I agree Vova585. Toyotas and Hondas don't seem to suffer from these issues but I will say that up until I bought these garbage struts from Sachs, I've NEVER had one break on my S60 or my 96 850. Thanks for the answers and hey, we all need a bit of venting every now and then.

Cheers!

Many thanks Vova. I am grateful indeed the car is running to be sure. Thank you for your thoughts and good breakdown.

Many thanks to everyone. It ended up being a faulty brake switch.