I recently took my car for its fourth annual service at TMS Volvo at 46000 miles when, during the service, a gearbox fluid leak was identified. I paid for the service and a replacement of rear brake discs and pads at a cost of around £640 and the car was subsequently rebooked for investigation of the oil leak.

The car was booked in today at TMS and they have called to inform me that the gearbox control cylinder was leaking and that while investigating they also noted that the clutch was worn and they would recommend the replacement of the clutch at the same time.
The total cost of this new work, with a significant discount from TMS Volvo still comes out at £900.

I am somewhat taken aback at the amount required to spend on a Volvo that is a little over 4 years old and with low mileage. The reason we opted to buy a low mileage second hand Volvo was with the expectation of buying a robust car with a reputation for reliability, and have continued to service the car at Volvo service intervals at TMS Volvo for the past two years at quite significant expense.

I did not expect to be having to spend so much money at this stage in the cars life, with the amount spent in a 5 week period adding up to circa £1500. I understand that TMS have spoken to Volvo about goodwill contribution given the age and mileage of the vehicle, but they are not prepared to make a significant contribution to the cost of the gearbox repair.

Is such significant expenditure for such a low mileage XC60 exceptional or would you expect such a failure at this stage of the cars life?