Volvo’s Only

I have a 2005 S60 which I recently bought from a friend. Volvo’s Only has maintained the car for the past five years, so I decided to stick with them.
Wow, am I ever glad I did! I had to take the car to another shop to get a state inspection, and shortly after that, I started hearing alarming noises coming from the right front end. The other place told me that my front brakes were terrible, and that I possibly had a strut that was in bad shape. However, my car passed the inspection. The whirring, scraping sound was so bad that I took the car in this morning, expecting the worst.
Oscar listened to my story, then took the car for a drive. About ten minutes later, he returned. He said the front brakes have another 2,500 — 3,000 miles on them, which means I can plan to have them replaced at my next oil change. But he found that a small metal plate had been bent up so that it was in contact with a rotor, and THAT is what was making the noise. He straightened out the plate for no charge. «Your car is perfectly safe and fine,» he said, and it was music to my ears.
The other place had created a false problem, and would have happily taken my money for repairs I didn’t need, Oscar solved the problem. I am so grateful for the good outcome, and also for the respectful and caring way that I was treated. They have my loyalty for sure!

I have a 2007 S60 with over 148k and took it here of it’s last service. They were prompt and professional. While I was there I also asked them to confirm an issue with the a/​c that the dealership pointed at the last time I had it there. They confirmed what work would probably be needed and their quote was about ½ the cost.
Just recently, I had to take the car back to finally get the a/​c work done and it only took them a day and a half to get it done. And turned out to be ½ the cost I was expecting since one part I thought would surely have to be replaced was actually fine.
Honest work for a fair price. These guys will get all my future business for as long as I own this car.

Auto mechanics too frequently inspire mistrust, and fear of pain, akin to dentists. I’ve owned my lively lovely 2003 Volvo convertible for just over two years and it’s been maintained by Volvos Only.
It took me the better part of the first year to determine the competence and trustworthiness of this shop. My experience the second year reinforces my five star rating. Examples: I brought the car in complaining of a very rough ride over bumpy roads. I expected and even discussed that it might need front struts. Big bucks. Mark drove it and told me it didn’t need front end parts; it rode like a typical C70 convertible and they are rough over less than perfect road. Next, one headlight started being intermittent. They quoted me a nasty number for a new assembly. But when I came in, they found a connector had become bad and I was fixed at ¹⁄₁₀ of the estimate.
I have no need to look around for another shop and recommend this one very highly.

Mark seems to be really honest to me. He’s a straight shooter and no bullshit. I came in thinking I had major repairs and it turned out to be a minor fix. My car is an older 850, i was planning to restore. He advised me against it and told me a number of things wrong with it, that i was unaware of. Pricing seems fair, and they tried hard to get my sorted out in a short time.
My new garage.
Mark has also taken a lot of time to talk about models to buy and avoid. Thanks.
–s–

My current XC90 is still under factory warranty, but these folks looked at it, told me what was wrong and, then told me the best place to get the work done for free! Great service comes from great people and this place has both!

I have been here a few times — Mark is pretty much a straight shooter — sometimes I get the feeling that he has too much on his shoulders but he does good work.

Great place if you own a Volvo… The prices for the most part are cheaper than the Volvo dealership. They are friendly, quick and competent.

This was my first time here. I had a simple problem that was very easy to fix. The longest part was hooking the car up to the computer to diagnose the issue. It was a faulty gas cap. Oscar explained to me how OEM gas caps differ from those you buy major retailers like Auto Zone. He sold me a new one that was $ 28. I thought this was a bit high but I understand that ordinary caps may fit but release pressure in the fuel line and cause the dreaded ‘check engine’ light to come on.
He also pointed out to me that the service manual recommends a timing belt change in about 8,000 more miles and gave me a quote on the spot. Told me to have it replaced before it breaks because of the damage done once it breaks. They charged me $ 42 to hook the car up to the computer which was about half what my old mechanic charged. before I left he told me that they offer loaner cars on big jobs like timing belt changes which was cool since I forgot to ask.
I liked the way he communicated with me about the car and plan on giving them more of my business since I’ve been looking for some place other than the Volvo Dealership.

I’ve gone to Volvo’s Only a few times for oil changes and a quick service. Each time they were friendly, competent and quick. My only beef is that I can get the same work done a lot cheaper at the dealership (I know! believe it or not!) on I-​10. I think Jenny and I might have had decidedly different experiences there… :)
Volvo’s Only is definitely the kind of place where I’d take my car if it had a major problem. They seem to know exactly what they’re doing and don’t ever try to oversell you or encourage you to get unnecessary services or parts. For a major problem, I wouldn’t mind shelling out the money to a great place like this. For oil changes, however, I’ll stick to the cheap-​o dealership.

i’ve had good experiences here and at southwest automotive on richmond (another volvo specialty shop) which are owned by the same folks. service is good and timely, everyone i’ve dealt with seemed to be honest and competent (which is more than i can say about the volvo service center at the dealership on i-​10). prices are more reasonable than the dealership. i highly recommend this place if you own a volvo.