‘I bought a ‘reliable’ Volvo V60 – but it’s been a complete nightmare’

Dear reader,

You invested £15,500 in this car because you thought it would provide your family with reliable transportation for many years to come. However, as it has gone catastrophically wrong within weeks, you feel you have made a terrible mistake which you can ill afford.

Although the vehicle was four years old, with a one year warranty in place, you had a reasonable expectation not to be left in this position just six weeks after driving it away from the dealership.

You say some of the issues, namely the wipers not working properly, became apparent on the car’s first ever journey under your ownership, suggesting they were pre-existing, and should have been picked up and fixed ahead of the sale. However, they were not and now you are paying the price.

Not only were you sold a lemon, it seems, but the various Volvo garages you were dealing with refused to offer a courtesy car, which to my mind, was very poor indeed. The fact that you bought the car from a garage in Hampshire, when you live in Scotland, has not helped matters.

You’ve been passed around the houses and, it seems, the branches were unable to collaborate to provide a reasonable resolution to your problem. I could see the stress and inconvenience that buying this car was having on your life, and felt this situation needed resolving fast.

I was only too happy to contact Volvo’s UK headquarters on your behalf.

When I asked you how you wanted this resolved, you said you wanted a courtesy car while the V60 was repaired. And following my involvement, you received a phone call from Volvo offering you a courtesy car with immediate effect, although you say you feel this was done reluctantly.

You were told your Volvo V60 might be repaired and ready to collect within two days, however this turned out to be wishful thinking.

Someone from head office has now liaised with both Snows Volvo Winchester and John Clark Volvo Edinburgh, and agreed that the garages will jointly cover the entire cost of the repair. This repair will be expedited, I have been assured, so although it is not yet fixed, you will have your car back as soon as possible.

Further to this, in terms of the particulate filter fault which is not covered under warranty, Volvo has offered you a 10pc discount towards the cost of replacing the inlet manifold.

A spokesman from Volvo said: “We would like to apologise for the issues and inconvenience that Mr S has experienced.”