Apparently my car clutch going isn't covered under warranty

[Blanketyre]

Because it's my fault for 'riding the clutch'.

This is a 3 year old car I bought 5 months ago with a 6 month warranty from a VW main dealer. Before this I had a car for 7 years with no clutch issues. How on earth can they blame my driving??

Is this a thing?

Blanketyre · Today 11:58

Because it's my fault for 'riding the clutch'.

I'm struggling to see how you can ride the clutch in an automatic.

This is a 3 year old car I bought 5 months ago with a 6 month warranty from a VW main dealer.

Is it a T-Roc, by any chance? My dad has one and the gearbox went a couple of weeks ago and he's had to replace the car, as it was too expensive to bother repairing it. The dealer gave him a trade in, out of goodwill.

Apparently, T-Rocs are known for their weak transmissions, after he did some detective work, online.

Clutch is always wear and tear I think. You can tell a little before they go that they're going but the life of a clutch can be years or a month. I've known people to burn through a clutch quite quickly. They're not allowed to drive my car.

You don't know the condition of the clutch when you bought the car and there's no way of checking apart from driving it. At least when it's got a new one that it'll be sound for a bit

It's a T Cross, not Roc

And it's a manual

And yes, according to Honest John, that would apply. If you had done 60k miles since you bought it, or if you had to reverse up a precipitous drive in Devon like the one at my ex-MIL's house, they may have a reasonable defence, but I'd certainly go back to them under the Consumer Rights act. Write it all down, though. It's much easier to be clear-headed when writing than it is face to face.

I explained to them exactly what kind of driving I did and how many miles.

Surely no car isn't designed to do lots of miles!

We had similar on a 3 yr old car with only 10,000 miles. IIRC we did eventually get it done under warranty. It was previously a motability car so (perhaps wrongly) I suspect previous owner struggled with clutch control. I've since driven it for 80,000 miles on that clutch! I would push back, that is very premature failure.

I'm going to push back. Even if I was the worlds worst driver that clutch shouldn't have gone at 22k miles.

We have a little Toyota that's been driven by all three dcs when learning and they've treated it appallingly and it's still got a decent clutch!

You don't know that. There's no way of telling the condition of the clutch. A high bite and gears slipping but that's just before it goes.

They go, it's irritating but I'm not sure why you're so sure it's a premature failure. You've only had it a little while and no idea how it was being driven before you.

Blanketyre · Today 12:38

It's a T Cross, not Roc. And it's a manual

Aah! I don't know in that case, my dad's is an automatic.

I’ve always assumed clutch is like brakes and tyres and comes under wear and tear .

It feels pretty premature. It's a 3/4 year old car with 23k miles on the clock. I've had it 5 months. It was supposed to have had a full service before I picked it up, and it has a 6 month warranty.

Technically they don't have to do anything, but I'm hoping they will.

Looks like there aren't common faults with yours:

https://carcargo.co.uk/blogs/news/volkswagen-t-cross-common-faults?srsltid=AfmBOoqGEFoWDJ8Zv3ZgsKptIfLvJ6lXQU38zuXAxC7OoTkglkmRW8FM

Engine and transmission issues While the T-Cross has been generally praised for its smooth and efficient engines, there have been some reports of issues with the engines and transmissions. Some drivers have reported that the engine can be noisy or even fail to start, while others have experienced issues with the automatic transmission. These issues are not very common and affect only a small number of T-Cross vehicles.

Likelihood: Low

Yeah I researched it all very thoroughly. I really rely on my car. I'm fed up.

Why would the car have felt fine later on that day though? If the clutch was going

If you were riding the clutch badly you could damage it in 5 days nevermind 5 months so the length of time isn’t a defence that it’s not your driving unfortunately. Clutch is always going to be wear and tear.

I understand. I've had a clutch fail on me. Like I said there's no way of checking the condition of a clutch so a service or MOT wouldn't pick up any issues. It's basically someone who knows what to look out for taking it for a drive.

You might get lucky but they're classed as wear and tear usually..

When you get a new one the bite will feel very different to start with. Take it around the carpark for a minute or so to get to grips with it.

A manual clutch is always considered a "wear part", like brake pads and shock absorbers, and when you buy a second-hand manual car, clutch failure is a risk you take. Inspecting the state of the clutch takes nearly as much labour as changing it, so it's just one of those things, I'm afraid (23k miles is indeed not very much). You can sometimes get a clue that a clutch is on the way out if you test it before you buy (see https://www.wikihow.com/Test-the-Clutch-on-a-Used-Car) but that might not tell you anything 5 months in advance.

I used to work for a fleet management company alongside a mechanics and servicing department and they said you can tell if a clutch has been damaged by riding it from looking at it due to how it is worn. A colleague wore out their clutch in the snow and was confident it was covered under warranty, discussing it when the claim was refused and that was their answer - you can tell from looking at it. A clutch is a wear and tear item.

Warranty really does only cover basics that cannot be caused by driving style etc.

Just make sure you learn not to do this so you're not in this situation again.

i had this will my new(ish) ford active x fiesta so I traded it in for another (PCP) it seemed odd to me that the clutch was slipping too. I just thought the previous owner perhaps did wheel spins with it.

The only other car I've had that needed clutch replacement was high mileage and old.

Maybe they're just made crap now.

The OP doesn't have an automatic car though, she has a manual.

Clutches are classed as a consumable part, but I wouldn't expect that to be normal wear and tear for that age, mileage and time you have owned the car.
Have they actually looked at the car and diagnosed the problem? You could always get a second independent opinion. I would check the clutch fluid levels too as if there's a slow leak somewhere that could explain some of what you describe.
It might be worth looking into your consumer rights and decide if you want to go down that route. The finance company, if you used finance, might help with this. If you have home insurance you can sometimes get legal help through that too.

It's not unusual for a clutch to be excluded from a warranty.

However, is this a main dealer that's told you that you need a new clutch? If so, take the car to a good independent garage to confirm this.

If the dealership won't budge at all on reducing the cost of a new clutch then get it fitted elsewhere. Again, a decent independent garage will fit decent parts in a way that doesn't void your warranty. Look for a garage that specialises in VW/Skoda/Audi.

Main dealers typically charge a lot more than a quality independent garage and, in my experience, the workmanship and customer care is actually better at a really good local garage.

You could go to VW directly and ask for a goodwill gesture (I work for a main dealer)

To add to the stress, the 6 month warranty expires today, but they can't see the car until 11 October. I have emailed the main dealer. I am really hoping they will give me something, somehow! If not I'll get it done at a good independent.

It should still be covered as you have booked it in and informed them off the fault whilst it is under warranty and their availability isn't your issue