I have and have always had a healthy distrust of salesmen and my recent dealings with a double glazing company of some repute who shall remain nameless, has done nothing to change that.

Shortly after the move to paradise I traded in my diesel-guzzling Toyota Hi Lux 4x4 for a three year old Volvo CV70 diesel, four wheel drive estate car, which I purchased from Fawcetts of Newbury, a local Volvo dealership.

This seems to be the ideal fishing/coaching car as there is room for four passengers and all the tackle I always take (those who have fished with me are now imagining something the size of an articulated lorry). The great plus is that in three months motoring it is averaging about forty miles to the gallon.

However last week it started losing lots of brake fluid and wary of the warranty I took it back to the dealer for investigation, only to be told that the clutch slave cylinder was leaking and because it is situated inside the bell housing and therefore part of the gearbox it was not covered by the warranty. As the leaking fluid was likely to have damaged the clutch mechanism the bill could be as high as £2500, this caused me a great deal of concern .

The Service Manager said he would see what he could do and finally arranged for Volvo to pay 40% of the bill and the warranty company and Fawcetts themselves each to pay 20%. I got a new clutch, flywheel and slave cylinder fitted for a little over £500 and during the work they discovered that the four wheel drive system was not supplying power to the rear wheels. Happily this was covered by the warranty and was fixed at the same time. The lack of four wheel drive would explain my problem in the previous post.

I am therefore extremely pleased with the service I have had from Fawcetts of Newbury and pass on my recommendation to you.

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