I think this is real, but it certainly isn't helped by people blindly (and stupidly) continuing to buy cars with large wheels and low/ultra low profile tyres in such large numbers, and often going for optional extras or aftermarkets changes to make them like this.

Only if we complain to dealerships about this and vote with our feet (and wallets) to avoid such specs (as well as cars without spare wheels/tyres as standard) will th motor indutsry 'get it' that we know this is a (IMHO) a scam cooked up between them and the tyre manufacturers/fitters and garages to significantly increase trade, helped by the idiots in town halls who think that we can be fleeced with no return and the speed humps and significant amounts of 'safety road furniture' (most of which does nothing to help safety, sometimes making it worse).

Volvos seem to be somewhere in the middle as regards reliability. Like most makes, it often depends upon the car bought, e.g. a petrol or diesel engined car, when applied with the type of usage, e.g. mainly short trips from cold or mostly longer trips on faster flowing roads. Or a manual, torque converter (TC) or dual clutch type auto (DCT), the latter are generally less reliable long term (KIA/Hyundai seem to be much better in that regard) than the first two.

Unfortunately for you, Volvo's reasonably recent transfer in ownership means that there could be be changes (good or bad - not entirely clear yet) in reliability of the latest Volvos and the level of customer service at their dealerships. Other than what others say here, check the Reviews section for the latest cars (Good and Bad sub-section will show up problems, though not the proportion of cars affected)....

I agree John F. Probably a bit too bold a statement from me. There probably have been inter race marriages within the respective families over the years. Our precise lineage only goes back about 250 years but the names and connections do go back to the 1400 hundreds. I know what you mean about physical characteristics. In the west of Ireland and west Wales there a lot of swarthy people with very dark hair and eyes. It is supposed to be from the remnants of the Spanish Armada, some of which were shipwrecked along that coastline. The survivors obviously assimilated into the local community. I do have very fair hair and blue eyes though, as befitting a Celt, and this trait does run through the family. Great subject though and quite an eye opener when you dig down into family history.

Cheers Concrete

I hate to say this but praising Government for ding us all is a bit silly as her good all will go up on the same thing she praise. Wagons delier have to pay more so you have the knock on your wallet over it too. It is across the board evil. Work it out yourself We pay for police in out road tax and in our rates too. Fire brigade get paid five times from our payouts to Government. Add all rate payers donations up say some 49 million working out of 80 million counting illegals and refugee and the ones who will not work. Then all our taxes of foods and all the hidden costs on fuel and oils for home ch. Govenment makes something akin to 985 billion a year out of us. Taken out the national health the armed forces and pensions left with just 459 billion poor things .We are being robbed no doubt about it. You see what a good dodge we are saving not paying Eu but we are poor and you have to pay more because Eu are charging loads out of us. Please pay us so we can have more champers at luncheon. If we had home rule and divisional area representation and hanged all these creepy ministers with that same gusto we all had in 1640s Civil wars as Government have exceeded that guilty Kings treason but as Chesterton said.We are the people of England who have not spoken yet. It is about time we did or be walked all over.

Taken from a post on landyzone:

The two main problems the clutch operation are these.
First off, the release lever bushes seize to the lever spindle. The secondary effect of this is slave cylinder failure, normally because the bracket holding it cracks and distorts.
So the very first job is to free the lever off. It should be free to move about an inch with gentle hand pressure. So try to wiggle it from side to side. No movement here means an overloaded hydraulic system.
The other problem is air in the hydraulics. The 1.8 Freelander hydraulic system is sealed, so can't be bleed in the normal way. The best way I've found is to hang the master cylinder up, allowing the slave to hang below it. The plastic retaining strap should still be fitted. Then push the slave piston fully into the bore of the cylinder. The retaining strap will bend to allow this. Allow the piston to come out of the cylinder again, against the retaining strap. Repeat this operation a few times, to ensure all trapped air works it's way to the top.
Make sure that the slave bracket is solid and free from cracking. Anything suspect needs welding or a replacement bracket. I'd avoid cheap brackets off of Ebay as they are often poor quality.
Get a genuine LR part. They aren't that expensive and last much longer.
Once the clutch is working correctly, make sure that the release lever spindle bush is lubricated at every oil change, using a few drops of engine oil;)