Nightmare with a happy ending.

[paullus]

In preparation for our annual French holiday I decided to get the drive belts replaced on my S70. It's only done 105k but the previous owner had replaced them at 40k. I know it's still early but I didn't want another £1000 bill caused by a snapped cam belt on a previous Audi which unbeknown to me had been replaced much earlier than usual.
Anyway the car went in to my completely trustworthy independent Volvo specialist in Burtwood, Staffs and I was expecting to get it back the same day, until the phone rang and I was informed that I'd got a very poorly car. The head gasket had gone highlighted by the leaking coolant running down the back of the engine block. I hadn't the slightest inkling the problem existed. So I faced a dilemma, another £1000+ bill to fix it or scrap it and move on...to what? I decided to have the job done, some may say I'm mental but I love this car and can't afford to replace it with anything as luxurious.
Then came another call, one of the head bolts had snapped off inside the block as soon as an attempt to undo it was made. I know for a fact that bolts don't snap off when being undone unless there is another problem, usually over-tightening or corrosion. In this case the leak had caused corrosion of the bolt weakening it. Again I was facing the prospect of a write off if the bolt could not be cleanly extracted. Anyway a pedestal drill was used to drill into the bolt and it was then extracted cleanly. The head was skimmed and refitted. Not just that though, even the vacuum pipe elbow joints on the inlet manifold were replaced and other little jobs that could have been ignored or overlooked. An engine mounting was done too as a small engine oil leak had caused it to perish. I have been driving the car for three days now and it has never felt sweeter. The final cost was £1278 inc VAT which I think is very reasonable considering I paid £1000 ten years ago to have a similar job done on the Audi. Not a bill I wanted anytime especially just before a holiday but at least I've got my car back better than ever and hopefully with many more years of life in it.
I can't fault the service I got from Mark and Andy Squire at Squire Automotive Services Ltd. Mark used to work for a large Volvo dealership before setting up on his own with his brother Andy who is a fully trained mechanical engineer. Just the people I want working on my pride and joy.

[Tomcat]

Always good to hear a happy ending, nice to see there are still some places that take pride in their work.

[Dangerous Dave]

Nice to hear that someone else has had the heart to get the repairs done and not send it to the scrappers as is usually the case these days.

[T5frankie]

i would of went out and bought a t5 for half that price lol

[The Flying Moose]

Its brilliant to see family run independants providind that quality service you just dont get at main dealers. If I have ever needed something done that I cant do with help or by myself I have always gone to my local Volvo independant. I remember when I bought my 2.4 P2 V70 and it needed a new bloack core plug as it was pissing oil everywhere, they charged £14.99 and gave me a loyalty card too.

[paullus]

i would of went out and bought a t5 for half that price lol

Yeah I know they are out there but I made it very clear that I wasn't going to throw money at it if loads of other things were on their way out. After close inspection a CV joint gaiter might need replacing soon.
What horrors might a £600 replacement with 150K on the clock have in store?