Daylight Robbery!

The length of time a clutch lasts is dependent on driving style and sometimes what people regard as sensible driving can be a problem - particularily labouring the car at too low revs in a high gear. Do you know if the clutch failed suddenly (which would imply something broke) or whether she'd been having problems with a slipping clutch before it totally failed?

In circumstances like this it's best to ask for the old clutch so that you can have it checked out by someone independent to see if there was any kind of defect with it.

The only Ford I've had in recent years was a V6 Mondeo and we had a number of problems with it, including all 3 cayalytic converters melting. They weren't covered under the extended warranty as they're regarded as exhaust components however when I insisted on being provided with the failed parts so that I could have them examined by an engineer Ford agreed to cough up for the repairs themselves.

I can't see us buying another Ford anytime soon though as the build quality on that one really was bad, especially compared to the Honda Accord we were running at the same time.

Steve
From what I can gather it went suddenly, she said everything was fine before. I appreciate that driving styles can have a contributing factor, but she managed to keep her previous car trouble free.

Regards
Clive

You could phone Ford direct and ask for compensation towards the repairs under the circumstances and if that fails then write a letter to the Auto Express and get them involved.

Regards,

John

Is it me or do extended warranties not cover anything these days? They don't seem to be worth any more than the paper they are written on.

Incidentally, I had a problem with the main VW dealership in Cardiff, when I lived there. I spent nearly £1,000 trying to get them to fix my problem of overheating. They spent months trying to fix it and never actually did. When I moved to Kent, I took it to a local recommended dealer (little back yard place) and they fixed it for under £200 in one morning.

Moral of the story? 'Authorised' dealers f**k you over.

quote:

Originally posted by Richard @ Soundcraft:
Is it me or do extended warranties not cover anything these days? They don't seem to be worth any more than the paper they are written on.

No, no. Depends entirely on your point of view, and they're worth an awful lot of money to the people who issue them and you'll find the thing the cover most effectively is their profit margin

quote:

No, no. Depends entirely on your point of view, and they're worth an awful lot of money to the people who issue them and you'll find the thing the cover most effectively is their profit margin

You are so bloody right Tam

Regards
Clive

Don't forget low mileage cars probably over use the clutch. That said it should last 9k miles.
I was waiting to collect a car in a local ford garage last week and over heard a guy complaining that the lower wishbone ball joints needed changing at 21k "that's about normal" said the ford man. Needless to say the customer did not agree with his deffinition of "normal" given that his "warranty" on his s/h car did not cover these items.I had to bite my tongue not to join in. I was thinking "even old Westminster /MGB type joints lasted longer than that even if you did not grease them. Some progress eh? Still you probably have goos stuff like heated arm rests, an ice machine in the glove box and several cup holders to make up for the fact the rest of the car and the company representatives are shit.

Howard

quote:

Some progress eh?

the cynical amongst us would say that they're designed that way intentionally because servicing is where the dealers make all their money and if the cars didn't break the dealers would.

Cunningplan,

I had a Peugeot 307 D Turbo and the clutch went on this car at round about 44k miles - the car had been serviced by Peugeot at the recommended intervals. The clutch went without too much notice... day one a grinding sound in 1st, 2nd and 3rd gear... day 2 and 10 miles later complete clutch failure - car recovered to a local Peugeot dealer.

The car was under warranty, but the clutch was not covered. The garage quoted me in excess of £900 to replace the clutch and something to do with the flywheel that had caused the clutch to fail - I only found this out at a later date. I refused to pay this - walked away from the garage and said I would be in touch with them.

I called a Peugeot garage in Bradford where I work and managed to talk to a very helpfull mechanic who told me that unless I had been towing with my car - thrashing the clutch or was a down right boy racer - something he thought a D Turbo driver was NOT, suggested a clutch should in his view last more than 44k and the sudden failure of the clutch was not the clutch itself that had failed. His advice was phone Peugeot customer care direct - never email them as they never respond! and tell them you had spoken to a number of Peugeot dealers who all stated the same as he... and state you will get the work done by Peueot but want the charges wavered. Failing that insist that yuo get the failed parts tell them you will get them independently inspected with a view to recovering your costs through what ever chanels you see fit.

Peugeot customer care went through all the bullshit that the clutch was not covered and that they would not undertake the work under warranty. When I stated a number of their garages had stated it was unreasonable for a clutch to go at 44k - they still went on about the warrenty - it was not until I said I would get the work done and I would insist on getting the failed parts inspected and seek full costs and compensation that they changed the mind.

I got the work done under warrenty with a guarantee to boot!

Dig in mate!

Dave

Sounds about normal. Always ask for the old parts - unless you are doing something like brake pads that don't require expert inspection to ascertain condition. ( Tell them you want the old parts back BEFORE service begins, otherwise good chance you will be told that they have already been thrown away; and by the way due to insurance regulations we cannot authorize anybody to search through the dumpster ( skip )
So I guess you have to take our word for it.

A friend of mine has been a top mechanic for going on 30 years and had a couple of observations regarding ease of service.

He said that the JDM cars seemed to be built so that it is relatively easy to work on them, but requires a bit more work in the building phase. On the other-hand the USDM cars seemed to be built for easy assembly and were alot harder to work on - tales of spark-plugs hiding out of reach by the firewall - requiring 2 wobble joints and 3 extension bars to gain access, removal of the brake master cylinder to access the alternator etc etc.

Good luck

regards,

michael

quote:

Originally posted by Richard @ Soundcraft:
Is it me or do extended warranties not cover anything these days? They don't seem to be worth any more than the paper they are written on.

Depends on the warranty. BMW extended warranty covers exhaust and battery – it’s easier to list what isn’t covered (brakes, hoses, belts and all usual consumable stuff….). You pays yer money......

I’ve got two suspension ball joints on the way out. Consumable items? Not round here they’re not.

I would expect any clutch that failed for any reason to be replaced free if under 3 years or 60,000 miles (from new). As was the case when mine spontaneously let go on the M3 at 18 months/45,000. But maybe I’m just spoilt.

Cheers

Harry

quote:

The car was under warranty, but the clutch was not covered. The garage quoted me in excess of £900 to replace the clutch and something to do with the flywheel that had caused the clutch to fail - I only found this out at a later date. I refused to pay this - walked away from the garage and said I would be in touch with them.

Intersting - I had a slipping clutch on a J reg Passat which I had replaced, but the heat generated distorted the flywheel which also needed replacing. This was the original clutch and it failed at 174k miles!

Richard,

I had a mark 1 Golf that I bought with 90k on and did a further 60k before the clutch went. I have gone back to VW !