car clutch issue

ssmith6287

I bought a car from a SIMI approved main dealer 13 month ago. It's 2010 and It came with a 12 month warranty. This morning something went wrong with the clutch. Basically it locked and couldn't be pushed in. I took out main dealer finance on the car. Prob clutching at straws but would I have any grounds to have this repaired.

ec18

Clutches are generally exempt from all warranties but yours is out of warranty.....so might be tough luck, could try being nice to the dealer to attempt to get a better deal on the repair/replacement

ssmith6287

Ah was thinking that, I reckon itll be a local garage job. Renault are a bit pricey unfortuneatly. Ah well, cheers

slimjimmc

As above, the clutches are generally excluded from dealer warranties as their lifespan is significantly affected by driving style. However it's possible the problem may not be with the actual clutch itself so it may be worth getting a mechanic to give you an opinion.

ssmith6287

Car needs full new clutch system so Im facing a nice bill of €500.

Fantastic...

delahuntv

look for a refurbished clutch - then at €500, it probably is a refurb as clutches can cost upwards of €1000.

LollipopJimmy

Clutch is a wear item. Any driver could do in a brand new clutch in 20 minutes. No garage on the planet would do a clutch under warranty never mind outside warranty. PITA but hopefully when the clutch is done you'll have many more miles of troubke free motoring. 500 is about right for a clutch. Would only be up over 1k if it was a dmf too

ssmith6287

Ah its the wife's car so hopefully it should go ok now. I was expecting between 4 and 600 so not a big shock. Just surprised at how it happened. I was driving the car the day before and couldn't feel anything wrong with it.

Oh well, cheers for the info

All sorted now, yas may close the thread

dudara

@LolllipopJimmy - I've deleted your post as it was not up to the standard expected. Please take the time to acquaint yourself with the forum.

dudara

The Sidewards Man

Some very poor advice being offered here, alot of clutch manufactures carry warranty against manufacturing defects of which the ops could have failed. If the op has wore out the clutch fair enough.
What brand clutch went into the car op?

LollipopJimmy

The Sidewards Man wrote: »

Some very poor advice being offered here, alot of clutch manufactures carry warranty against manufacturing defects of which the ops could have failed. If the op has wore out the clutch fair enough.
What brand clutch went into the car op?

Not on a 5 year old car though. Any manufacturing defect would have been picked up long ago

The Sidewards Man

The 5 year old car may not have its original clutch nor that is relevant here.

L1011

The Sidewards Man wrote: »

The 5 year old car may not have its original clutch nor that is relevant here.

Its unlikely they'd provide it to a second owner at 12+ months regardless. 28 days to the original retail purchaser is common on wearing consumables.

The Sidewards Man

Number of owners is irrelevant also. Are you saying 28 days is the average warranty on clutches?

L1011

The Sidewards Man wrote: »

Number of owners is irrelevant also. Are you saying 28 days is the average warranty on clutches?

Number of owners is entirely relevant when a warranty is issued to the original purchaser. Most warranties are non transferrable.

Yes, 28 days is the average manufacturing defect warranty on an extremely high wear consumable item.

You could try enforcing longer under consumer rights, if you actually had any - which there would be none at a year.

The Sidewards Man

The warranty would be to the garage that bought and fitted it, the car can switch many hands, this 28 days warranty is untrue and very misleading to anyone especially the op.

L1011

The Sidewards Man wrote: »

The warranty would be to the garage that bought and fitted it, the car can switch many hands, this 28 days warranty is untrue and very misleading to anyone especially the op.

A retail warranty doesn't apply to a corporate purchaser, but to the customer it was fitted for.

Find me a replacement clutch (or any other heavily consumable part - brake pads, tyres, etc) with a longer warranty than 28 days. Part warranty, not a dealership warranty (which, incidentally, will also only be for the original customer).

Constantly harping on about a warranty that won't exist is extremely unhelpful to the OP. Even if someone offers a longer warranty it is not going to be 13+ months. Your location is rather apt...

The Sidewards Man

Do you know the warranty and back up service the likes of lux and blueprint provide?

porsche boy

delahuntv wrote:

look for a refurbished clutch - then at €500, it probably is a refurb as clutches can cost upwards of €1000.

What are you talking about? Refurbished clutch???

colm_mcm

porsche boy wrote: »

What are you talking about? Refurbished clutch???

These are a thing! Place near me does them.
Nothing to suggest that the OP is being priced for one though.

For my car, I can only get one from Mr.honda for megabucks or a blueprint one that I wouldn't be keen on for about €250, or a refurb one for €90.

moleyv

Are auto clutches treated the same I wonder. Surely less likely to be user inflicted? Of course on a new clutch, not older.

The Sidewards Man

All any company I see here is to reline the disc, they just do a visual pass or fail on the plate. A reline is approx €40.

L1011

The Sidewards Man wrote: »

Do you know the warranty and back up service the likes of lux and blueprint provide?

Not 13+ months to a rebuyer of a car with no proof of purchase, no proof of the work being done and no way of getting it, that's for sure.

There is no warranty on the OPs clutch - end of. You trying to argue that their is is only making this more confusing for them.

pablo128

The Sidewards Man wrote: »

Do you know the warranty and back up service the likes of lux and blueprint provide?

I do. In fact, part of my role in work is looking after warranty on a big range of car parts, including Blueprint. You will not get a warranty claim on any clutch because it's worn. If it was shuddering, or disintegrated, broke or whatever, then yeah. If it was abused, or overloaded, or worn, forget about it.

The Sidewards Man

pablo128 wrote: »

I do. In fact, part of my role in work is looking after warranty on a big range of car parts, including Blueprint. You will not get a warranty claim on any clutch because it's worn. If it was shuddering, or disintegrated, broke or whatever, then yeah. If it was abused, or overloaded, or worn, forget about it.

Where in above bold was I making that claim?

colm_mcm

moleyv wrote: »

Are auto clutches treated the same I wonder. Surely less likely to be user inflicted? Of course on a new clutch, not older.

If you're talking about automated manuals, it's easy to burn out a clutch by leaving it in D with the handbrake on, or by balancing it on a hill using the throttle.

moleyv

colm_mcm wrote:

If you're talking about automated manuals, it's easy to burn out a clutch by leaving it in D with the handbrake on, or by balancing it on a hill using the throttle.

Admittedly I had to go look up what an automated manual was. I now have a thorough understanding of all transmission types and see your points.

ssmith6287

Clutch was replaced with new part. (3 part something or other. Im a computer know it all, very limited car knowledge)

As far as I'm concerned car is now driving perfectly so I'm happy, more importantly so is the wife

ssmith6287

Sorry for bringing this up again but just looking for some advice

The clutch was replaced and all was good until recently. The car is making a grinding noise when being started. this morning it simply didnt start. had a mechanic look at it 2 weeks ago as a favour. He said the starter was hanging off so he tightened it up but advised to get it repaired ASAP because it wasn't a full fix. (ill point out the mechanic is retired and will do bits and bobs but he said he wouldn't do a job this big without the right tools). Booked into the garage this week to be repaired anyway.

Just wondering if the replacement of the clutch would have had anything to do with this. With meganes the clutch needs to be compressed to start. I'm not in the business of kicking screaming and sulking but if this was removed to replace the clutch I'd like to say it to the garage that I'm not happy.

Any advice would be appreciated

LollipopJimmy

ssmith6287 wrote: »

Sorry for bringing this up again but just looking for some advice

The clutch was replaced and all was good until recently. The car is making a grinding noise when being started. this morning it simply didnt start. had a mechanic look at it 2 weeks ago as a favour. He said the starter was hanging off so he tightened it up but advised to get it repaired ASAP because it wasn't a full fix. (ill point out the mechanic is retired and will do bits and bobs but he said he wouldn't do a job this big without the right tools). Booked into the garage this week to be repaired anyway.

Just wondering if the replacement of the clutch would have had anything to do with this. With meganes the clutch needs to be compressed to start. I'm not in the business of kicking screaming and sulking but if this was removed to replace the clutch I'd like to say it to the garage that I'm not happy.

Any advice would be appreciated

The starter would have been removed to replace the clutch. How long ago was the clutch done?

slimjimmc

If they replaced the clutch then the gearbox and starter motor has to removed but it's possible they replaced some other part without having to remove the motor at all.

A starter motor should not work loose on its own so you should certainly quiz them about it. If it's down to their mistake then they should be fixing it for free (and checking everything else was tightened properly).

ssmith6287

Cheers for the feedback, It was done in November. Worked fine for couple of weeks but got grumbly just before christmas

ssmith6287

Gearbox actually feels quite sticky aswell, never really taught of that

LollipopJimmy

I'd be asking the garage to follow up. Bad move letting somebody else near it especially a lad in a driveway (recovery men or anoyher garage would have documented/photographed the problem) because now the original garage were not the last people to work on it, you need to get your mechanic to tell you exactly what was wrong and bring it back to them armed with this information.

ssmith6287

Normally I would be clinical like that but being honest it never crossed my mind. Had my mechanic look at it yesterday evening. The starter motor has fallen off.... I'm just wondering now if I am fighting a lost cause after letting someone else near it.

Bit of a dunce when it comes to this stuff but is the starter motor only used for starting the car. If it was to fall off in transit would the car continue on and would it throw up a warning light on the dash. I drove home from kerry on sunday night and there was no issue, next morning wouldnt start.

VincePP

Its a 6 year old car (and a Renault)

Expect regular repairs.

Stealthfins

Maybe go a bit easier on the clutch.
I know some people who can burn out a clutch in a few months.

The sitting position in a car can make a difference too,sitting to far back or too low can be hard on the clutch.

Especially people sitting like they are low down in a sports car leaning back etc

ssmith6287

VincePP wrote: »

Its a 6 year old car (and a Renault)

Expect regular repairs.

Ah I'm well aware but generally Renaults are mechanically bulletproof, there reliability issues is generally electrical

Stealthfins wrote: »

Maybe go a bit easier on the clutch.
I know some people who can burn out a clutch in a few months.

The sitting position in a car can make a difference too,sitting to far back or too low can be hard on the clutch.

Especially people sitting like they are low down in a sports car leaning back etc

Trust me Im a 17 stone rugby player with dodgy knees, Im as high as possible and we dont driive it hard at all, its a megane, far from a sports car

VincePP

ssmith6287 wrote: »

Ah I'm well aware but generally Renaults are mechanically bulletproof, there reliability issues is generally electrical

Still once a car gets to 5/6 years old, things start going wrong (just like us old fogeys )

A vehicle I have and which I was going to sell last year has cost me almost its value in the past 12 months - new clutch, new gearbox, new tyres, new battery and just on Tuesday the pulley went and needed new pulley and belt. - I'm seeign if paddy power will give me odds on the next thing to go!