Some may be interested to know the outcome of this situation.
My friend negotiated with the selling garage at Salisbury. They arranged for him to drive to a halfway rendez-vous where they provided a car and took the Mazda to a garage for a complete replacement of the clutch and an anciliary part. A week later, they swapped cars at the same spot. The work was completely financed by the garage and my friend has his car back in full working order.