Hi Marc,

Thanks for your reply and your time.

I have to mention that our car had a LPI (Liquid Petroleum Injection) system built in by the dealer. We have ordered and bought this car just a few months before the bi-fual system was on the market. The normal warranty (petrol) was just for one year and the LPI has a full 3-year warranty by the Volvo Netherlands, the importer of our car.
After a few months of going forward and backward to the dealer, the problems were just piling up and nothing was being done properly. To speed up the repairs and start enjoing driving our dream car we contacted the importer Volvo Netherlands who said that the garage was responsible. When this did not help we sent e-mails to Volvo Sweden. Sweden would not do anything for us exept for forwarding our complaint to Volvo Netherlands. During telephone discussions with the customer service of the importer, I have suffered verbal discrimination from a certain person from the customer service of Volvo Netherlands, as not being able to read the manual properly. This remark was said clearly because I was a foreigner in the Netherlands (speaking Duch pretty good evrybody else is saying so) and in other occasions he would not even speak to me because I was a woman. I think some people still live in the 19th century. After I complaind about him he went out of the picture. He was going to send us his apologies after his holiday (suddenly he needed a rest), but after almost a year we are still waiting for his apology. The story is almost a year and a half old. To cut it short, I would only say that thay have not been helpful at all. They rely on the story of the dealer, who says there were no faults detected on our car. Luckily we have made enough foto's with our digital camera. We have even taken a foto of the mechanic in the garage while testing the car on faults, showing the check engine light on the dashboard. Sadly enough, we have to go through this proces of proving intermittent faults (as difficult as it can be) and taking the help of a lawyer who so far has not been able to convince them to have a good check in their well equipped workplace (I really wonder whether that exists in Holland) as you suggest. The suggestion of the importer was to have the car checked by an independant expert of the ANWB (equivalent to Automobile Association in England who supply help to drivers on the road among other things). As the problems are intermittent, we did not accept the offer. ANWB told me that they wold have to make the report on what they experiance at the moment of the check up, what was not the real picture of the problems we might experiance with the car. They do not have the possibilities of checking the car in the way Volvo Netherlands suggests and we would rightfully expect from them. Why does Volvo not take the responcibility and meet us with our complaints? I really have no idea. The general policy here is mostly, and not only with cars, that if you have any complaints, they make it as difficult as possible for the customer(the old adage that the customer is always right no longer exists), that he will give up at the end. Even if you get your right at the end, that is all you get. No compensation for the lost time and money in the process. That is why very few people go in a battle with the big companies.
Thank god for Internet and well meaning people who help with their experience and suggestions. We are not alone. That make us stronger in the fight against the injustice.

Mira