My '07 V70 wagon has 120K miles on it. The owner's manual says to change the tiiming belt every 120K miles (used to be every 70K miles on my '96 850). I used to pay ~ $500 to have this done on the 850 (last time was in 2008, though). Now, the local Volvo dealer wants $850 to do this. What's up with that? Can I check the condition of the belt somehow without too much effort? Is the dealer charging an excessive amount for this? Should I start learning how to do the timing belt myself?

Any help would be appreciated.

Bernie

'07 V70, '96 850

Consider doing it yourself or find a local independant Volvo specialist. That sounds pricey to me too.

'Forgot to mention: my independent mechanic, who has worked on my 850 before, quoted $780 + tax (OEM parts), which the local Volvo dealer said he would match. That's still over $800 ...

Ouch!!!

If you have flushed the cooling system at least once, then the water pump should be good for a long while. Both belts and the manual tensioner w/roller is a must.

DIY is a possible, but not for the feint of heart or level 1 person. The hardest part is aligning the timing marks properly, then getting the belt on tight between the 2 cams.

You obviously live in a high labor rate market. Our dealer charges around $130/hr and the locals charge $115 or so. Both use the labor book to determine the hours charged, which is terribly inflated.

It takes a first timer 2-5 hours to change the belt, assuming he has all of the proper tools, including white out to paint the timing notches and a ratchet to turn the crank when finished.

Of course, if you elect to wait for a few thousand miles, a valve job is a bit more expensive.

Get 'er done.

Klaus
--
There is no present time, just the past and future

$450-$500 is a fair ballpark price on the timing belt, tensioner, and idler pullies replaced with factory parts. The pump is going to be another hour labor, a gallon of coolant, and a $150.00 factory pump. This will add about another $300.00 to the bill bringing you up to $750-800.00. This is the going rate to have factory parts installed by a trained Volvo specialist in my area. You can always get it done cheaper or do it yourself but remember, you get what you pay for and sometimes you do not even get that.

Thanks for the sanity check. Cost of car maintenance sure has gone up over the last few years!