Volvo Cars Manasquan

Misrepresented Pre-Sale Service on Used Volvo (Volvo Cars of Manasquan and Garden State Volvo appear as names for the location at 2415 Hwy 35, Manasquan, NJ) Recently purchased a used 2008 Volvo (Volvo Cars of Manasquan and Garden State Volvo appear as names for the location at 2415 Hwy 35, Manasquan, NJ) Recently purchased a used 2008 Volvo S60, end of May 2018. It’s a safe vehicle for a newer driver. Nice car. Sales person was Barbara (nice lady, easy to work with). The car was originally listed at $1000 lower than the price on the day I saw it. I inquired why the price was raised, and would they agree to the original lower price? Sales manager (Chris) reluctantly agreed because of ‘how much maintenance’ they put into the car before they offered it for sale ($1600). While brakes were not done, I was assured that they had 80-90% pads and needed no work. Shortly after agreeing, Barbara was told by the Sales Manager that to give me the reduced price, I needed to purchase a Powertrain Maintenance Contract. When I questioned the change in direction, Chris joined the discussion to inform me of how the car is 10 years old and they want to be certain they can help me out should something go wrong. They can’t control unforeseen mechanical failures and unhappy customers which results in poor reviews etc. I would respect someone more for their honesty, if I was simply told reducing by $700 is more manageable, versus the bait and switch with a useless $300 warranty. I’m stating this because it should have been my warning. Fast forward, we purchased the car anyway, along with the powertrain maintenance (for $200 rather than 3). My son has been driving the car for six weeks, and put a little more than 1,000 miles on it. Son was visiting family a couple towns over from home and called me about noise he was hearing when he applied the brakes. As a newer driver, he is always cautious/uncertain. The mechanic our family uses is right there in town, so to be safe we took the car in. To my surprise, I was told not to drive the car home because it isn’t safe. It has zero front brake pads & rotors, and zero rotors in back, and partial pads over the bad rotors. I explained our recent purchase of the car and the maintenance I was told about. I was told by the mechanic, best guess, new pads were put over totally bad rotors, and the pads wear like an eraser in a pencil sharpener. I’m not saying Manasquan Volvo knowingly put the pads over completely bad rotors, but they surely failed to exercise due diligence by checking the brake pads and rotors. I called today to speak with Barbara, she was out, so I asked for Chris. After explaining the issue, and expressing my disappointment with not only the misrepresentation of the maintenance, but the risk to any driver of the car, I was cut off mid-sentence by Chris with what was clearly his definition of ‘great customer service’. He told me he would check the maintenance records and call me back. He did promptly call back. He wanted to know why I didn’t bring the car there, what mechanic did I take it to, how do I know they aren’t lying to me about the brakes because mechanics do that all the time (seems like he knows that part well), why should he take word of mouth from another mechanic, on and on. My mechanic already started the work on the car, however, did offer to provide me with all the parts he removed. Chris stated there is nothing he can do since I did not bring him the car. I said I will call the mechanic, tell them to stop the work, put the old parts back on, and I will have the car towed to Volvo. Will you replace the rotors at no cost to me? No response. What I got was a lot of rhetoric about how deceptive mechanics are, and he can’t take the word of someone else, and he can’t answer me until his service manager sees the car etc. When I was finally able to get a word in, I asked if Volvo is going to stand by what I was told and repair the brakes, or at the very least offer something toward the repair. When Chris refused a direct response, I said goodbye and ended the call. Within ten minutes, my phone rang from Manasquan Volvo. I thought perhaps they had reconsidered and were willing to meet halfway. Wrong again. It was Chris’s manager calling to give me a piece of his mind on how I was wrong and being ripped off by my mechanic, etc. Would I go to ‘just any doctor to get my knee replaced’ he asked me? Not sure what that has to do with my car but I surely would not go to a doctor that treated me like Manasquan Volvo. My apology that I don’t recall his name, since I would truly like to credit him for being such a buffoon. Condescending, rude, obnoxious, patronizing, doesn’t even come close. He was worse than Chris. It is unfortunate for Volvo. They make a good product. These guys are the epitome of shady used car dealers in bad suits. Not sure how they stay in business. Stay away. More

Manager is the most condensending man I’ve ever met As a woman I always am weary walking into a male dominated world. I went to this dealership and dealt with a salesman named mark. Lovey. Honesty lovel As a woman I always am weary walking into a male dominated world. I went to this dealership and dealt with a salesman named mark. Lovey. Honesty lovely. We talked pricing and then he pull d over Chris the manager who proceeded to tell me the other prices I’d received were lies and the dealers used hard tactics and would lure me in and then double prices. At one point when I looked at mark to help me out Chris said don’t look at him look at me. I’d honestly never experienced anything like it. Don’t go there. Certainly not as a woman. Awful. More

Never a Problem I have leased three Volvos from Garden State and it has been a pleasure.Brian and Herb in the service Dept are very professional and they keep you adv I have leased three Volvos from Garden State and it has been a pleasure.Brian and Herb in the service Dept are very professional and they keep you advised on your repairs and the work is completed in a timely manner. More

Rude Sales Manager Marco is sales is fantastic. The "Sales manager" there is not. I recently purchased a certified pre-owned 2013 XC90. My sales rep Marco was fantasti Marco is sales is fantastic. The "Sales manager" there is not. I recently purchased a certified pre-owned 2013 XC90. My sales rep Marco was fantastic, very personable and helpful! Today, I was pulled over and informed I had no inspection. I did not realize there was no inspection as I have never purchased a car and needed an inspection done, they normally are done by the dealership. The officer told me the dealership at the least should have given me a pink temporary sticker giving me 14 days to have the car inspected. He and I searched through the paperwork and could not find anything. I called the dealership and was connected to the sales manager Trish who was completely rude to me. She informed me when they buy cars they take the out of state sticker off. I told her I had no idea where the car came from that's not my responsibility and how do you let someone leave the dealership without one? She informed me my sales rep should have said something and in 20 years she's never heard of a temporary inspection. I proceeded to tell her that's what the officer said the point is you released the car with no inspection. I have never heard of this my husband purchased a certified pre-owned Mercedes and they handled his inspection I do not understand why you do not. She informed me it's the customers responsibility to which I replied well I almost got a ticket and now I have to go and get it inspected. Her answer was "Well there you go". At that point I hung up on her. I did contact my sales rep Marco and he was 100% on top of the issue. He informed me because it was purchased by the dealership it was an out of state inspection which needs to be removed however every packet the dealership gives out should have information stating the car needs to be inspected and a temporary sticker. He offered to take it and have it inspected however the closest inspection station to my office is closed for repairs and I would take it first thing in the morning. Should I be issued a ticket the dealership is responsible for it. I am hesitant to recommend the dealership for fear they would have to deal with Trish but would definitely recommend my sales rep Marco. More

My experience with the Service Dept. We've purchased our last three cars from Garden State Volvo, to a great extent because of the experience we've had with its Service Department. We've We've purchased our last three cars from Garden State Volvo, to a great extent because of the experience we've had with its Service Department. We've mainly dealt with Gail (Service Manager) and Herb (Service Dept. customer rep) and, to a lesser extent, Brian. We have consistently, found them all to be pleasant, accommodating, fair, and genuinely concerned that we are satisfied with the work done to our car. There are some negative commentaries offered below, but it is my guess that they probably reflect more the approach and attitude of the writers than they do the general level of concern, courtesy and helpfulness of the Service Department. Libby and Steve Feldman More

Great service, freindly staff I've been going to Garden State Volvo for the past 6 years and 3 cars. Its been pretty straightforward every time, they listen to my concerns, check I've been going to Garden State Volvo for the past 6 years and 3 cars. Its been pretty straightforward every time, they listen to my concerns, check out the car and fix whatever is wrong. It's never taken longer to fix anything than estimated. The folks who work in service are friendly (even at 7:30am) and do their best to accommodate you. More

Very rude customer service. One associate tells you one thing one the phone, when you get there, they change their whole story.just to get you to spend more money thing one the phone, when you get there, they change their whole story.just to get you to spend more money More

Do not attempt to reason with Gail. In my opinion she is ignorant to the point of frustration. I can't believe the management even lets her use a computer! ignorant to the point of frustration. I can't believe the management even lets her use a computer! More

I had the unfortunate experience of addressing a problem on behalf of my son regarding his 2005 Volvo XC90 SUV. The engine was rendered useless by what is a widely known and well documented manufacturing d on behalf of my son regarding his 2005 Volvo XC90 SUV. The engine was rendered useless by what is a widely known and well documented manufacturing defect with the first 6000 plus engines of that model year. Balancer bearings get wet and fail, causing the balancer shaft to fail and cause massive, fatal internal engine damage. This is a problem that Volvo is well aware of, yet refuses to acknowledge or address. On some level, this is not just an engine defect, but can quite possibly be a life safety issue. On a separate track we are dealing with this by way of a class action lawsuit to be brought against Volvo on behalf of all owners of 2005 XC90’s in North America. Dealing with this problem had me cross paths with the Volvo North America Customer Service team and a local New Jersey Volvo dealer. I will summarize my experience with the Volvo organization and dealer and will make comments along the way. I will also give credit to one Volvo employee who did what a good , customer focused, understanding, intelligent and reasonable person should do on behalf of the Volvo organization and their clients. More on that later. The Volvo organization has , in my opinion, serious communication problems between Volvo corporate and the dealership. I am also of the opinion that the Volvo organization , especially corporate customer service , is not customer focused, does not know how to own a problem from cradle to grave, does not look to work to reasonable resolution, does not know how to communicate effectively internally (e.g. with dealership) or externally (e.g. with customers). I hold a yellow belt in SIX SIGMA which is a customer focused, data driven , quality improvement process, championed by GE former CEO Jack Welch and at whose core is the simple principle of “Voice of the Customer”. It has worked wonders at hundreds of companies to improve quality in products, processes and customer satisfaction. Apparently a concept that is completely foreign to Volvo. Dealing with Deb Lent at the Volvo Customer Service center was one of the most incredibly futile transactions I have ever had in my 40 years in business. She did not want to acknowledge the problem for what it was and constantly pointed to maintenance and oil changes. Neither of which have any bearing on the problem as I explained to her repeatedly and as is well documented on several automotive blogs. At every conversation, she insisted on pointing to oil filters and maintenance and would never even try to understand the technical nature of the problem. I could have been complaining about windshield wipers and she probably would have asked me if I changed the oil regularly. Additionally it was apparent to me that she was following a script to avoid dealing with the issue. The most insulting exchange was when she said that she could no longer discuss the problem with me unless I stated that I wanted to buy another Volvo. That was just too incredible to believe. The Volvo dealer in Manasquan New Jersey diagnosed the problem and told me the engine needed to be replaced, but could not locate one . At that point we were made to feel like the situation was completely unsolvable at the dealer level and would not be dealt with at the corporate level according to Deb Lent. We subsequently sold the vehicle for scrap. When I told Deb Lent about this, she said that the dealer was wrong and an engine could have been located. This underscores the bad communication between Volvo Dealers and Volvo Corporate. Why didn’t the dealer communicate with corporate to help find an engine, instead of sending us packing with no apparent resolution. Based on the dealer’s input, we sold a $50,000 car for scrap. The Service manager at the New Jersey dealership is also lacking in communication skills as evidenced by her emails to my son. She had no desire to help me understand what if any options I had relative to finding an engine. She stands behind semantics of new vs used vs rebuilt engines. She did not want to discuss how we might work together with Volvo corporate. It seemed to me that she wanted to get me out of the dealership and the car off the lot. The one bright spot was dealing with a Volvo corporate attorney who secured a $12,000 payment for our trouble. While I appreciate the professionalism , understanding and reasonableness of the attorney, in my mind the $12,000 falls far short of the true solution. For any Volvo executive who reads this I can only hope that the necessary organizational changes be made (especially in customer service), and that the badly needed training is implemented across the board. I am of the firm belief that this engine problem which cannot be diagnosed ahead of time can cause catastrophic engine failure (as evidenced by my son’s situation) and can lead to serious injury or even death on our U.S. highways. As such I am taking up the gauntlet and working with a team of attorneys who see the issue for what it is and agree that Volvo needs to be brought to justice and make amends for a problem with their product, rather than deny, avoid and evade the issues. It is my sincere desire to see Volvo be held legally responsible for the 6000 plus vehicles that have this issue as well as any damages that have been experienced by Volvo owners because of it. More