapter links can be seen here:

http://www.vcoa.org/theclub/chapters.php#illinois

 

Assuming someone other than the owner is going to do the work, why not
the dealer? In my experience they charge about as much as the good
independent mechanics because they are using volvo parts.

Don't forget what he is paying for is transportation, and it really
doesn't matter whether the car is 20 years old or 5 years old. A car
is not an investment, but pre-paid transportation expenses. If he can
keep a 20 year old car going by spending $1,000 he is far better off
financially then spending $40k for a new one. Said another way the
fewer times you repeat the process of shelling out the price of a new
car the lower your total cost of car ownership will be.

Ask any financial advisor - you are almost always better off keeping
the old car and repairing it. It isn't as much fun as a new car
tho.....

 

Around here the Volvo dealers are infamous for incompetence and obscene
prices and if you bring in an older car they'll quote you sky high and
try to sell you a new car. A good independent Volvo specialist works on
these old beasts every day, they know where to get deals on OEM parts.
It might well vary by area but the only time I ever go to the dealer is
to pick up parts that I absolutely can't buy OEM elsewhere. The key is
to find a Volvo or at least European specialist, not just some random
Joe's Garage.

 

Yeah, around here, there's no 850s outside the front of the dealer, let
alone any of the older RWD cars. Couple that with the high personnel
turnover, and there's not too many dealer mechanics that have worked on
the older cars. The mechanics that were at the dealer back in the day
have all started their own shops - those are the guys a 740 owner needs
to find.

--
Mike F.
Thornhill (near Toronto), Ont.

Replace tt with t (twice!) and remove parentheses to email me directly.
(But I check the newsgroup more often than this email address.)