There are some good shops out there and then there are definitely some bad ones. Usually it’s best to assume that a shop is out to get you. Then you’re covered either way.
If you are driving a used truck, things are going to break and you will be visiting shops. The more miles your truck has, the more visits to a maintenance facility you will most likely have to make. My best advice would be to build a relationship with your local dealer. If they think there is a chance you will come back, they are less likely to take you to the cleaners everytime you show up. If they consider you an “out of towner” you can really get taken for a ride.
Whenever I deal with a shop I ask them to first get me an estimate with EVERY charge accounted for. Then I negotiate from there. My next step is to call my local dealer and ask them what they would charge me for the same repair. If you have a guide listing estimated times for each repair this would be the best negotiating tool, but your local expert should be able to give you a good idea. 90% of the time they will work with you on the price and/or the amount of labor they are charging you for.
Once you have come to an agreement make it clear that you agree on THAT PRICE, and you don’t expect there to be any changes after the job is done. Most of the time they will stick to that price if you make it totally clear and repeat yourself about ten times before they begin working. Tell them that you would like to be notified if there are going to be any modifications to the original estimate.
We sell quite a few Volvos at Lone Mountain and run a fleet of almost exclusively Volvo 670s at Hoovestol Inc. The biggest worry that most people have is that for some of the things that go wrong with these trucks, you need to take them to a Volvo shop. I would say this has gotten better in recent years with a lot of the major Fleets running volvos, however, it seems like a lot of these shops know that they are “the only show in town” and that you have no other alternatives. However, you can still use the techniques I described above to minimize the damage, and get back on the road for the lowest possible price. Hopefully, using the experience I’ve had will help a little.
Drive Safe.
Joe Hoovestol
General Manager
Lone Mountain Truck Leasing