Volvo San Diego

Friday was our first experience with routine maintenence on our year old XC60. The service was great, but some of the perks, that I assumed that would come from buying a luxury car, were missing. First, no loaner car offered. When I owned an Infiniti, this was standard. I guess this is not the case at Volvo. Also, we were offered a complimentary car wash, but this would have been completed at the Chevron down the road. Hmmmm. Another thing that was unexpected. I don’t think these things would of changed our mind when buying our car last year, but who knows.

I do not live in the area but I saw a car that my local dealership did not have so I contacted Volvo San Diego. Talked with multiple people and was told the car was available, then it wasn’t, then it was. (That should have been my first clue) We came to an agreement on a price for the new car and a price for my trade-​in. When I asked to have it confirmed in writing the deal changed and they said they would pay less for my trade-​in. When we re-​negotiated I was told the paperwork would be emailed to me and I could leave the deposit and pick up the car in a day or two. I never received the paperwork and the salesman was unavailable to take my call. When I finally got a hold of him (the next morning) I was informed that the car was sold an hour or so before, even though I had been talking to a salesman the whole day about it. To top it off, the salesman didn’t even have the decency to let me know the car was sold. I had to call him and ask why I had not yet received the paperwork for the deposit. Very unprofessional!

Took in my 2012 C30 with a suspected oil leak in the timing belt area. Volvo discovered some (or all) of the camshaft seals needed replacing, plus the timing belt. I was told the car was not safe to drive and required immediate repairs. Dan Robins handled my case from start to finish and I couldn’t of been happier with his level of service and professionalism. With repairs quoted in the region of $ 24 000 — and my car at only 60K — I requested to apply for goodwill assistance with Volvo. Dan obliged and kept me informed every step of the way. I took my car in on a Friday and by end of day Monday the following week he called me back to say Volvo had agreed to cover 100% of the repair costs. I had my car back good as new by Thursday. Impressed with Volvo San Diego’s level of customer care and service. BIG thank you Volvo!

If you’re ever considering buying a Volvo in SD — don’t from this dealer!!! I have spent more time in their service dept fixing a myriad of issues and repeat issues, than I have for any other car I’ve ever owned!!! Their Service Advisors talk the talk but their service dept doing the work is the worst!!! So many wasted hours of my life here… will NEVER buy a Volvo again!!!

This dealership is awful! Volvo’s are supposed to be a luxury car. There is nothing luxury here. I have a 2011 XC60. I bought the extended warranty when mine expired. I was told it covered everything the original warranty covered. It doesn’t. I had a part ordered with the original warranty. They sent the wrong part. Now, they won’t fix it because it’s not under warranty, even though I bought the extended. My husband’s extended Mercedes warranty covered everything! When new, I had to have the XC60 windshield replaced because it was leaking. The GPS was draining the battery. That had to be fixed. The drink holder allows drink to spill on the gear shifter. I had to replace that and be very careful with any drink!
I will never buy a Volvo again! They are not worth the price.

Rarely returns phone calls… bad attitude. .
Not the same service department back in 2009 where your time was valued and you could tell they were striving to provide the best service making it seem at least sincere.
Now it’s a mess… kind of like going somewhere where everyone hates there life and current job and rubs all that negativity on you.
Not pleased with their technical skills as well. Down hill.
I’ve already switched my car from a volvo to something else due to the service here and the lack of options in the area for volvos.
i will switch my wife’s volvo out in the future. I used to love volvo for the safety aspects. .now other car manufacturers have caught up in the safety department and have better gas mileage. …and did I mention better service options.
I hope corporate can turn this place around. .you’ve lost another volvo owner. I plan on taking my wife s car to wolfs for servicing until I get her another vehicle.

I felt compelled to write about my experience at Volvo San Diego. I inquired about a vehicle online and was promptly contacted by a Jason and I asked a bunch of questions he answered and I told him I would get back to him. Forward about 10 days later I emailed him and heard no response so I called and I was told he was out for a few days so I meet Grant who said he would try and help me with anything I needed. So I bombarded him with more questions and he delivered. Went back and forth a bit getting everything in order talking and texting both Jason and Grant. We worked out a deal and since I’m in San Jose I had to fly down to drive it back. Grant went out of his way to pick me up at the airport and took the time to set everything up in the XC90 for me, explaining how things work. He even let me use his phone charger in his office my phone was about out. Made the whole process feel very comfortable never felt awkward like other dealerships I’ve been to. Mary in finance was also a great help, very easy to work with and follows up promptly. Very pleased with this experience sad I don’t live close enough to service it there. If you’re on the market for a car go see Grant.

DO NOT BUY a ‘quality pre-​owned vehicle’ HERE!!! I was sold a LEMON! The car that I just purchased completely turns off while I am driving. Today we could’ve been killed when it shut down on the freeway. I was barely able to make it into the ditch before a big truck came. But that’s not why I am amending my review… I called Kearny Mesa Volvo and asked to speak to the pre-​owned vehicle service manager. I explained to him what happened. His response was unbelievable! He told me, «Well you bought it as-​is so call Land Rover». I could understand that type of response if I had had the vehicle for some time but I don’t even have the plates yet! Then he had the nerve to tell me that there was nothing wrong with it when I bought it. The check engine light started coming on three days after I bought it as well as the tire light with the «!»
I have been in sales and customer service for the past 20 years. Sadly, instead of seeing this as an opportunity to build a relationship and solidify a future client Volvo Kearny Mesa took the low road and chose to wring their hands of me and shoo me away.
To anyone thinking about buying a pre-​owned vehicle here-​THINK AGAIN… and don’t.

Terrible service! Please don’t buy a Volvo if you plan to service it here! I had free service but I had to bring the car repeatedly for the same problem in several occasions because these people don’t know how to fix cars. Also, the shuttle and service dept don’t work well together; it can take one hour to drop off car for repair (this is just to drop off). Also; the free shuttle service is not reliable and a complete mess. For example, I was supposed to be picked up at 3:15 or latest 4pm per their advisor and was picked up by shuttle at almost 5pm. You can’t have a job or a life of you deal with these people. Terribly managed and bad service. They took my Volvo experience to a level of total frustration!

Not my first experience here but by far the worst. Made an appointment for an oil change, told it would be 90 minutes or so… took 3 hours. Why bother with an appointment? I still love my volvo but will be shopping elsewhere for service.

Disappointed it’s careless services!
First appointed visit, they said that it can’t be done in time what they promised so I brought back my s60.
Second appointed visit, after I drop my car and I was waiting to pick up my car because of traveling out of state that night but they call me «We serviced another car instead of your car so you can pic up your car tomorrow…»
I am supposed to find another European car service company next time.

Craptastic. If I had to sum it up in one word, craptastic would be the one. From the moment I walked in I was unimpressed; the woman at the desk was less than helpful with taking my name/​keys and any sort of direction on where to wait or who would be with me.
But on to the service. I was on time for my 1:00pm appointment and sat down with someone at 1:15. The previous day I was told that it would be a 1.5 hour appointment (sort of long in my book since I can change my oil and check fluids in less than an hour), but it’s a different car and that was okay. Got here and was told that it would be more like an hour and 45 minutes. Still okay, setting expectations. At 2:55pm my car was on a lift in the service department. Once someone came to talk to me and let me know that they were also doing a software update, it was after 3:00pm.
Very let down in the time it took and the communication. What should take a service department 45 minutes ended up taking 2 hours and 19 minutes.

We have had three volvos. One bought here. This is about service. I don’t what has happened here over the past couple of years. They must train the service staff to provide horrendous service. The level of incompetence is unbelievable.
I told my car in for a replacement part on the bumper. They ordered it and said that it had to be sent out for paint. They called not once but twice to say it was back in from paint and I could stop by and they would install while I wait.
I went in on a Saturday and no one could find the part. Everyone in service swore it was out for paint. I explained that Volvo called me twice to tell me it was in. I finally gave up and walked into the sales center to find a manager. I was told BY VOLVO STAFF how bad their service is. You know something is up when your own staff says service is terrible. Anyway they swore the owners some would call me the next Monday.
As I returned to get my car someone runs out of service to say they found my part. It was in their drawer. Wow that is some great inventory management. We took it to the car. Well it was the wrong part. Real geniuses here.
As for the promised call on Monday. Of course no one called.
Great car. Terrible service. Maybe the worst service center I have ever been to.

Horrible service department! Our car buying experience here wasn’t great, but nothing to Unilocal over. However, the service department is the most inept set of human beings to ever put on a Volvo shirt and call themselves employees. Terrible scheduling, bad service, constant staff turnover, dishonest maintenance managers, generally idiotic work.
We’ve owned Volvos for years and lived in three different metro areas, and always been pleased with the various dealerships and service departments. Never cheap, by excellent, honest service.
Volvo San Diego is the WORST. Twice now I’ve made an appointment only be to told ONCE I GET TO THE DEALERSHIP that they can’t do it because they are running hours behind or don’t have enough mechanics. Would a phone call be too much to ask before I drove all the way across the city to get there? I’ve now gotten in the habit of calling before I leave to verify they can actually keep my appointment. Seriously. They also recently ripped the leather on one of my seats while doing an oil change, which they offered to pay to fix, but it left me without a car for two days since they don’t do loaners.
Today was the last straw. I made my appointment for the first available time in the morning, which I figured would mean they can’t get behind schedule since my car was first ON the schedule. After spending fifteen minutes in an empty dealership trying to find staff to help me, I was told that they don’t even have mechanics on duty until 30 minutes AFTER my appointment time. And on top of it, it would take more than two hours to do my oil change. WTF. So basically, 2.5 hours for an oil change.
While I was leaving, one of the sales employees surreptitiously offered me the contact info of a shop that two former Volvo San Diego employees started after being fed up working for this ridiculous place. They have great reviews on Unilocal,so I’m going to give them a try: A&D Autowerks

I’ve been going there for 15 years and have found the service to be excellent. I am in and out within a few hours and appointments are easy to make. I prefer 7:30 AM.
However, I have recently been informed that they fired all of their service reps. Can anyone confirm that?

The car buying experience was great but the service scheduling is HORRIBLE!
I booked an appointment on line for noon and when I arrived I was told it would be a couple of hours because the mechanics take their lunch at noon…
Why the he’ll would you alow customers to book appointments for a time that you are not available???
Now I gotta wait 25 minutes for a freak in shuttle!

Went in yesterday considering a Polestar wagon (the contenders were the Audi SQ5 and GLE). Was greeted nicely by a junior salesman, Patrick, checked out the car a bit, and then Mr. Senior Salesman/​Sales Manager shows up and stands right next to the door — I was sitting in the driver’s seat of the car on the showroom floor. Weird, I thought, so I got out.
Mr. Sales Manager proceeds to talk AT us about how every Tom, Dick and Harry comes in to look at the Polestar. (Really?) He doesn’t ask us any questions. He then says that if we would like to test drive it we first have to work out the numbers, payments, etc, to see if it would be «feasible» for us.
Friends, it was the ATTITUDE. I have no idea what was up Mr. Sales Manager’s butt. First, if we drove there in an M5, we are not Tom, Dick, or Harry. Your sacred Polestar would only have been the daily driver to school and sports practice. Might as well have fun. Second, even if I had taken the bus to your dealership, this is not how you talk to people! I was appalled! I get that a limited-​run car shouldn’t be test-​driven by tons of people because nobody wants to take delivery of it with 300 miles, but there is just no need to be so RUDE.
Finally, Mr. Sales Manager says that if we are interested, we can always come back and talk to Patrick. He gives us not his own card, but Patrick’s. Apparently he doesn’t want to talk to us? We left the card at the dealership and are never coming back. We hit the BMW, Mercedes, and Audi dealerships after that where we got great service.

You know it’s not going to go well when you ask the first guy that comes up to you whether they have xyz
Model and he responds with «is it something you’d like to make a deal on today?» To which I replied, not necessarily.
I’m thinking, I’m in the market, let’s look at what you’ve got before we talk about deals.
It continued south after that by being promptly brought into the showroom and ignored.
Positives:
large inventory
Polestar x2
Prices looked pretty reasonable
Negatives:
Maybe I just had bad luck with the salesman but my wife and I are likely not going to buy from this dealership just due to the interaction with Mr. I’m only interested in talking or showing you vehicles if you want to make a deal today.

Not really sure how anyone can say that the prices here are reasonably priced? Took my 2007 Volvo S40 in for a repair to my head gasket that blew! I know big repair! I was stranded on the side of the road and the only option I could think of was to tow it to the Volvo dealership. By the end of the day they had called me letting me know it was indeed the head gasket and that the repair would be upwards of $ 3700+. Haha! Sounds reasonable.
My first and immediate action item was to get the car out of there and shop around for a more affordable shop. My service provider at Volvo was extremely vague on price points, how they came to their diagnosis and timeline. I called around to other shops and actually found other people with far more knowledge on the parts and the issue.
When taking my car out of this awful dealership I had to pay $ 200 just for diagnostics, so I had them replace my coolant bottle that was also cracked. $ 280 later I towed my car to another shop that is performing the repair for right about $ 2k. Way better price point and the shop explained the real cost of everything. Head gaskets are a couple hundred dollars at most to repair. The real cost comes from taking apart the engine which after doing the math, Volvo values their time at about $ 250/​hour. (Got to be kidding me!)
Anyways keep your car away from the service department unless you have a warranty… these guys are savages. It really is a shame because you would feel the people that make the car would want to stand by their product and their customers vs. scaring them away with poor service and high prices.

We recently purchased a used Honda CRV (trade in) from Volvo San Diego and we had a great experience. We saw the car at about 4:45 on Auto Trader, called (and spoke with Richard) to see if it was available, test drove it by 5:30 and drove it off the lot by 8:00. Utterly painless.
Richard was friendly, helpful and upfront about the pricing from the start. We had pleasant conversations with a few other employees (whose names I unfortunately don’t remember) and ended in financing with Kyle (also extremely friendly and even gave us tips about Seattle – our destination for the first road trip we’re taking in the CRV).
Overall, a GREAT experience and we would definitely recommend San Diego Volvo to friends and family.