Lifelong Customer

Our Volvo is 3+ yo. It is a 2 litres, turbo-charged car that keeps Daddy Lim happy most of the time. To me, it is just a car that gets us from point A to B. I do recognise that it is important that the man is happy, then he wouldn't come bug me about upgrading the car parts, like what happened with our 1st car - the Honda Jazz.

I do agree that our car is super spacious and it is a comfortable ride. I was also won over by the fact that it is a super safe car. One of my complaints though is the complicated electronic systems, which leads to regular prompts on some malfunction parts. The prompts cannot be switched off and it gets me panicky. Imagining driving smoothly on the expressway and suddenly a flashing warning about some engine whatever. The best part? There is no telling if the warning is real since the ride feels the same. Sometimes and for no reason, the warning goes off after a while. The car is too "clever" for our good.

The car comes with a 3-year warranty and the servicing had been satisfactory. Well, it better be given how expensive our car was. The warranty expired late last year and we were left with the decision on whether we should continue to send the car back to Volvo for servicing or use some private workshops. Daddy Lim then told me that it is notorious for Volvo to charge an arm for after-warranty servicing. Then again, it is not like we have many choices bcos servicing and repairing for continental cars are expensive generally, private workshops or not. Zzzzz.

We eventually decided to head back to the Volvo workshop. Meanwhile, we had been tolerating for months a malfunctioning headlight plus an irritating cannot-turn-off warning from the "clever" system. There was also this annoying creaking sound, which Daddy Lim suspected was a loose panel somewhere and finally some weird braking sound that only Daddy Lim can hear.

The car had to be left in the workshop the entire day for servicing. On the same day morning, Daddy Lim texted to say that he was quoted 1.2k for a normal servicing, without considering the cost of replacing the headlight, which is an addition $350. My heart dropped. What kind of expensive servicing is that?! Maybe the car would come back glittered in gold dust and the headlight cab shine rainbow?

The eventual bill turned out to be $600. The headlight wasn't changed bcos there was no spare part and had to be ordered in. The creaking and braking noise continued bcos the mechanics couldn't locate the problem. Hmmmmm... how interesting. Given the expensive experience, we started worrying about the expensive maintenance henceforth. Daddy Lim checked a private workshop to change the headlight and was quoted $1k. Zzzzzzzz. We even considering exploring the option to change to a cheaper and simpler Japanese car.

Of course the headlight had to be fixed regardless of the cost. Not only were the warnings irritating, it was not safe. Accrodingly to Daddy Lim's research, there aren't many private workshops that do continental cars. Daddy Lim eventually found one that quoted us a decent price for replacing the headlight. The workshop is located in the Sin Min area.

The replacement was done quickly and it cost us $235. Daddy Lim had wanted the workshop to fix the noises too but the workshop was crowded with other expensive continental cars like the BMs and alike. He was asked to come back with an appointment another day and be prepared to leave the car in the workshop for the day for indepth investigation.

Daddy Lim did so and headed back on Tuesday morning. I had hoping that it wouldn't hurt our pocket too much. By late morning, Daddy Lim texted that the car was almost done. I was surprised. Apparently, the experienced mechanic easily identified the source of the noises and speedily fixed them. Our car was given some oiling and a much needed wash too. The best news? The workshop said that it is FOC bcos those were small issues, easily fixed without any parts change. Woohoo! How cool is that?

Daddy Lim was definitely very pleased with the service. The Family Financial Controller, aka me, was pleased that my wallet is intact. Daddy Lim said that the workshop just scored a lifelong customer. Hohoho.

Our ride feels good once again. It is amazing how comfortable it si now that it is quiet again. I am also suspecting and hoping that the car can go on for a few more years, much to Daddy Lim's disappointment (probably). You should have seen the sparkle in his eyes when he was researching for a possible new buy even if it would be a downgrade. Sorry! Muahahaha.

Mummy Lim