Just a warning about Warranty work being done on your Skoda.

(I apologize in advance for the very long posting)

My Car is a Nov 2006 ‘56’ plate, 1.9 TDI Fabia Elegance, done 15,714 Miles, and I have owned it from new.

The Clutch on my Fabia started Shuddering & Juddering (quite nastily when pulling away from stand still while cold (first thing in the morning). :(

This started occurring when the car had covered just over 9k Miles, the fact it only done this from cold and intermittently and also just expecting it to go away like it started (putting it down to still bedding/running in), I never made any fuss or took the car back for the problem.

Well during the last few Weeks the clutch started to get steadily worse, and started shuddering in first & second gear when at normal Temperature pulling away from lights, junctions, roundabouts etc.

I booked the car back into the dealer to have its second year/ 15k Service, and mentioned the shudder/juddering problem so I could get this problem sorted and looked into.

I took the car into the dealers the day before it was booked in and left it with them overnight so they could try it for themselves from cold in the morning.

I got my phone call that afternoon to say my car was ready to be picked up (serviced) and that indeed they had found the car did judder & shudder quite violently when pulling away, And that the car needed a new Clutch, listed the parts as.

• Clutch plate(s)
  
• Release bearing
  
• Pressure plate
  
• Flywheel
  

And that they would have to order all the bits needed and have the car back in when the parts were in, I arrived at the dealer to pick my car up, sorted out the paperwork and was about to leave when the service manager interrupted the receptionist about the clutch situation, and told me that this fault would not be done under warranty if there was any sign of wear due to 'wear & tear' when it's stripped down! :confused:

(2 Years old, 15,000 Miles!!!!!)

Only I drive that car, it’s not used for towing, not a driving school car, not a taxi, how the hell it could be wear & tear is beyond me.

Anyway I accepted that they had to warn me, just to cover their backsides, all well and the car was dully booked in for a week later.

The car went in as planned, dropped it off all smiles & pleasantries from the staff, off I went to work.

Then I got the call in the afternoon to say that the car had been stripped down, and on investigation that the Clutch will NOT be done under warranty, due to the pressure plate having a 'deep blueing' on the tips of its spring fingers!!!

They said the clutch had been prematurely worn out by me, and accused me of driving the car with my foot resting on the clutch at all times, this is why the pressure plate had been getting hot and had blued the first 1” on the plates fingers.

I told him he was speaking a load of Bull.

And that I know there isn't any misuse of that clutch because I am the only one who drives my car, the car has a foot rest next to the pedal anyway, so why would I drive with a foot resting on the pedal? And I honestly drive it with respect.

He carried on saying in no way whatsoever was the clutch going to be done under warranty; I wasn’t going to argue on the phone so I clocked out from work and made my way down to the dealer.

I argued & argued with the manager about this, and he just didn't want to know, and just repeated himself like a stuck record, saying it was my fault..... And that I must have when I drive - driven along with my foot resting on the clutch pedal and was by all purposes calling me a liar!

I explained that if this is so, surely the clutch plates would be worn out due to the excessive slipping of the clutch I was supposed to have done, and that the car wouldn’t have been doing 50’s to mid 60’s in its MPG stakes.

His reply was that I hadn’t been slipping the clutch because I had only had my foot resting on the pedal and not depressing it enough to slip the clutch, and by lightly ‘resting’ on the pedal I was spinning it enough to engage to clutch pressure plate, but not enough to cause the clutch to slip.

I asked to see the clutch components, and went through to the workshop area,

checking all the parts, the clutch plates were perfect and untouched, the release bearing was in three parts but was assured that it does dismantle like this, he haphazardly put it back together, and showed me it spinning in the palm of his hand, examining the pressure plate, it indeed was blued about 1” in from the fingers edge, and on the outer edges (around its circumference) it had scores and swirls (the juddering?),

Looking at the flywheel it had very slight marking, but not deep scoring, and looked like it could be polished out.

He said it didn’t need a new flywheel, but he/they would replace the clutch plates, the pressure plate, and the release bearing due to the fact it was apart, and daft to put the good but old parts back in, Of course I agreed.

I put it to him that the clutch pressure plate had only failed due to the fact there must of been something wrong when it was assembled from new at the factory, either misaligned or the main gearbox shaft was bent, or not been correctly setup and adjusted or other associated component failure.

Still telling me the fault was down to me, thus wear & tear, and me still arguing with him, he just wouldn’t listen to reason, the only way I was going to get my car back together and working again, was for me to pay for it. :thumbdwn:

What could I do? So I told him to go ahead and finish the job (no choice), I asked him the cost of the job…………Get ready, wait for it.

£580 :eek:

I couldn’t believe it a 2 Year old car with just over 15k on it.

I asked for all the old bits back so that I could get them independently checked, and that I intended to take this further so that I could claim my money back. And also in no way whatsoever was I going to let this go and going to be forgotten, I was going to fight this all the way, starting with Skoda U.K, then if not satisfied I would take the problem to the car retailers ombudsman, also that the fact of the economic situation at the moment, poor/bad publicity would not be a good thing and I would not delay in getting in touch with local papers or even local TV news (they love to get their teeth into something).

His face changed and he was quiet for a few moments, but then just said he would do exactly the same, if he was in my situation?

That was that I started to walk out, he mumbled that even if he himself phoned Skoda u.k, that they would not accept the clutch back under warranty, and he would have to send my old parts back to them to get them checked, and he wasn’t prepared to do so, because it was down to me for wearing them out so prematurely. :pants:

One sleepless night later, (annoyed at being called a liar), and wandering why I had spent £12,000 on a new car 2 Years previous which seemed now to be a heap of cheaply made rubbish if it only lasted this long! Also worried about the excessive price of doing the job (nearly 3 Weeks wages for me).

The following day at work I waited all day for the call from the dealer, waited…… finally I got a call at 4.00 pm to say the car was ready & all work completed, and wait for it……. ‘As a goodwill gesture, the car has been done under warranty’!!!!

WHAT.

I went straight down to the dealers to pick my prized possession up without fail, once there only the receptionist & a salesman was there, the service manager had done a vanishing act, I asked why the sudden change of mind, but all the answer was ‘The dealer was going to forfeit the cost for the work done’ and that it wasn’t going to send the clutch back to Skoda u.k, as they knew they would not get it approved for warranty work. ‘Due to the fact it was wear & tear’ because I had misused the clutch.

Needless to say I picked up my keys with only a brief mumbled ‘Thanks for sorting it out’, went outside and checked for dents and scratches etc, all ok.

The car straight away is different; the Biting/disengage point of the clutch is now right on the floor, from a fully depressed pedal the clutch now bites when the pedal is approx ½” up and doesn’t disengage until pressed down approx 3”

Before the clutch pedal only had to be pressed down 1” before it disengaged, and it bit on the last 1” before pedal fully up.

The car had always been like this from new, and now reckon that the clutch must of never been setup in its short life, this so called ‘driving with my foot on the pedal’ must have in my opinion been caused not by me (I know it wasn’t) but because with it’s bad setup, I reckon the clutch was always touching/dragging, and was always just engaging, not enough to cause the clutch to slip but enough to keep the release bearing spinning against the pressure plate, causing it to overheat and blueing, and of course causing the wear over the 15k and making the car judder.

In my own mind, although I cannot prove anything or want to litigate myself, I reckon the Dealer was trying to pull a fast one, he was not only going to charge me the £580, but also going to send the clutch back under warranty, so getting twice the money, What a lovely early Christmas bonus, possibly shared out amongst themselves!!!! :santa1:

But (oops) I never said that

Needless to say what I think of that dealership now. :rkick:And my warning to you all who have to take your cars back for warranty work, DON’T GET CONNED they will possibly try it on, but be ready for them.

As for my car, it’s future lays in the balance, can I trust it to have been built correctly in the first place, I have had other problems with it which the dealer again wouldn’t do under warranty, and that I have had to pay other parties to put right (front o/s tyre worn down on outer edge to no tread after 10K), dealer said I must be overinflating it (I wasn’t) I found out the tracking was 9 degrees out on its toe in!). :RIP:

Speaks for itself.

Good post...

and well done bud you seem to know your stuff they would have probably robbed me if i was in your situation..

But then i'd get my dad to go lol (big)

That was very interesting, becuase my Octy II has recently started juddering in the mornings intermittantly, some mornings no problem other mornings it judders at the biting point. I spoke to the dealer, who told me that they would only change a clutch up to 15k. However if the problem was the dual mass flywheel, they would change that under warranty.

This is how mine started, hopefully your car will not get any worse like mine did.

The dealers have got you all ways, if you take it in and get it all stripped down, they can quite easily say, it's 'wear & tear', and they know you will have it done on such a new car, it's your word againest theirs.

If is helps the Octavia does as you say have a dual mass flywheel, and it does cause this problem, apparently the fabia has the same, but doesn't seem to cause problems (Dealer told me )

15,000 Miles on any car's clutch is a bloody insult, even if it is used by a driving school should last with heavy abuse for i guess 40k, and a well driven non wheelspun, clutch dumped car, i would have expected 70 - 80,000 Miles.

If you have it done, hint at you will take no prisoners if the cars clutch components have failed so quickly, due to so called wear.

The Flywheel is a warranty job, it's a common Octy fault, just look all over the forum.

Had a very similar problem a year and a half ago with D M Keith dealers (I dont touch them with a barge pole now) in West Yorkshire they said exactly same sort of thing however I had average mileage on mine (for a nearly 2 year old car)

I said Im only prepared to pay 50% as obviously I have done quite a bit of driving but nothing crackers like going on a track day etc.

They accepted but they were willing to try it on with me first shows what they are like as I said I dont and wont use them anymore.

Good post, glad you got it sorted, sounds like they were trying to take you for the cost...

just to add to the fact that it must have been faulty parts and not misuse, i AM a driving instructor, and I have never had a clutch fail prematurely..... 15k is reduculous to suggest its wear and tear, my vRS did 80k as a driving school car, and the clutch was perfectly fine when i sold the car, my current fiat has 68,000 miles on and the clutch is fine in there too.... the only failure I have had was a saxo VTR, but to be fair, I accepted it , as the clutch had done 117,000 miles, and it didn't actually fail, the gearbox failed, and ****ed oil all over the clutch!

my friend has a merc a-class as a driving school car, he asked about the price of a replacement clutch, as he'd be keeping the car for at least 150,000 miles, the merc dealer said, "why do you want to know?" he said, well , to replace it when it wears out... the dealer said "it wont wear out, if it does we'll replace it under warrenty, no matter what the miles..." needless to say , he kept the car for 165,000 miles, and it didn't wear out....

ergo 15k and wearing out is just a joke!

I repeat also, the reason I no longer own a skoda, is because they wouldn't replace my console bushes under warrenty, because they said it was "wear and tear", my fiat garage says they will replace ANY bushes under warrenty , no matter what the miles

15k, and worn out, what a joke.... £500 for his Christmas drinking fund more like....

15k, and worn out, what a joke.... £500 for his Christmas drinking fund more like....

Thank You for your reply

Spot on my thoughts entirely.

Makes you wonder if all the dealers are like this, what with your bushes & Littlebulls clutch replacement problem.

Skoda are only just getting to be known for their good cars, and a very short time ago, had to shake off it's comedy reputation, and had the badge and eastern bloc jokes to contend with.

Unless they buck their ideas up, people will dessert them in droves.

There is plenty of car manufactures chomping at the bit,to take your money off you.

Upset customers don't buy your products again & tell all their friends and work mates, Bad news spreads quick.

I had to get my clutch done as it was dragging when sitting with the pedal fully depressed, dealer told me i was lucky i had only done 5600 miles as the clutch is only guaranteed for 6000 miles!!! Shows they don't have much faith in it. They replaced it no bother, but i have recently been experiencing the dredded morning shudder and slipping. The car has done 25k now and is due its 2 year service so will raise the issue and see what happens, but im getting a bad feeling about it. . . .

If the old clutch bite point was right at the top of the pedal, it is likely the release bearing has been constantly riding on the clutch release fingers. This would point to a faulty clutch slave cylinder. I suspect they found that after fitting the new clutch, hence the change of 'heart' and done under warranty.

My advice to anyone with a car in warranty with a high bite point clutch, is take it to the dealer and ask for it to be sorted before the clutch gets wrecked.

Glad you got it done free, well done.

3 words! Sachs performance clutch...

Its absolutely brilliant and feels like OEM after a month guaranteed to last a long long time !

Well it was good while it lasted :(

468 Miles later, and it's all started again :eek:

The car has now done 16182 Miles, during the last week it has started juddering & shuddering again.

It started with a light shudder from cold in the morning, and now 6 days later it's shuddering from pull away from junctions and roundabouts etc.

No matter if its in reverse or pull away in 1st- 2nd gear it judders.

I have no faith left in THAT Skoda dealer who done the clutch before, totally peed off now.

I reckon its the Flywheel, which wasn't changed, maybe they even put the old clutch back, and told me it was a new one?

I have no option now but seriously thinking its time to maybe out the car while its still worth a 'reasonable' amount, sorry to say but let someone else have the trouble.

It is in all honesty a lovely well equipped car, but is now so nasty to drive now , im making excuses not to use it.

My previous 4 cars have all been Nissans (1x Cherry, 2x Micras, 1x Primera), each one had around 70K on the clock when i chopped them in for new ones.

Never had a days trouble with any of them, fill them with petrol, and service once a year, never a murmur.

Could be Jap time again! Although apart from a 350Z or GTR i cannot say they produce a Nissan that i want.

I feel for you. nothing worse than having car problems to put you off the whole experiance......

sounds like it could be a flywheel problem, maybe the clutch was always ok........

I use my fabia's for driving tuition, my vRS has over 65K on the clock and is still on the original clutch.

I asked my local indi garage to quote for a clutch they came back with £280 fully fitted including all the bits that come with the clutch kit.

I stopped going to the dealer for servicing and repair work long ago.

i don't get it, you have a problem with a car that you lived with/ignored for what must have been nearly a year and when you can finally be bothered to take it to skoda and it turns out to be a wear and tear item you get mad when they want to charge?

i certainly wouldn't have fixed it for you simply because you were so irresponsible about it all.

by the way if you drive at very low speeds in very high gears(like 30 in 6th etc) then it might well pull fine but your way too much stress on the clutch.

mmm i had a gearbox fail at 30k ,the huddesfield dealers charged me for a new clutch as it was apparently on its last legs the clutch then went again at 60k had an independent garage change it and its fine at 115k , basically the skoda dealer put the old one back in , im sure of this

As benji said

If you accelerate in 6th gear you will have issues

Also no matter how many miles you do.....the clutch is a wear and tear item

If the DMF is not faulty....then it is NOT covered under warranty

I have seen ALOT when I was doing warranty work

One had done just over 1k and smoke coming from all over

The lady had been riding the clutch!!!

Then her son came in screaming and shouting

Sorry it is NOT covered under warranty...full stop!!!

If it is worn , I am sorry it is worn

I did alot of warranty claims for 2 dealers , totalling alot of money...

But this was one , I used to stick my heals in

Accelerate in too high a gear and you will wear it very quickly

may have been proven by the 2nd one going

Also though..... was you told to bed the clutch in?

Sarah

I dont know if the clutch mechanism in a fabia is the same type but we had juddering on a polo when

moving off and it was not the clutch itself or the release bearing but a tube that locates the release bearing ,this tube was bolted to the gearbox and around the input shaft ,the release bearing was rubbing on this and not releasing cleanly causing a judder ,it was worse when cold

just checked and the tube part no 02A 141 180 A guide sleeve is used on fabia boxes

As benji said

If you accelerate in 6th gear you will have issues

Also no matter how many miles you do.....the clutch is a wear and tear item

If the DMF is not faulty....then it is NOT covered under warranty

I have seen ALOT when I was doing warranty work

One had done just over 1k and smoke coming from all over

The lady had been riding the clutch!!!

Then her son came in screaming and shouting

Sorry it is NOT covered under warranty...full stop!!!

If it is worn , I am sorry it is worn

I did alot of warranty claims for 2 dealers , totalling alot of money...

But this was one , I used to stick my heals in

Accelerate in too high a gear and you will wear it very quickly

may have been proven by the 2nd one going

Also though..... was you told to bed the clutch in?

Sarah

I wasn't told, but common sense was to run the clutch in gentle and smoothly, i use the gears at correct speeds, accerating up nicely without belting or thrashing the car in anyway.

I never engage 5th gear before 43 mph.

My TDI Elegence doesn't have 6 speed box, but if it did, i would caress and love it as much as i do my 5 speed one.

Maybe Fabia's are a weak car?

I have owned & been driving many different cars for over 20 Years, (Skoda Estelle, Datsun Cherry, 2 Ford Fiestas, Seat Ibiza, Nissan Micra, Nissan Primera)

And hand on heart each car had done around 70K, when i sold them for a new Vehicle, never never once has any of them failed, or had any mechanical faults, clutch, gearbox or engine wise.

Maybe i've been lucky, but i guarantee one thing, i will never buy another skoda again.

Edited 18 March, 200917 yr by FAB19TDI

As benji said

Accelerate in too high a gear and you will wear it very quickly

may have been proven by the 2nd one going

Sarah

This is what I can't understand. Why do manufactures build cars with parts that aren't upto the job? Surely if a tdi has alot of torque then the clutch/flywheel should be able to cope with low rev acceleration. IMO the whole point of a tdi is to use the torque for low revs and easy idle driving.

I admit, in most of my driving my revs rarely go over 2250rpm but I don't accelerate hard and thats how I make the most of my engine for fuel economy. I know this to my cost as my OEM clutch started to slip shortly after I bought the car at 80k but then I had just had it mapped too so I know it was my fault.

I have a Fabia 100PD

It has been mapped to 141 and have just clocked 150100 miles

I have just in the past couple of days had the rear brake discs replaced and the origional ones from new was still on there , and I am at the moment still on the origional clutch too :confused:

Sarah

I have a Fabia 100PD

It has been mapped to 141 and have just clocked 150100 miles

I have just in the past couple of days had the rear brake discs replaced and the origional ones from new was still on there , and I am at the moment still on the origional clutch too :confused:

Sarah

Your obviously not driving it hard enough