After being told of the need for a very expensive service by the Volvo dealership, I was referred to Mark’s by my in-laws, who are former Volvo owners. Background: my car had only 73k miles, and all scheduled maintenance was performed on a timely basis over the years. It is a 2013 Volvo S60, and I am the original owner. Taking it in recently to the Volvo dealership because numerous indicator lights were flashing on the dashboard, I was advised that they couldn’t detect the ultimate problem, but advised I have an engine tear down at a cost to me of $7,700. The issue is that my car is burning oil through the engine. My car’s blue book value is $6k. This didn’t make any sense to me, and I thought reflected poorly on the Volvo brand. Mark’s at least gave me another option: at a cost of $1,700, I could have my engine cleaned by running lubricants, giving me a full oil change, and changing the alternator. The engine cleaning and full oil change would have only cost $700, but it was determined that the existing alternator was draining power from the battery and the new alternator plus labor raised the repairs by an additional $900+. Car is now running fine…in fact, better than ever, but I am advised to check oil levels every 1k miles to see if the engine continues to burn oil. I appreciated, at least, that I had another option to keep the car running through a less expensive alternative. Also, I have subsequently learned that this oil burning issue is persistent for Volvo model years 2013-2016, and that there is a class action lawsuit against the company over this issue. The dealer was definitely less than forthright about this issue. Dealer mechanic also advised that we needed a new battery. Mark’s mechanic pointed out that my car battery was a 2022 battery, and that the battery was fine (but the alternator may have been draining power from it, hence the recommendation to replace the alternator). The folks from Mark’s seem knowledgeable, reliable and appear to stand by their work.
Thank you, Tom! I apologize for the delay in my response to your amazing review. We greatly appreciate your patronage, it is always a pleasure when Janet and you visit. We look forward to servicing your automotive needs for the foreseeable future. We strive to deliver the most effective and affordable car care service in the automotive industry while exercising trust and our high ethical standards in every vehicle repair.
- Mark's Independent Service