At about 97,500 miles, I find I am staring down the barrel of a rear main seal job for my 96 855 GLT. In 20 years of driving, which has included ownership of a 68 142 and several 75 164s, among other marques, I have never been confronted with the remote possibility of doing such a repair as a part of routine longterm ownership. Most of my Euro-origin vehicles had well over 150K when we parted company.
This, to me, does not seem reasonable for a car that cost about $35K new, and which I bought under the Volvo certified program less than four years ago.
What happened to longevity?
It is telling that the seal design has been revised: is this a sign that the original part was defective? Has anyone else complained to Volvo N.A. about this? It seems the numbers are on our side.
Thanks for reading.
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