Not far from the end of my journey to Lyme Regis from my home in Sussex, hauling the caravan up a hill on the A35 between Dorchester and Bridport, a disturbing message flashed up on Fiona's dashboard: Transmission Service Required. It did it twice, going up that hill. Yikes! It probably meant that Fiona's automatic gearbox was overheating, and that I should stop to let it cool down. As it happened, I knew there was a lay-by only half a mile ahead, at the top of the hill, and I pulled in there, letting the engine run a little at low revs before cutting it. Well, there were no funny smells or funny noises. I took a short comfort break, then fired up Fiona again for the last ten miles. Two steep ascents lay ahead, at Chideock and Charmouth, but my car tackled both with her usual energy, changing gears up and down smoothly, and there were no more warning messages.
Should I be worried? I've had plenty of past experience with auto gearboxes. I remembered for instance how my previous car, the Honda CR-V, had overheated once or twice, despite having its gearbox fluid replaced. It had covered a lot of miles, and the accumulated wear and tear on its gearbox must have made it sensitive to heat build-up, such as might easily occur from sustained towing on fast roads, or from grinding up too long a hill.
Fiona's first gearbox, replaced in December 2015, had covered 75,000 miles, succumbing to premature wear because I'd considered my Volvo invincible, and had pushed her hard. The replacement gearbox, treated rather better, had now done 110,000 miles, and might well be good for more. But my little caravan weighs at least a ton and a quarter when laden, and Fiona has to haul that, plus myself and her own weight - a combined load of at least three tons. At a good pace too. No wonder then that her gearbox, young no longer, gets tired and might protest. Perhaps it isn't so surprising that - for best performance, and rock solid reliability - she might need a new auto gearbox every 100,000 miles or so. In which case, it could be 'time up' for the current box. Or nearly that time.
Let's see how Fiona's gearbox behaves during the rest of this holiday. I'm not really expecting any further indications of trouble, but I will be watching out for them all the same. And I think I'd better start thinking seriously about what I should best do if the gearbox plays up, and something simply must be done.
If it comes to another replacement box, that could set me back as much as £7,000 at a Volvo dealer. That's a guess; but the new box in 2015 cost me £5,434. By the end of the year, I might be able to cover all of that £7,000 from savings. Otherwise, with the help of a bank loan. I see that currently my bank would want interest on a loan over 24 months at 7.9% APR. That's a bit steep, but I can manage the £315 per month loan repayments if I divert money that would have been saved to cover them. Obviously I'd hope that replacing the gearbox can be deferred for some while yet, and that by then loan interest rates will have come down.
As an alternative, would it now make sense to buy a much newer car? I'll think about that too.
And wither buying a new caravan? Well, a car that I can rely on has to come first. No suitable car, no caravanning...
