Piston Slap: Goodwill Repair, Goodwill Replace Again? (PART II)

Caroline Writes:

Good day Sajeev:

I was blessed to find your information on line. I am experiencing the exact issues mentioned on your site regarding my 2013 Volvo S60. Do you have any advice regarding the best way to handle this matter? Here are the details:

November 2015, I purchased a used 2013 Volvo S60 with 33,000 miles from a Volvo dealer. The car worked fine, within the last year (2018) the synthetic oil started burning out within 60-90 days. Synthetic oil changes are supposed to last for 7k miles. (my oil changes didn’t last for 1,000 mi). I have taken my car for servicing at the Volvo dealer. I searched the web and found my issue is a common issue with Volvo: Piston, Oil leaking, engine problems. There has not been a recall.

Dealer states they will cover parts, but I must pay $2900 for service hours. Why should I suffer penalty of $2900 for an international issue with the make and model of Volvo?

Sajeev answers:

The short answer: you’re paying for labor on the engine rebuild because Volvo isn’t convinced (so to speak) to issue a recall. But hopefully the dealer is also discounting their labor rate, so ask before committing.

The long answer?

Looking from the outside, goodwill repairs are far from a black and white set of rules for dealers and/or manufacturers. And perhaps your resolution also differs from Ed’s more pleasant experience (Part I) because he bought a new Volvo? All we can do is read between the lines: add this to the recent pressure Volvo’s feeling (making electric cars ain’t cheap, trade wars are no fun, etc) and the reality is not everyone prioritizes goodwill repairs equally.

Here’s a fun quote from an article about dealership audits:

“As we all know, manufacturers have tightened their financial belts and one of their favorite ways to address cash losses is warranty issues.”

More to the point, the threat of an audit must terrify any dealership. Not everyone’s gonna win in this game, so pay for the repair or trade it in: trade-ins become auction fodder for the experienced types aware of a vehicle’s pitfalls, and bid accordingly. That’s how the game is played.

Used cars (at the retail level) are always a risk, so should we consider the depth/breadth of manufacturer goodwill in our purchases?

Send your queries to sajeev@thetruthaboutcars.com. Spare no details and ask for a speedy resolution if you’re in a hurry…but be realistic, and use your make/model specific forums instead of TTAC for more timely advice.