My mum had a horrible experience yesterday. She was driving up a hill and the car started rolling backwards! She braked and stopped, but couldn't get the car to move forward in first gear. Some of her friends have told her that the clutch has failed.

The car is only two and a half years old and has only has done 8000 miles. I phoned up the dealer and was told we would have to bring the car down for inspection. The service manager said we wouldn't be covered under warranty if the inspection showed up the clutch to be burned out. However, my mum lives on a small island and it would cost around £400 to bring the car down to the Toyota dealership for inspection. It might not be worth it if they tell her the clutch has burned out.

Would be more practical to get it repaired by an independent on a neighbouring island and then, to try and claim some money back from Toyota. What would you suggest?