I own a 2013 Volvo with an auto shift d13. There’s a factory defect in d13 engines, 2013 and previous, where the spanner nut that holds the bull gear on works itself loose which causes the bull gear to move and shred metal that can be sucked into the oil pump and engine. All of the gears are connected in there. My power steering failed when I was driving a loaded chemical tanker doing 60mph. Luckily it was 2am and I was alone on the road and was able to slow and work the truck over to the shoulder. I had to have the trailer dropped and have it towed to the nearest mechanic, 5 miles away. I thought I was in luck being so close to this mechanic, who I had used before to fix a broken air valve successfully. Their hourly labor rate was about half the dealers which I figured was a good thing at the time. I didn’t know the extent of the problem with the truck when it first happened. I actually found a video on YouTube that informed me how bad this was gonna be before the mechanic even called me after they looked at it. https://youtu.be/vCLGUdYr3qk In the YouTube comments there were guys posting that Volvo should cover the cost of the repair because it’s a factory failure. There was a recall back in 2011. We tried writing the better business bureau and Volvo, who actually did answer us but they won’t do anything about it. They told us my truck was manufactured too late after a cut off date they made for repairs. Well, the job was a big one and was supposed to take around 60 hours of labor and possibly cost $20k. We decided to let them start the job, they seemed eager to begin. The mechanic had my truck from December 27th to February 6th. We called them every few days to get an update. They kept telling us they were waiting on parts. Then four weeks in they tell us they have all of the parts and it should be about four days to put it back together. On the fourth day the foreman calls and says his mechanic hurt his back and couldn’t finish. Then after another three days says they needed a few more parts. Then finally on a Friday we called and complained and the guy says the truck will be done tomorrow, a Saturday. Then on that Saturday. Their finance office is closed. So we go to get the truck on Monday. It’s still in the shop. They make us pay before they’ll pull it out or I can test drive it. We pay the $14k bill (9k in parts/5k labor) and the mechanic Forman starts it and pulls it outside. As he accelerated I hear a squealing noise. I get in and see the traction control light on and roll my eyes. I decide I’m gonna take it around their parking lot and bring it right back to fix that light. The steering wheel is set off 90° to the left and the truck is making a whining noise when I accelerate. I bring it back and tell the mechanic to fix these things. He grabs his computer and connects it to the truck and starts trying to shut off the traction control light. I open the hood and begin to look at it a little. I notice right away it’s missing a hose clamp on a boost hose. Then I look and the power steering dipstick is not there. I had him fix that. He shuts the light off and I decide that’s good enough and I’ll bring it back if I have to. I get two miles down the road the engine light comes on. I pull over and the truck dies. I get out and there’s a puddle of oil under it. Turns out there was a loose oil hose. The mechanic came out changed the hose and filled it up with oil. At that point I had enough and just brought it back and told them to fix it and I’ll be back the next day to pick it up. The next day comes, they didn’t fix anything. The mechanic was working on it when I got there but nothing was different. Except the steering wheel was 90° now to the other side. We argue with them how they didn’t finish the truck and the foreman starts saying we rushed them and kept calling them which was too much. My wife did call a few times a day near the end but come on? They had it for a month?! My wife and I decided to just take it to the dealer and have them finish it. The dealer looked at the truck and they tell me they did a very sloppy job. They bent the steer shaft trying to get it off and spun the wheel which cause the traction control sensor to be on. They didn’t put gaskets in the egr hot pipe which is what was causing the squeal. They left all the air and electrical lines from the rear of the engine and trans loose and just hanging. There was oil leaking from the upper timing cover where they didn’t put a gasket on it and there was an exhaust leak from the diffuser pipe gasket. Everything the dealer found was from the job this other shop performed. A $6,500 bill. The dealer didn’t look at the trans gears either. They also informed me that all of the parts used and purchased from the other shop can only be warrantied by that shop if they fail. So we’re out $20k now and worried about the gears failing if they did the same quality work they did with them as the rest of the truck. We figured it’s time to try a lawyer to get our money back. Especially if the gears fail and we have to do it all over again. After a day long search we found the right type of lawyer to take this type of case. There are a lot of lawyers out there who only take big money cases like personal injury or divorce. A small claims lawyer is what we needed. Yeah $20k is a small claim. He tells us he could write a letter which the shop might probably ignore. $5k to take the case to a judge, which we’ll never get back. We would basically need a dealer mechanic to testify which they most likely won’t do. And it’s 50/50 if we win or lose. Is it worth it? I’m almost at the point where I give up. I should have towed it straight to the dealer when this first happened. But I didn’t know how bad this repair was gonna be. We only tried talking one lawyer thus far after we finally figured out what type we need it was too late in the day to call so maybe I’ll try calling a few more.
