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Is the dealer taking me for a ride?

1276 Views 10 Replies 7 Participants Last post by  VolvoUhu
Good evening everyone,

I am coming here for some advice. I own a 2016 XC90 and am the 2nd owner. I recently was diagnosed with the oil consumption piston rings issue. Lucky for me the person I purchased the car from had a transferable extended warranty that literally covers everything. Prior to getting hit with the piston ring issue; I was also getting the P0171 CEL. I was told to replace the oil trap and that could help so I did and the CEL went away and the car drove fine. Following this issue is when we diagnosed the truck with burning too much oil. I took it to the only place that would work with my extended warranty and that was the Volvo dealership in Troy, Michigan. Now the day I took the XC 90 in, the CEL came back on, and it was P0171, I figured no big deal and the dealer would address it during the repair of the piston rings. The dealership charged me 500 for an oil consumption test followed by 200 dollars to work with the extended warranty company plus I was on the hook for 200 dollar deductible from the warranty company. The pistons and rings were repaired and the warranty company paid 6,500.

Fast forward to a week ago and the Volvo was repaired after waiting 2 months. I went to pick up the truck, no CEL and the car was driving find through city roads. When I got on the freeway, the CEL came back on, and the car would JERK if I accelerated quickly, if I accelerated slowly there was no JERK. I took it back to the dealership same day and they told me they would take a look if something was missed. I made sure to let my service advisor know that I did not have such a problem prior to brining the car in to have the pistons repaired, he also reminded me that there was a CEL the day I originally brought the vehicle in to begin with. I told him I would of told them about the jerk since my warranty company charges 1 deductible per dealership visit no matter the number of repairs needed.

Fast forward to today, I get a call while at work and it is the service advisor and he asked me If I ever had my supercharger worked on, I told him NO and neither did the previous owner who provided with me with every service record imaginable. He told me that the supercharger was leaking and failed a smoke test and that would be the cause of my jerk and that he needs to make a claim with my warranty company again, I asked him if the super charger needed to be removed when repairing the pistons and rings and he told me No? Doing some research and correct if I am wrong, the super charger needed to be removed in order to repair my pistons and rings? I also did some research and found conflicting information on if a leaking supercharger would cause my JERK when accelerating hard.

I am concerned due to a number of reasons; the car did not do this prior to taking it in for the piston ring repair, 2nd why didn't they address the CEL on the original presentation, 3rd could this supercharger leaking really be the reason why I'm jerking while accelerating quickly ? What if when they put the supercharger back on they didn't put it on right or damaged the gaskets?

Sorry for the lengthy post, but I really need some advice.

Thank You
Paul
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Yup!!! Always frustrating trying to explain things to them and getting nowhere.
I have been spoiled. I‘ve had the pleasure of working with a few service advisors that were knowledgeable. The most recent one was spectacular and unfortunately he moved to Porsche thanks to the decreasing focus on service and quality service at my old dealer. He cared to stay informed not only reading every tech journal as they came out, but also familiar with where parts are and what was was required to fix or replace.

As a consequence I’ve always found it important to be informed prior to taking my cars in for service as it is rare to get a service advisor that knows or cares what’s happening in the shop in detail.

In response to @Pshabou, it’s frustrating to hear the hoops he’s being put through, and most notably the $200 fee for the dealer to “deal with warranty”?! That would have been a red flag to me and I would have avoided them. That seems like a racket… I guess a question for them is do that charge that for customers with VIP or better yet, the 3rd party warranty they sell? It’ll be telling. That’s as good as saying they tack on a $200 fee for having bought your car elsewhere, or not offering you a loaner.
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Thank you all for the update. I read a few responses and called my service advisor on friday. I reminded him that the car did not have the jerking issue prior to taking it to them, and that I really hope its a coincidence. The issue is, I do not want to cause an issue with this Volvo dealership because the one in Ann Arbor, Michigan refused to work with a 3rrd party warranty and the one in Farmington Hills, Michigan also gave me the run around to work with my 3rd party warranty. I'm sort of stuck not wanting to burn the "relationship" in case I need them in the future. The good news is that they will not be charging me 200 dollars "administration fee" to work with my warranty company again, I also reached out to the warranty company and they will not be charging me another deductible.

Will keep you guys posted, I hope this jerking issue goes away with the super charger repair. As for the O2 sensor, is it a job that I can do when getting the car back? or is it deep inside the vehicle? Not sure how I would convince the dealer to repair something that might still be ok.

Paul
Bummer - that does seem like a tough position to be in if the only dealer willing to make a claim against a 3rd party insurance charges $200 for it. Does the warranty have a reimbursement option, like some health insurance do? Just thinking to see if that might open up some of your service/repair options.
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