The trusty Volvo V70, that I’ve had for five years and is now nine years old (but only has 77k miles on it) needs a whole new power steering assembly including new rack. It also needs tyres and rear brakes.

It’s a lovely car and in great condition save for the fact it needs £4k spending on it. With the work done it’s probably worth about £6k.

Would you spend that much on a nine year old car or cut your losses and spend the money on the deposit for something younger (but probably not brand new)?

Cut losses and get new car

Tyres and brake are consumables, you will pay for these on a new car. Tyres £400 for 4 maximum, rear brakes say £150 fitted?
Steering rack – how much of the £4k is this?
I’m just about to do service/timing belt/two tyres/brakes next month on a 125k/10 year old Galaxy.

Sounds pretty pricey for that work, I cant believe a new power steering rack can be that expensive – could you find a rack in a breakers yard and get a local indie garage to fit it? Rear brakes is also an easy DIY if you are tool minded.

Get two more quotes. I question that bill. When I needed a new driveshaft, Subaru wanted £1k+vat. I sorted it for <£300

Has the garage that quoted you 4k valued your car?..

ALL cars need new tyres. That newer car- would it come on brand new tyres?

When will this newer car also need a major service? Post it’s 3month warranty period what if something goes wrong on that?

Depends!

How new could you afford if you swapped?

And I assume these prices are from main dealer? I’d be looking at independent Volvo specialists on a car of that age. Main dealer history is less important as they get older.

Wouldn’t cost that to get it done in the prototype workshops at volvo.

You’ve either neglected to mention some other bits that need doing. Or your garage is talking the mickey. (Or don’t want to do the job)

I’d check out parts from a breakers and a backstreet garage to fit. Or I’d do it myself. £400 sounds more likely than 4K.

Edit: recon power steering rack on ebay: £175. £400 fitted at the local garage may have been overly pessimistic.

OP if you are selling it for c3k I’m interested. Not to sell on but to fix and keep. Whereabouts are you?

New one. Once thats all fixed what’s saying something else won’t break next week. We had a 2005 3 series that we were planning on running into the ground but lots of bits started failing and I got to the point that I had no confidence in the car. The engine was fine but the turbo failed. The squib failed and the last straw was the clutch starting to make some funny noises. When the turbo failed we were about 300 miles away from home on holiday and had to get towed home which took 11 hours. £1400 later and a new turbo it was all fine for a few months until the clutch started playing up. We chopped it in as a deposit towards a new one and I’m glad we did.

Your pricing is a mile out. I have a V70 with 170,000 miles on the clock about the same age as yours. I’ve replaced the front and rear brake discs and hand brake shoes and I think one of the cables. I don’t think the parts came to more than £250. You say the steering rack is toast. What are the symptoms? Mine needed track rod ends and track rods and a fluid flush. Again the parts were around £100. If you need a rack try a specialist breaker like Huddersfield Volvo breakers. They will have them on the shelf. A whole rack replacement is a bit of an epic job. I’m surprised you’d need one at 70k

I say find an independent specialist and get another quote. There’s a shed load of life left in yours for a lot less cash

£400 ish for a recon rack go crazy fit new ball joints and fluid another £50 new rear discs and pads what £140? Full set of premium tyres £600Then how much labour? Something dosnt add up.

Your pricing is a mile out

It’s not my pricing it’s the dealer’s, albeit a main Volvo dealer.

The suggestion of going the cheap route to fix is one possibility but the biggest obstacle is that I just don’t have the time to sort it. The best I can hope for is taking it to a Volvo specialist but non main dealer and getting it done there.

Of the £4k, £3300 is the power steering and of that, the parts come to three quarters of the total. The steering rack alone is £900.

At least call two. How much are you paid roughly hourly in your day job? I’m not paid £300+ an hour so two quick calls and an hour’s extra driving negates any cost to me.

Providence is king.

Why even go to a main dealer unless it’s newish/in warranty? Subaru wanted 1k for an exhaust!, 1k+ for a driveshaft etc. Both sorted for a fraction at an indie. I remember a Toyota tech telling me they charged 3.5k for a ‘special’ exhaust system on the sporty Corolla. He said a specialist aftermarket exhaust place could do it for £300.
On the BMW – I question BMW longevity. My BIL had clutch/flywheel/turbo issues on his 320d, friend a myriad of issues on a 5series that she’s owned since new. She scrapped it; a 05 reg.

You can get reconditioned racks or get yours reconditioned,so even with labour of take off n refit ,then your tyres n brakes ,you’d struggle to reach 1 k at most independent garages.

My sons golf had to have water pump and also timing belt ,thermostat and refill new coolant and only cost 250 euro .

It’s not my pricing it’s the dealer’s, albeit a main Volvo dealer.

The suggestion of going the cheap route to fix is one possibility but the biggest obstacle is that I just don’t have the time to sort it. The best I can hope for is taking it to a Volvo specialist but non main dealer and getting it done there.

Of the £4k, £3300 is the power steering and of that, the parts come to three quarters of the total. The steering rack alone is £900.
No more hassle going to an independent garage. Sounds like you can save 80% on parts, so under a grand should be worst case.

No more hassle going to an independent garage.

I’ve just tried to call four independent, volvo specialist garages and none of them are open. So no, I don’t agree it’s no more hassle. There is a reason the other guys are cheap(er).

It’s Saturday morning. Try Monday morning and save a packet.

It sounds like you just want a new car.

And as we all know, buying a new car is no hassle whatsoever.

How many hours would you work toward £2k?

A call on Monday and some faff = £2k saved on costs. Or spend waaaay more on new car.

What bike or family holiday can you afford for £2k?

I’ve just tried to call four independent, volvo specialist garages and none of them are open. So no, I don’t agree it’s no more hassle. There is a reason the other guys are cheap(er).

Ah I see. In that case I’d buy a new one this afternoon.

And this is why main dealers keep screwing everyone over.
Laziness.

Bet if you call during normal working hours you’ll get at least 2 cheaper quotes. One of the others will be booked up until August 2017 and the 4th will be too busy to answer the phone.

I just managed to speak with an independent specialist who would take the route of sourcing components from breakers yards.

He reckons I could save about half (so around £1500) but he has no idea how long the work would take and the process means he has to source the parts as they come available.

So yes, the potential for saving £1500 is real, but then I would have to hire a car to see me through until mine’s fixed.

I think I probably am buying a new car this afternoon!

I needed the steering rack replacing on our XC90 – I bought one from a Volvo breakers and had our local indy garage fit it – no need for a ‘specialist’, jst a garage that can turn spanners. Cost was much much less than £1k.
You’d be bonkers to have your dealer fix it.

He reckons I could save about half (so around £1500) but he has no idea how long the work would take and the process means he has to source the parts as they come available.

He doesn’t know how long it would take to unbolt a rack and bolt another one in?! It’s a steering rack, there basically is only one part and I would bet you could have one delivered within 3 days.

Sounds like some self-justification going on.

He doesn’t know how long it would take to unbolt a rack and bolt another one in?! It’s a steering rack, there basically is only one part and I would bet you could have one delivered within 3 days.

No it’s not just the steering rack, it’s the entire power steering system, so rack, lines, reservoir, motor, the whole shebang.

And the uncertainty is not how long it would take to do the work, but how long it would take to source all the parts.

There’s no question here that going the cheap route of fixing it not viable for us unless I’m doing it having already bought a new car. There’s way too much going on in the house to make that viable.

The choice then is to fix via the main dealer (which is what the independent garage just said I should do) or buy something else.

The garage will have told you all those parts are goosed – but in reality I bet they are not all knackered. Cars dont generally go wrong things break because there are weak points on them/ poor design. I’m willing to bet its a common fault on that car and there will have been loads of people who have had simillar isssues probably sorted without replacing the whole lot!

I think the dealers were playing the CYA game and just replacing the whole system in case their diagnosis of what was wrong was slightly off.

at 77k miles its just run in for a V70

GT

It does sound to me that you can’t be bothered getting it fixed and therefore you may as well cut your losses and get a new motor. Your options of main dealer fix or quit and buy both leave you out of pocket by ££££s.

If you go and buy a car this pm you’ll almost certainly feel you have to buy the first you see. That will cost you ££££s in a mistake.

What you could & should do is read some of the above advice and save yourself a small fortune. At least then you’d have a working car to sell on should you still think a new motor is what you need. Perhaps invest an hour of your time sourcing the parts yourself? I actually quite enjoy doing as much DIY work on cars as I can. It’s quite rewarding!

at 77k miles its just run in for a V70

I agree, which is why I’m in a quandry as to what to do.

The garage will have told you all those parts are goosed

The entire system is contaminated with metal filings and this is the steering on my car so quite important. Maybe you could cut a corner and not replace the rack but I no nothing about cars and am not prepared to cut corners on something that important.

It does sound to me that you can’t be bothered getting it fixed

It’s got nothing to do with the effort and everything to do with the time. My wife and I work full time and have two kids and we both need access to a car 100% of the time. We can get by for a few days but not more than that.

OP – fixing cheaper will likely come with some inconvenience, there’s no getting around that so it’s simply CYBA or would you rather pay and be sorted faster? I’d prefer the latter but choose the former and go into the fix reconciling that the best I could do was minimise the hassle. You’re paying though so your choice. The purpose of the original post seems irrelevant to be fair unless you’re open minded to the fix it option. You’ve gone from a £4k bill to a lot less so what better outcome was there really unless it was a stealth sales post in which case you have one potential buyer…

The entire system is contaminated with metal filings

For christ sake why didn’t you post this in post 1? What else are you holding back.

No it’s not just the steering rack, it’s the entire power steering system, so rack, lines, reservoir, motor, the whole shebang.

Fair enough – but a specialist breaker will have all those things. Put your reg number into Parts Gateway.

this is the steering on my car so quite important

Take all the power gubbins off and it will still work. It’ll give you muscly arms too.

It doesn’t all need replacing. Lines and reservoir will be fine with a clean. You’ll need a pump and rack and a big tub of fluid.

Ring the service dept of the main dealer. They’ll be shut Saturday, too.

But it sounds like you have made your mind up; so go and buy a new one.

“The entire system is contaminated with metal filings”

Most (not all) main dealers are lying, ripoffs. They can be replace/plug n play rather than fix, clean/flush, diagnose.

With any big bills ALWAYS get three quotes.

What’s actually wrong with the steering ?

Oh and the answer depends on the redt of the car condition.

I’m in the middle of replacing the rear beam (300 quid)on my berlingo as I know the car in side out. Its had new wheel bearings and struts up front , the timing belt and water pump are done , and the body works nae rotting away.

How ever if you just drive it till it breaks and take it to a garage to be repaired then you’ll probably appreciate a new car.

My car doesn’t go to garage other than for mot these days.

What’s actually wrong with the steering ?

The powersteering has failed. My wife can’t actually drive the car as she can’t park it with the steering being so heavy.

Probably only needs a new pump and flush the system

Probably only needs a new pump and flush the system

How are you supposed to know?

The powersteering has failed

What has? That’s a symptom, not the disease.

Is it the pump, the rack, a hose?

It looks a lot like there is a fault with the system so the garage is recommending the entire system is replaced which is cobblers.

If your washer stopped working and it was a fuse, you wouldn’t buy a new washer because it comes with a fresh 13amp already fitted, would you?

It wants diagnosing properly. But the key bits are pump and rack. Which is never in a million years £4k worth.

*Cross post so Ninja edit.

How are you supposed to know

A good garage will tell you.