Our Story

I had my Tune-up on 1/21/21 and I want to thank you for the great service. My 2016 XC Wagon is running like a charm! Brett was very thorough & patient as he very professionally guided me through the Service recommendations and why they were needed, especially new brakes & a new battery. And I couldn’t be more pleased with the “purr ” of my car after having the work completed. I also had new tires put on my car of which Brett and his team also strongly advised me to do. This completed the package my car is feeling much more balanced, center tracing is spot on and driving with much more confidence. Now I’ll be ready to hit the road traveling the country again when this virus is finally licked! Thank you Swedish Motors for your expertise and wonderful service.
     
Sincerely,
Jan T.

I wanted to take the opportunity to let you know your shop was the BEST Volvo service we ever took our car to in the 15 years we had the XC90. We have recently sold it, so we won’t need any further service, but I did want to say thank you!!! We really appreciate the amazing customer service you provided to our son and the car!!!

I want to express my appreciation for the service I received and the manner in which I was treated. I was given a fair estimate which was not exceeded. I was treated with respect and dignity (fairly rare for a single woman bringing a car in for service – I can assure you). I felt I was treated honestly, was listened to, and the things I requested were done. I have taken my car to several Boulder businesses and have generally been quite dissatisfied until I brought it to you. My car has run well since it was serviced and I will continue to bring my business to Swedish Motors as well as recommended you to my friends. Thank you!

I want to thank you for the excellent service you gave me this summer when I stopped in Boulder during a cross-country trip in my 1964 Volvo 122s. I came to you complaining of vapor lock in the car’s fuel line and the need for new front brake calipers. You gave me, not what I wanted, but what I needed: a new fuel pump to replace the one which delivered virtually no pressure and improved front brake pads. Without your problem oriented service I might easily have spent an excessive amount of money and left myself stuck with the problems still unsolved. You put me back on the road in no time and I proceeded to log 6,000 trouble-free miles, miles which would have been impossible without the service you provided. I was referred to you by chance but there’s no chance I will go anywhere else for service when I am in the Boulder area. Good luck with your enterprise; you deserve it!

In the fifteen months over which I have done business with you; times when I have felt under pressure because of the car and because of the money involved; I have always felt reassured that you were doing your best. I, and many women, also have in the past found it difficult to not feel ignorant and ill-at-ease in that situation. You have felt a genuine sense of warmth and caring during the times that we have met. It is a pleasure to do business with you.

I’ve been meaning to write you this letter for some time, but with my preparations for our trip and much to do here at the station, I never got around to it. As you know, I’ve been bringing my Volvos to you since I’ve been in Boulder and I’ve seen your business grow from a one-man operation to what it is now. Even though you have grown, the quality of the service has not diminished. Meanwhile, my Volvo has 130,000 miles on it and it still runs just fine. To be honest, I wouldn’t own a Volvo if I didn’t have a great mechanic and shop to look after it. I personally believe that the reason that I see so many Volvo’s in Boulder is because of Swedish Motors. I hold the highest respect and praise of your work. I hope that you continue to be prosperous. Warmest regards.

I want to make a statement. After all the repairs that have been done on my car last time, 1) my Volvo does not run, it flies; 2) Summer heat seems not to go to its head anymore and it stays as cool as a lover with a headache. 3) The odd shift knob did not answer to my muscle potential so far and feels unusually comfortable, but I have to get used to it, I believe; 4) And now the last, the most enigmatic thing – the gear shift box. I don’t know what Jeff has done to it, but suddenly I felt an unhealthy desire to pass cars when the distance available to perform such a reckless trick is almost of the length of my Volvo and to my surprise and horror, I felt confident in doing it.

So, thanks for all your advises that saved me money to fix my car and this driving euphoria on my back, but I know what I can do! if I get a ticket I’ll be there, at Swedish Motors – for another discount! Best wishes.

My 1998 Volvo V70R has been serviced by Swedish Motors since 2006 with 154,000 miles; 6 years later in 2012 the car now has about 282,000 miles. I have been consistently outrageously happy with the high quality results of their service, and with the professionalism of their entire start-to-finish treatment. They do the job right the first time, nicely, and I credit them with my ability to keep this car on the road as another reliable high mileage Volvo.

Some of the things that I especially appreciate are:

They are consummately honest and technically competent Volvo specialists, with deep experience in determining and working on the subtleties that a generalist mechanic may not get quite as well. They have low staff turn over, which is always a good sign of stability for any business.

I really like that the mechanic who is usually assigned to my car (Scott) actually has the exact same car as me (same year, make, model, and color!). So if there’s something going on with my car, he either already has professional or first hand experience with it, or has his car to use for comparison and further investigation.

They look for problems, and they are open with information. I like the fact that Swedish tries to keep repair costs down. They do this by discovering and reporting problems while they are still early, so they can either correct the problem while it’s still small, or give me a heads-up to plan for a more expensive repair in the future. I also appreciate the fact that they will recommend specific upgrades when things need to be replaced, to give me the opportunity to incrementally improve my 14 year old car at the proper time, by using better performing new parts which don’t compromise reliability.

For example, about 1-2 years ago, the transmission fluid was found to be darkening. In talking with my mechanic, the general preference was to change the type of ATF from Natural – a petroleum based transmission fluid that the car originally came with, to Synthetic – which has significantly better temperature and wear properties. Their process for replacing the ATF was to add a detergent/ solvent additive to the current (Natural) ATF, drive the car for a while to clean the internal solenoids and valves and other internal surfaces, then flush over 20 quarts of new Synthetic ATF through the transmission until the fluid coming out was a consistent clear red color. This method is significantly more thorough than what a drive through “preventative maintenance” franchise is likely to do, because they aren’t mechanics, they won’t be able to tell if there is a problem or a risk unless something is obvious, and if something fails during the service they are clearly out of their element to solve the problem.

Several years ago when several of my struts were leaking, I was interested in a suspension upgrade. They recommended using better and stiffer front struts and new springs, and stock self-leveling dampers with new springs in the rear. The car handles much better than stock, I really appreciate this improved driveability every day. When we do long cross country road trips with our family, this is the vehicle of choice.

Recently, I needed to get new front brake rotors and pads. My mechanic guided me toward a minor brake upgrade from the current 11″ rotor (which is stock for this car in the US market) to a 12″ rotor (which is stock on the Euro version of this car), but still fits my stock 16″ wheels. Braking power has noticeably increased, but not to the point where the front and rear braking forces are out of balance – something which is extremely important to me when I’m driving down a snowy hill in the winter and need to stop at the stop sign before entering the highway. I’ve had the ceramic brake pads and stainless steel brake lines or years, and really like them.

I’m a long term Swedish Motors customer, and I’m happy to share my very positive experiences.