Off Topic My Winter Beater

[Buzzman12]

That's pretty Bman. Guy at work had a blue one. He actually had a ton of problems with it. Don't really like the dude so never really talked to him about the issues. But he just traded it in for a convertible BMW because of the trouble he had.

Unusual to hear about Stingers having a ton of problems. I'm on a very active Stinger forum and there are very few posts about guys with problematic cars. They are also very easy to modify, with lots of third party mods available, both cosmetically and performance wise. You can easily get an extra 100 HP out of the V6 with a plug in tune. I have done a few cosmetic mods already, and will be doing a mod that involves replacing the factory air intake ducts (a convoluted mess) with a snorkel intake that resides right behind the grille. Looks like a ram air intake. I have the parts already. I just need to get it installed (it requires the removal of the front bumper. It's not as hard as it sounds).

 

[7eregrine]

OK ready to tell this story. So around March as I was washing her AGAIN, I noticed some rust on the drivers side wheel well. Like from one end to the other. A very thin line of rust MAYBE 2 mm along the very edge. I was gutted. Couldn't believe it. Am I washing it too much? Is that possible?
Stopped by a body shop nearby. They told me "Yea, we won't fix this. We are pretty sure there's some kind of defect and we can't warranty this. If we fix it we're sure it will reoccur". Really? Ok... They suggested an indy body shop (this was a chain) around the corner. Went there.
"Yea, I can fix it. Easy. $900".... made an appointment 4 months out. Dude's apparently exceptional judging by reviews.
Decided to run it by the nearest dealer (not the one I bought it from) to make sure this wasn't some kind of defect that would be covered under the 12 year corrosion warranty. He took one look and said..."Yea, not covering that, something else going on here..." but he couldn't tell me what.
Leaving that place, there are like 4 body shops on the main road between there and my house. Kind of crazy how many there are.
Body shop #3 said that same as #1: "Can't guarantee it won't come back..." WTF?
Stopped at another... This dude thoroughly looks it over..."Uh...this cars been in an accident..." WTF? Sure enough...he shows me. When you open the trunk you can see a difference in the welds. The drivers side quarter panel was replaced. I am blown away.... One of the reasons I bought this car was because of the complete service history I got with it. Hmmm... This guy says he can fix it.... "$900". Well at least I know first guy wasn't ripping me off. Crazy quotes were identical.
Now the entire time I am going through all this, my wife keeps saying "Call the dealer you bought it from!" That dealer is almost an hour away which is why I went to the closer one first.
So...one last call before I go with Body Shop #2.
Call my sales guy...he's shocked. Actually sounds mortified! "Bring that car to us as soon as you can..." I get there. Service guy takes it in the back, looks it over. "Yea, this car was in some kind of accident..we have no record of that... it's actually a very well done repair. But it looks like the edge wasn't galvanized properly..."
Then he says something that nearly made me tear up... lol
"We're going to fix this for you. We stand by our cars..."...even going as far to say..."if we get in there and it's worse then we think and have to replace the quarter panel, we're going to cover this..."
Handed me the keys to a 2024 XC60 hybrid and told me to call him in a week.
B L O W N A W A Y
They did not have to do that. Not at all.
4 days later he calls me..."Um...so sorry, but...we sold the car you are driving... can we bring you another loaner and pick that one up?"
They drive the hour out to me and give me an older XC90 PHEV and pick up the XC60.
Called a week later and told me it was ready. Picked her up and good as new. I'll stop here as this is so crazy long. Pretty impressed with the dealer. Total on the receipt was $1500.
Shout out: Leikin Volvo Cars Cleveland - Volvo Dealer Near Cleveland

Before and after:

 

[ColoradoDriver]

OK ready to tell this story. So around March as I was washing her AGAIN, I noticed some rust on the drivers side wheel well. Like from one end to the other. A very thin line of rust MAYBE 2 mm along the very edge. I was gutted. Couldn't believe it. Am I washing it too much? Is that possible?
Stopped by a body shop nearby. They told me "Yea, we won't fix this. We are pretty sure there's some kind of defect and we can't warranty this. If we fix it we're sure it will reoccur". Really? Ok... They suggested an indy body shop (this was a chain) around the corner. Went there.
"Yea, I can fix it. Easy. $900".... made an appointment 4 months out. Dude's apparently exceptional judging by reviews.
Decided to run it by the nearest dealer (not the one I bought it from) to make sure this wasn't some kind of defect that would be covered under the 12 year corrosion warranty. He took one look and said..."Yea, not covering that, something else going on here..." but he couldn't tell me what.
Leaving that place, there are like 4 body shops on the main road between there and my house. Kind of crazy how many there are.
Body shop #3 said that same as #1: "Can't guarantee it won't come back..." WTF?
Stopped at another... This dude thoroughly looks it over..."Uh...this cars been in an accident..." WTF? Sure enough...he shows me. When you open the trunk you can see a difference in the welds. The drivers side quarter panel was replaced. I am blown away.... One of the reasons I bought this car was because of the complete service history I got with it. Hmmm... This guy says he can fix it.... "$900". Well at least I know first guy wasn't ripping me off. Crazy quotes were identical.
Now the entire time I am going through all this, my wife keeps saying "Call the dealer you bought it from!" That dealer is almost an hour away which is why I went to the closer one first.
So...one last call before I go with Body Shop #2.
Call my sales guy...he's shocked. Actually sounds mortified! "Bring that car to us as soon as you can..." I get there. Service guy takes it in the back, looks it over. "Yea, this car was in some kind of accident..we have no record of that... it's actually a very well done repair. But it looks like the edge wasn't galvanized properly..."
Then he says something that nearly made me tear up... lol
"We're going to fix this for you. We stand by our cars..."...even going as far to say..."if we get in there and it's worse then we think and have to replace the quarter panel, we're going to cover this..."
Handed me the keys to a 2024 XC60 hybrid and told me to call him in a week.
B L O W N A W A Y
They did not have to do that. Not at all.
4 days later he calls me..."Um...so sorry, but...we sold the car you are driving... can we bring you another loaner and pick that one up?"
They drive the hour out to me and give me an older XC90 PHEV and pick up the XC60.
Called a week later and told me it was ready. Picked her up and good as new. I'll stop here as this is so crazy long. Pretty impressed with the dealer. Total on the receipt was $1500.
Shout out: Leikin Volvo Cars Cleveland - Volvo Dealer Near Cleveland

Before and after:

Wow that is service and talk about standing behind your products and wanting to do right by the customer. Seems so rare these days.

 

[sm1ke]

Agreed, a good dealership is rare to come by.