Service of Volvo S40 FlexiFuel

cluelessx2

12 months ago I bought a volvo S40 flexifuel, which I didn't realise required a service every 10,000kms. So over the last 12 months it has been serviced 3 times. Warranty is up after 12 months (so right about now), so if the car seems to be running fine, sufficient oil etc, is there any reason why I should keep getting my car serviced so expensively regularly? Would say 15,000 or 20,000km be enough. And do I need to keep going to a dealer or is there a cheaper way? Thanks, A.

EPM

For peace of mind I would always get it serviced as per the manufacturers reccomended intervals. It's foolish to not do this. Regular oil changes are critical to the longevity of any engine.

If you want to reduce servicing costs find a good independent garage to do it. As long as the parts used are to the manufacturers spec you should have no problem with warrany issues.

Also, 10k km service intervals seem very low to me - was this a garage sticker telling you? They *may* be drumming up extra business. I've noticed this in the past with some:pac:

R.O.R

EPM wrote: »

For peace of mind I would always get it serviced as per the manufacturers reccomended intervals. It's foolish to not do this. Regular oil changes are critical to the longevity of any engine.

If you want to reduce servicing costs find a good independent garage to do it. As long as the parts used are to the manufacturers spec you should have no problem with warrany issues.

Also, 10k km service intervals seem very low to me - was this a garage sticker telling you? They *may* be drumming up extra business. I've noticed this in the past with some:pac:

10k is manufacturer recomendation for the Volvo FlexiFuel models - 20k for the Petrol only versions.

I can't remember why they need to be done twice as often, but I seem to remember it being a good reason.

OP - I'd stick with 10k services, but use an independant.

cluelessx2

Thanks for that. Now for really dumb question. Re Independent, do I need someone that has electronics specifically for volvo? There's a guy near me who services lots of new cars, audis, vw etc, but volvo isn't on his sign - does that mean (and I will confirm with him) that he prob doesn't do volvos, or just that the others are his main customer?

bazz26

The 1.8 litre flexi fuel engine in the S40 is the same engine found in the Ford Focus, any decent mechanic should be able to service the car imo.

Jody S

Hello,
Your Volvo S40 has a 2 year warranty, so if it was bought early last year it is still covered by the maufacturer until 2010.
The company I work for have a fleet of Volvo's, the reps drive S40 flexifuel or 1.6 & 2.0 diesels,financial controller has a V70 D5 & our MD drives an XC90 executive. When it comes to serviceing them I always book the cars in to have them serviced,our financial controller insists that we use a local guy.. However one of our flexi fuel drivers has always insisted on bringing this car & his previous cars to the main dealers,he just has a thing about it & it always causes hassle with out financial man.
Anyhow we recently had a problem with one of the flexi fuels where it was mis-firing & down on power, they brought it to the local guy who said that he couldn't do anything to it & it would need to go to the dealer. When they brought the car to the dealer they said that there was something wrong inside the engine , a compression problem. At this point they told me that it would not be covered under warranty because the car had not been serviced at the proper mileages & also had no history with a Volvo garage/dealer, also it appeared that the wrong oil was being used. They did put in a goodwill request with Volvo but it was turned down for the same reasons. At the end of the day it was necessary to replace the engine which I think cost appx 4,500 euro.Our financial director went mental,through a right wobbler & screamed at everyone.The dealer did help out with discounting the parts & labour which was good of them as it wasn't there fault. It took about 6 weeks to sort all this out so there was also a car hire bill for the first few weeks,Koping gave us a loan of a car once the payment situation was clarified. By contrast the chap who always has his car serviced by the main dealers had a clutch problem with his car recently & we where slagging him in the office for driving like "ms daisy" & burning out clutches, it turned out that the clutch & flywheel needed to be replaced & that because the car had been serviced at the 10,20 & 30,000 it was covered under warranty.It took about 4 days to get it back on the road & he was given a courtesy car free of charge. I think you can certainly see the benefits of having the car serviced with the main dealer--my advice would be to stay with the dealer & try to get to know them so that they look after you & clarify the costs before you leave it in with them. Since this episode our MD insists that all our cars go to the main dealers.
As for me I bought one of our ex Volvo S40's & am enjoying it, considering changing for an 09 S40 flexi fuel,they have come down in price to 23,000.

EPM

To be honest, that sounds just like a bad mechanic mixed with incorrect service intervals requiring a new engine. If he was to have used to correct service consumables, be VAT registered and the car serviced when it should be Volvo has no reason whatsoever not to cover it under warranty. You can get it serviced where you like once the conditions above are met.

@ R.O.R thats a bit mad with the servicing on the 1.8F - didnt know that, cheers

Jody S

The point being this wouldn't have happened at the main dealer..
The service light had been on since 10,000km but the local guy couldn't turn it off. Our drivers have been incorrectly told that the service interval was 20,000 km & finally they where using the wrong grade oil. Invoices where also poorly detailed with the parts used etc--a total disaster.
We did suggest that they cover the cost of the engine but they refused,this is still on going. We no longer service our company vans or cars here. What we have done is met with the different garages & explained that we where concerned with using the main dealers due to costs etc, & all of them bar one agreed to look at the costs.

Nonoperational

Jody S wrote: »

The point being this wouldn't have happened at the main dealer..
The service light had been on since 10,000km but the local guy couldn't turn it off. Our drivers have been incorrectly told that the service interval was 20,000 km & finally they where using the wrong grade oil. Invoices where also poorly detailed with the parts used etc--a total disaster.
We did suggest that they cover the cost of the engine but they refused,this is still on going. We no longer service our company vans or cars here. What we have done is met with the different garages & explained that we where concerned with using the main dealers due to costs etc, & all of them bar one agreed to look at the costs.

No good mechanic then. Sus out a good indy that has experience with volvos. Check the oil grade required and insist on this being used. No need to go main dealer for servicing.

GiftGrub100

The service intervals for the Volvo Flexifuel are every 10,00kms, however the 10, 30, 50, 70 etc interval is an oil and filter only and the regular 20, 40, 60 etc are full services.

There should be different prices for these services and also if you are calling to a dealer the interim service is very quick as no other inspection is required at this service.

If you miss any service by even having one a few thousand kms late then the manufacturer can walk away from any warranty claim, also many car companies if a car has been serviced regularly by a main dealer will sometimes contribute to warranty issues after the warranty has expired. Might be wise to stick with the main dealer servicing for now.

EPM

Jody S wrote: »

The point being this wouldn't have happened at the main dealer..QUOTE]

True, but it wouldn't have happened at any decent garage either. Plus relying on that clown to tell the company when to service the cars when the service books in the glovebox didnt help

brettmirl

My S40 Flexifuel is due for it's 20k service shortly...I'd prefer to get it done at a main Volvo dealer.

Anyone know if it would be cheaper to get it done up North compared to down here?

Would be worth traveling up if the savings were substantial!

D78

Fair enough having to get the volvo s40 flexifuel serviced every 10,000km but its the cost that is a joke, 10,000km-€150, 20,000km-€264. The 20,000km service had a labour cost of €142.50 for the "20,000km service", replace oil & filter, renewed pollen filter, checked lights, checked tyres & brakes. I would love to know how long it took 1 or even 2 guys to carry out this work considering I dropped in the car just after 9am & got a phone call just before 1pm saying it was ready, what sort of an hourly rate is being charged. The flexifuel I have may have had 50%vrt off it but they are certainly trying to get it back.