Volvo of Stamford

Reason for Visit: Sales

I recommend this dealer: No

My Review of Volvo of Stamford:
What can I say about Volvo of Stamford? When I started to look for a new car, I was expecting to deal with the nonstop barrage of phone calls from dealers desperate to sell me a car. And I got those, from other car makers. I didn't get that from Stamford Volvo. In fact, I didn't get anything. No calls. Buying a car from here was like pulling teeth, except I didn't even get the catchy elevator music from the dentist. Every time I called, I was told "I have to run downstairs, I will call you back in 5 minutes." 5 minutes apparently means 4 hours, or never. And "I will call you first thing to let you know" means "I will wait for mid-day for you to call me because I will not call". I had to call the sales manager 3 times to complain about the lack of responsiveness from the salesperson I dealt with. Each time he was very kind and assured me that buying a car should not be an unpleasant experience (really?) but then rather than help me himself or switch me to a new salesperson, I would get a call from my original salesperson, who would assure me that I wasn't forgotten and would call me back in just a moment.
I should have gone to a different dealer weeks ago, but felt I was too far along in the process to start over (seeing as how I knew exactly what I wanted and only needed to find it in the inventory).
I finally closed the deal on a Thursday, but the car had to be shipped up from Delaware. Seeing as how it's SUCH a long drive (under 200 miles) it takes a week to send it up.
Had I not already decided to buy a Volvo, I would have definitely gone elsewhere based on the poor treatment from the sales department.

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Reason for Visit: Service

I recommend this dealer: No

My Review of Volvo of Stamford:
So glad to have a chance to sound off on this horrible dealer. I've been servicing my C70 there for 2 years (no other dealers in the area). I've had a number of bad experiences. The worst was when my car had cold weather starting problems- it would turn over and then die. I took it into them, their assessment was "vacuum system problems, $2K+". I paid, drove it home, and then the next morning the same problem, car wont start. Upon further review, they decided the problem was "also" the key ring sensor, around $200. But no credits for the wasted work on the vacuum system, they refused and claimed it was necessary. Please! Also, 2 times I've had severe leaks after a service appointment- fluids going everywhere from hoses they did not attach properly. I recently had a problem with my airconditioning system where the freon leaked out- Stamford Volvo service quoted me $1100+ to dig into the dash and replace the part. I called a general repair shop who said "99% of the time that is a huge waste, we will fix it w/ a sealant. Volvo is scamming you." Cost- less than $100. And no leaks, the AC works perfectly. After I complained to the service department about how they dealt with this problem, they were unrepentant, and subsequently make me pre-pay for all work done. Apparently dissatisfaction with crappy work and sleazy business practices makes you a dead beat. I'm selling my Volvo soon, and will not miss the arrogant, theiving service guys at this dealer. Do anything you can to avoid Stamford Volvo, even if it means not buying this make.

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Reason for Visit: Service

I recommend this dealer: No

My Review of Volvo of Stamford:
The dealer service folks were not generally pleasant and refused to take responsibility for their mistakes. The driver door lock had to be replaced several times and once they told me they fixed it when indeed they did not. I asked them to do a front end alignment - they said it didn't need it when it was obvious that it did. They finally accomplished the alignment but did such an incredibly poor job that within 3500 miles I had to replace the two front tires (at a cost of $400) and the car only had about 16,000 miles on it. There have been a number of other instances when the service department was inept and uninterested. This vehicle has been problamatic but it is due in part to poor service. I tried to get Volvo of Stamford management involved (both the owner and the sales manager who sold me the car) but they were not interested in helping because the car was under lease so in a real sense I could not do anything unless I sold the car and took a loss (which given the poor resale rate it was not an option). I did take the car to Volvo of Westport and their service department is outstanding - unfortunately they are 20 miles away not the 2 to Stamford Volvo. PS my car has been in the shop some 20 times in the past 2 years - my Volvo experience/ordeal will be over in about 15 months and I'm going back to Lexus where I can count on reliability and in those very rare service calls I can expect a pleasant and competent service experience.<br><br>Jeff

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