By Alastair Sloane
Owners of the latest Rolls-Royce and Bentley limousines are finding themselves in the hot seat - but not one of their own making.
A fault in the thermostat in the Silver Seraph Rolls-Royce and the Bentley Arnage has led to a recall of 1725 models by the makers and new owners, BMW and Volkswagen.
The Scandinavian elk hide covering the seats has been overheating to a point which four European owners found uncomfortable.
There have been no reported sightings of people leaping from Rollers or Bentleys and clutching their behinds.
But four complaints were enough for the carmaker, which once boasted that its products never broke down, to check all models. The recall is expected to cost $1 million.
Sales of the luxury marques so far this year are up everywhere except Britain.
The Americans in particular have taken to the Silver Seraph and sales have risen 84 per cent.
In Japan sales are up 10 per cent and in continental Europe 34 per cent, but British sales are down 21 per cent. The drop has been blamed on the replacement of the 6.7-litre Rolls-Royce engine with BMW's V12.
It seems traditional British buyers still want their Rollers and Bentleys to be all-British.
Owners lose their cool
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