I live in Columbia, MD (just south of Baltimore). I can a) drive 45 minutes to Annapolis Volvo or b) drive 1 hour north to Bel Air. In either case, you have to drive two round-trips for each repair. That's between 3 and 4 hours of driving time for each repair. After Annapolis Volvo was unable to repair my windshield washers after 5 consectutive trips (20 hours of driving), I gave up and looked for a local mechanic.

My local Mechanic has done work on older Volvo's, but - as I learned the hard way - had no luck solving my hard-starting problem. I'm now stuck with either going to a high-priced (although quite proficient) foreign auto shop or doing the repairs myself. I'm pretty handy with things, but I haven't spent much time working on cars. In addition, if I wanted to spend my weekends working under the hood, I would have purchased the '73 911 I've always dreamed of.

I felt pretty good about the fact that I was able to replace the SAS system this week (air pump, valve, relay). Then again...3 year-old car, known problem (i.e., manufacturer should step in), $350 in parts, and 4 hours of time. Maybe I don't feel so good.