Volvo - from which model on only Volvo-shop repairable?

Discussion in 'General Motoring' started by franz47, Mar 21, 2009.

  1. franz47

    franz47 Guest

    With my 850 TDI 1996 van I had all jobs done up to now in a small one-man-show
    mechanic shop. The guy had been working among others for many years in a
    Volvo-shop (they still weep that he left) then opened his own little business
    many years ago where he repairs all brands. He does not do body work,
    electronics but up to now everything necessary could be done there at reasonable
    prices. Last week I had my oil changed, simple work, so I chatted with him
    during work. He has now finally bought an OBD-tester and told stories about what
    was simple one person´s work in earlier times can be complicated expensive work
    for several people nowadays. E.g. he mentioned that changing brake fluid in new
    Mercedes-Benz cars costs about 450 Euros, need three people to be done. There
    are cars where you cannot exchange light bulbs yourself any more - in the shop
    it takes an hour to remove front panels etc to have lamps changed.

    My plan is to drive my 850 Volvo until it drops. Thereafter I definitely do not
    want to have a car with which I have to spend 120 Euros/hour in a dedicated
    Volvo-shop for every repair. How is the situation with newer Volvos? From which
    year on they cannot be fixed any more elsewhere than in Volvo shops?

    Regards
    Franz47
     
    franz47, Mar 21, 2009
    #1
  2. franz47

    James Sweet Guest


    There's not any one particular year where you have to have a shop work
    on them. Newer cars tend to be more complex, they have more features,
    that doesn't mean you can't work on them yourself. The people who work
    in dealer service shops are humans like everyone else.
     
    James Sweet, Mar 21, 2009
    #2
  3. franz47

    Roger Mills Guest

    In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
    Clearly, anyone can perform purely mechanical operations like replacing
    engine oil and filters, replacing tyres or brake discs (rotors) and pads,
    etc.

    I suspect that what the OP was really asking was whether there are any
    operations which can *only* be carried out by using Volvo-proprietary
    diagnostic kit which only Volvo dealers will possess. This may include
    reading and re-setting error codes, configuring optional features controlled
    by the on-board computer(s) etc.

    For example, my previous car was a 2000MY V70 2.5D. Although it had an
    OBD-II socket, it was not ISO-compatible (or whatever some of the later ones
    are) and no third-party code reader could understand what it was saying.

    Maybe ISO-compatibility [as required for all cars sold in USA after a
    certain date (~1997?) has fixed this, and enables non-proprietary kit to
    talk to the on-board computers - I don't know?

    [AIUI, my car was made *after* the ISO required date - but didn't have to
    comply because diesel models weren't sold in USA at that time.]
    --
    Cheers,
    Roger
    ______
    Email address maintained for newsgroup use only, and not regularly
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    Roger Mills, Mar 21, 2009
    #3
  4. franz47

    franz47 Guest

    I believe that. But I got the impression that with nowadays´ cars you need an
    OBD-connection with proprietory software and computer to get access to brake
    parts e.g. for changing brake fluid, brake pads, venting the brake system etc,
    something which I could do 40 years ago in the middle of nowhere without a
    computer (they were not invented yet then) on trips through remote places.
    Hopefully those stories are not correct.
    Regards
    Franz47
     
    franz47, Mar 21, 2009
    #4
  5. franz47

    franz47 Guest

    Sme here. As an example my 1996 850 TDIs electronic climate control unit could
    not be read by the normal OBD-equipment of the oeamtc, the biggest and well
    equipped automobile club in this country www.oeamtc.at

    I expected that to get worse the newer the car is. But if there is compulsory
    ISO-compatibility - fine!

    Regards,
    Franz47
     
    franz47, Mar 21, 2009
    #5
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