I realize that statement was made some time ago . I use the Volvo Dealer for anything our Volvo needs so I guess we are stupid. The service department manager , she has been there for over 20 years . The 2 main Volvo trained mechanics each have years of experience and attend almost every factory update class offered.
Did you replace the A/C amplifier?
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I didnāt realize saying someone is a dealer or works for one is an aspersion. But youāre better positioned to know.
Do you know a source of provable data about dealer v indpendents that isnāt anecdotal? You attempt to show my report is invalid because itās anecdotal, with your emphasized anecdote.
Independents ācan,ā I suppose be as crooked as dealership owners, though I think Iād have no problem distinguishing an independentās house from that of a dealership owner.
Stupid is a bit harsh, how about inconsistent?
Some people donāt trust their high end vehicle to the corner mechanic.
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āCorner mechanicā? When were you last at an independent? Mine is in a building, on a main street, but not in the expensive āAuto Circleā area. He employs three mechanics, and he and his partner are hands-on. The shop has two lifts, shelves of parts, large tool carts. It is kept very clean; itās his property, he treats it as such. The front office has computers for records and research. When they didnāt have a part my car needed, they made a call, and in less time than it takes to have a pizza delivered, a parts store driver dropped off the part.
Somehow, he manages to always charge meaningfully less than the dealer asks. Probably because he has no fancy waiting room with leather chairs and āfreeā coffeeāthere are plain metal chairs in the office, comfortable enough; no huge TV and surround soundāa small one and good selection of auto magazines; no service writers (no one to get between the customers and the people who will do the repairs); no advertising costs, word-of-mouth keeps him more than busy, while the dealerās ads are on TV, emails, the newspapers; no āfreeā car wash; no sales department; no crew of cleaners vacuuming the waiting area, washing 10-stall bathrooms and huge display windows; no salespeople, no showroom, no lot full of unsold cars; no high salaries to himself and managers (no managers); i.e. no enormous overhead cost to pass on to customers. Virtually only whatās essential to repairing autos.
To be clear: Not every independent is skilled, honest, doesnāt pad bills. Nor is every dealer untrustworthy. (Though there must be a reason car salesmen are always at or next to the bottom of surveys of professions people donāt trust.) But, the odds of getting good, honest repairs, at reasonable cost, from an independent are excellent. Consumer Reports, and other respected auto blogs and pubs, suggest considering using independents, especially post-warranty.
Everything is anecdotal, I hope I didnāt post this before: Some of the gauge lights on my '94 Lexus LS400 went dark. I took it to the dealer for, I thought, new light bulbs. The service manager said the cluster was fiber optics and there was no way to fix dead lights. It would have to be replaced, $1500 for the cluster, plus about $200 labor (this was in a while agoās dollars).
A friend told me of an independent Toyota/Lexus shop heād had good experiences with. I went there, was told thereās a company in a city an hour from here which repairs Lexus instrument clusters. Heād remove it, send it to them for repair, when it was returned to him, heād reinstall it. I drove without speedometer, etc, for about a week. Then the independent reinstalled the cluster. The cost was a bit less than $600, including payment to the company that had repaired it, two-way shipping, and the labor of the indie to remove and replace it. Iāve used him ever since. That dealership changed hands, but things tend not to change; years later, when I brought my newer Lexus there for a āspecial oil change sale,ā the service writer lied to me and charged much more than the āsaleā price. Your experience with indies may differ. Especially if you donāt research them. Or seek corner mechanics.
You have faith and respect for your repair facility, what was the outcome for the air conditioning complaint?
I became ill. Then the pandemic hit and I followed lockdown rules, still in effect in my state, driving only about 30 highway miles a week to keep the battery up and fluids flowing. The A/C problem, which still exists, fell in urgency. There are other things that have been neglected and must be attended to first when I think itās safe to resume ānormalā life. I have full confidence that when I bring it to my preferred shop they will find the cause and fix it. In 20 years, they always have. Iāll post when itās done.