General: Care By Volvo - help please!

[BristolCBVcustomer]

Hi all,

First time poster here, so apologies in advance if I have made any mistakes in how / where this is posted.

I am a UK (England) based Care by Volvo (CBV) subscription customer. I took the subscription out in Nov 2021, with the car (XC40) delivered in May 2022 on a 3 year subscription plan.

My understanding of CBV is that the monthly payment should cover just about everything that needs doing to the car, as long as it is within fair wear & tear and not due to misuse or damage I cause. The only things I should need to pay for would be Fuel, Insurance and top ups of basic consumables (screenwash, oil if before a service etc).

At the start of May '24 Volvo collected my car for its annual service, and when they delivered it back it came with some recommended works: rear brake pads Amber, air con: red, brake fluid: red, wiper blades: red.

I have been back and forth with the CBV central / customer service team for weeks and they are absolutely adamant that these things are not covered by my subscription and are only included with CBV subscriptions from 2023, when the 'service plan plus' was introduced.

Does anyone have any experience / advice or been in a similar situation? Am I just completely mistaken? I feel like I am being gaslit by volvo at this point. It has reached the point I am now looking into legal advice as I feel I must have been miss-sold the original deal, but what is most frustrating is how unnecesary this all seems, as I am fairly certain it is just one customer service advisor who doesn't understand CBV and is digging their heels in with me specifically.

Any help or advice would be hugely appreciated.

[SuffolkBoy]

Hi,

Sorry to hear that you are having issues with the CBV scheme.

I ordered my XC40 at the beginning of September 2022 and took delivery during that month (it had already been built and was in the country).

When I ordered it, I received a copy of the Terms & Conditions dated May 2022 and these showed the service details which included wear and tear items as well as tyres at that time - do you have your copy of the T&C’s issued at the point of ordering your car?

The terms stated that wear and tear items would be included in your monthly payments providing the Volvo dealership confirmed that the items needing replacement met the “normal” standards….in other words, they were not outside of expected Volvo standards is how I read it.

The T&C’s changed in January 2023 and the only difference I can see is the omission of replacement tyres during the term of the contract.

Hope you can get this matter sorted to your satisfaction.

[BristolCBVcustomer]

Thanks for replying, hugely appreciated.

Yes I have my T&Cs and yes it states fair wear and tear is covered. Volvo are not now disputing this (although they did before), but they are saying that all those things don't fall under wear and tear and have quoted the BVRLA guide. However that guide seems to be much more around what customers are responsible for, and does not explain what the brand / manufacturer is responsible for when it comes to maintaining the vehicle...

I am at a complete loss of where to turn now, beyond having to get legal advice which just seems so extreme!