You may or may not know that I'm a dedicated volvo owner/driver.
I have a 95 945 which I put a lot of effort into keeping it in top condition. I also have a 1967 Amazon Wagon that I just brought back from Texas and have been slowly repairing, rustproofing, and restoring. While a 122 is fairly simple in a mechanical sense (half the reason for chosing this vintage) there are often things that I'd like a professional to look at. So you know, finding an amazon in this region is difficult - much less finding a mechanic who knows the quirks of such cars. The amazon specialist at the dealer recently broke his back, so I'm SOL for a qualified amazon specialist.

Now, There's a volvo/subaru specialist shop called "Auto Evaluators" near my house in the South St. Louis region. They both repair and sell volvos. Most interestingly, this is the home of the only other Volvo Amazon that I've ever seen in the St. Louis Area.

So, thinking that I'd found a place that would be qualified to look at my car, I stopped by. Despite the fact that I was speaking with the owner who claims to own a P1800 (one of his mechanics owns the 122S), I got the sense that they didn't care about looking at my beloved amazon or really want my business. I wasn't rude or demanding, I just asked if they could take a look at it and try and find the source of some rear-end noise. The "conversation" with the owner (Mike) was difficult to describe, but it was not the friendly volvo sort of discussion that I'm used to. This fellow acted rather "odd." I hesitate to call him an @$$hole, but I was getting that distinct impression. He refused to even veture a guess as to what could be making the noise, telling me that they would give me a complete 5-page analysis of the car for around $99.00. If I wanted them to look into a rear-end noise, they'd be on $88/hr "mechanic time." "Mike" went on to suggest that I wait for the Amazon-specialist at the Dealer to return to work (that poor guy broke his back). Overall, I got a bad vibe from this fellow.

I stopped by this place earlier this year with my rex-regina 1990 740 volvo, but I ended up getting rid of that car before they had a chance to look at it. I also got a werid sense of the guy then too, but he was much more forthcomming about volvos with quirks.

So, two questions. Has anyone on this board ever dealt with these guys? Can anyone recommend place trustworthy in the St. Louis region that could take a look at my car? I find that midas (of all places) is one of the best for general stuff, but I'd like somewhere that understands the SU carbs and knows what a Volvo Amazon actually is.

It doesn't really matter what anyone says about these guys. They are not touching either of my babies. Jerks don't get my money even if they claim to be classic volvo owners.



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You mean Volvo makes cars that are *NOT* Wagons?!?