Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - Bought a used car >30 days ago, manual clutch already gone

pylon · 03-06-2013, 06:00 PM

Ahhhh, clutches. Driving a wedge between customers and dealers since 1910.

Clutches, especially on used cars, are always a mystery item. The problem is, there is no way to truly tell if they are gibbled, especially on self adjusting hydraulic clutches until they fail out side of taking it apart. And there is no way to tell if the previous owner sucked at driving. I can say this. At least half of people I went on test drives with while I was on the floor, was completely unqualified to drive a manual transmission. Most people would drive with their foot resting on the clutch pedal, and even if you only apply a tiny amount of force, it will prematurely wear it at a ridiculous rate. Even if you told people that, they would argue "Don't tell me how to drive manual, I have been for 20 years!" Yeah, wrong for 20 years, what do you think that footrest left of the clutch is for? Decoration?. Also people tend to balance the car on a hill by feathering the clutch thinking they are some sort of clutch ninja, when again, you are causing a ton of premature wear by intentionally slipping it for sometimes up to a minute at a time. If you are that bad at hill starts, use the park brake, better yet, buy an auto.

The one gamble you can make, is to have the dealer replace it, and if they find oil on the clutch disk, then you have a legit claim. As that means you have a leaking front main seal. That is pretty much the only clutch repair covered by warranty. In all the clutch repairs disputed I have seen, it boils down to driver error 90% of the time once you ask some questions about driving habits and do some digging.

The worst one I ever had was a 2004 TDI I sold new. I get a call from the guy an hour after he picked up the car, that the car wouldn't move, and smelt like rotten eggs/sulfur. Right there I knew the clutch was blown. I called roadside assist, and had the car towed back. Started talking to the customer, and he was starting the car in 3rd gear, in the hopes he would save on fuel costs. He did this through the downtown core in rush hour, and grenaded it in under an hour on a brand new car right out of the wrapper.

Unfortunately, that is the one risk when you buy a used vehicle with a stick either privately, or from a dealer. You never know exactly how good at driving a standard the previous owner was.

03-06-2013, 06:00 PM	#37
pylon Lifetime Suspension Join Date: Jul 2007 Exp:	Ahhhh, clutches. Driving a wedge between customers and dealers since 1910. Clutches, especially on used cars, are always a mystery item. The problem is, there is no way to truly tell if they are gibbled, especially on self adjusting hydraulic clutches until they fail out side of taking it apart. And there is no way to tell if the previous owner sucked at driving. I can say this. At least half of people I went on test drives with while I was on the floor, was completely unqualified to drive a manual transmission. Most people would drive with their foot resting on the clutch pedal, and even if you only apply a tiny amount of force, it will prematurely wear it at a ridiculous rate. Even if you told people that, they would argue "Don't tell me how to drive manual, I have been for 20 years!" Yeah, wrong for 20 years, what do you think that footrest left of the clutch is for? Decoration?. Also people tend to balance the car on a hill by feathering the clutch thinking they are some sort of clutch ninja, when again, you are causing a ton of premature wear by intentionally slipping it for sometimes up to a minute at a time. If you are that bad at hill starts, use the park brake, better yet, buy an auto. The one gamble you can make, is to have the dealer replace it, and if they find oil on the clutch disk, then you have a legit claim. As that means you have a leaking front main seal. That is pretty much the only clutch repair covered by warranty. In all the clutch repairs disputed I have seen, it boils down to driver error 90% of the time once you ask some questions about driving habits and do some digging. The worst one I ever had was a 2004 TDI I sold new. I get a call from the guy an hour after he picked up the car, that the car wouldn't move, and smelt like rotten eggs/sulfur. Right there I knew the clutch was blown. I called roadside assist, and had the car towed back. Started talking to the customer, and he was starting the car in 3rd gear, in the hopes he would save on fuel costs. He did this through the downtown core in rush hour, and grenaded it in under an hour on a brand new car right out of the wrapper. Unfortunately, that is the one risk when you buy a used vehicle with a stick either privately, or from a dealer. You never know exactly how good at driving a standard the previous owner was.