Hi,

I've just been advised that the clutch needs replacing on my 09 plate Skoda Fabia Estate 1.4 TDI. The car has only done 18,000 miles (just under 5k of them mine since I bought it in August). I have taken it back to the dealership I bought it from and they want over £700. They say it's a wear and tear item and so is not covered by the warranty. I have argued with them that whilst I understand that warranties have limitations, to exclude a clutch that has gone after 18,000 miles is unreasonable. They say there is nothing they can do as a good will gesture but have applied to Skoda Customer Care - I await the outcome!

I would be grateful for any thoughtd/advice on my rights and how best to pusue this. Also is anyone aware of problems with fabia clutches. I drove 98k and 102k in my last two cars and have never had to replace a clutch.

Many thanks,

Lesley

I had 50K+ miles on each of my 2 previous Fabia VRS's & never a hint of a problem with the clutch, I suppose that they would say that you don't know how the vehicle was used in the first 13K of its life but 18K is very dissapointing for a clutch to give up the ghost . I would be wanting warrenty replacement myself.

I'm sure there should be some kind of goodwill gesture. Also £700 sounds a bit steep to me. I would ring round a few dealers for a quote. If there's a bigger problem than linings or wearable parts then it should be a manufacturing fault and be covered by the warranty.

Edited 4 January, 201115 yr by dibujo

Just rushed to get my car mechanics magazine.

Skoda will claim that the clutch will have burnt out and Skoda UK will try and say they have relied on their Skoda Agent's Judgement.

I would challenge them and see the actual clutch to check for signs of overheating as I bet they will change their tune and blame it on fair wear and tear and hopefully you should get it as warrenty work.

Davy

Just rushed to get my car mechanics magazine.

Skoda will claim that the clutch will have burnt out and Skoda UK will try and say they have relied on their Skoda Agent's Judgement.

I would challenge them and see the actual clutch to check for signs of overheating as I bet they will change their tune and blame it on fair wear and tear and hopefully you should get it as warrenty work.

Davy

I would be challenging it, after all other manufacturers like Peugeot give 20,000 mile warranty on clutches. It seems the more I read this site, Skoda warranty isn't all its cracked up to be.

The more I read on this site the more I think that Skoda cars are not all they're cracked up to be. lol

Phoebe, sorry to hear you are having a clutch problem.

As others are saying, you should challenge what your Skoda dealer is saying. Is is a Skoda Dealership you bought it from? A Skoda dealership is better placed to help you than an independant dealer. If you bought it from an independant dealer, if they won't help, then take it to your local Skoda dealer. They will know what buttons to push and strings to pull.

I had to deal with problems like this over many years in the trade...and if you make some noise...to the right people, and be polite, you will I'm sure get some kind of a result. I would normally expect at least some of the cost should be paid and hopefully most or all of it.

Firstly, ask to see the Service Manager at the dealership. Get him to explain why the clutch failure is not covered under warranty. Listen carefully to what he says. Try the normal sort of persuasion with him or her to see if they will take up the case for you with Skoda. If the dealer is on your side it makes a big difference usually so always be polite and unthreatening. If they do not feel able to take up the case properly with Skoda explain politely that you will be contacting Skoda UK customer services to discuss the problem. Almost certainly Skoda UK will advise you to book the vehicle in for repair, and the parts will be sent to their HQ for examination. They have a warranty claims department. Subject to their examination, you may or may not be reimbursed for a new clutch or part thereof.

It's worth noting that Skoda will be able to identify exactly how the vehicle's clutch has be used or misused. The clutch and the flywheel change colour if subjected to intense heat from clutch misuse and other signs are visible too. If the examination shows it has been misused (not necessarily by you) then it may be difficult for you to argue a case for reimbursment under warranty. However, the fact you have had the vehicle for so little time may be in your favour and allow you to push the garage and Skoda into doing something. If they sold it to you and the majority of the mileage was on the vehicle prior to you buying it, then certainly legally, and as a goodwill gesture the garage should undertake some responsibility. At my dealerships I worked for over the years this is how it usually panned out. I don't think we ever had any particularly unhappy customers. So, don't be fobbed off.

Your clutch should last for years and years and many thousands of miles. I've hardly ever had a clutch fail in 41 years. NOTE: Skoda Fabia's do not have any intrinsic clutch problems.

As a last resort it may be worth speaking to trading standards for your local area if no-one will play ball with you. Please can you keep posting on this issue to let us all know how you get on. It could be helpful to others if a similar situation arises.

Good advice from Estate Man.

My recent experience is to call Skoda customer care directly yourself. I am not sure from your post if it is you or the dealer that is contacting them. Don't get put off if you get complete disinterest from the first call, the staff are a bit hit and miss.

Send a polite e-mail to them describing the situation and ask for a response. They have a big e-mail backlog so take ages to read them also they don't seem to like written responses but the e-email gives you an anchor in to the organisation. You can use this as a way of keeping the enquiry open. If you hit onto a good advisor they will work hard for you.

Was you car Skoda approved used? Over the past couple of years Skoda have been boosting sales by pushing Fabias out into the hire car market. If the previous owner was a leasing company I would be suspicious that your car worked out of a hire depot. I am not saying hire cars get a harder time than any other care but it may be a factor. All you need is one American used to automatics to have it for a week to trash a clutch.

Good luck with the claim, don't let it put you off Skoda, once fixed the car will be fine and you will have many happy miles from it.

as others have said, you should be able to get this done on warrenty, basically the fact is, 18,000 miles is unacceptable as a life of a clutch.....

my friend bought a mercedes A-class for use as a driving school car, and asked how much a clutch was the sales manager said "why?" he said "for when it goes, I will be doing over 100k with learner drivers.." he said "it wont go, if it does we will will replace it under warranty, we have never had to replace a clutch in an a-class before......" he did 125k in that car, without needing a clutch (Timing chain broke though! eek!)

my fiat has been used as a learner car for most of its life, and has been putting 314lbs/ft of torque through the clutch since 4,000 miles, it has now done 104,000 miles, and the clutch is still the original one, and works "as new"

I could provide more examples,

ergo, must be a manufacturing/fit/assembly problem, as 18k isn't a fair life for a clutch

I do high miles, and the only car I have ever needed a clutch in was a saxo VTR, it was slipping from new, as the garage didn't fit the dual controls properly, and the clutch pedal wasn't lifting back up fully, after about 1,000 miles of this they fixed the dual controls, and I said "I want a new, clutch, that one will be damaged now" they said "fine" and replaced it under warrenty , even though it was a fault caused by the dual's, not a manufacturing fault! I then went on to do 155,000 miles in that car, the gearbox broke at 114k, and covered the clutch in oil, so I needed a new one, but that clutch lasted until then without any issues!

just make the point of what an "expected life" of a clutch is..... but good luck, skoda wouldn't replace my console bushes under warrenty,and quoted wear and tear, I tried to make the poitn that there was a design faul, as it affect all the cars, they didn't agree, and wouldn't pay, now they have lost a customer... funny, now there is a "modified console bush" available for the mrkI fabia... hmmmm

good luck!

Hi Poebe, you must be absolutely pig sick. What rotten luck. Any Dealer worth their salt should help you out with this one at such a low mileage, especially as you have covered only 5,000K of that. Don't take this the wrong way as it's meant to help, but if as your username suggests, you are a Lady and especially a young Lady, consider taking an older person with you to negotiate and if that person is a mechanic, so much the better. Yes there are still people out there who will try to pull the wool over your eyes if they think see you as a 'soft touch'. My niece had exactly the same problem with her Peugeot 1007 at around the same mileage and the garage tried it on with her but when she took her husband they backed off. Sad isn't it? Good luck to you and as has been said, please keep us informed as to how you get on as this is an issue that could affect any of us. Skoda should help, as should Trading Standards. It's worth a try.

I honestly think the Skoda warrenty sucks, my wife took our car in today to Skoda to get the washer motor replaced, at first they said it's a fuse and it would cost her as this was not under warrenty! Needless to say the washer motor has been replaced for the sum of £37 which she paid as they claimed it was weather related and not a warrenty item, I get the feeling the dealers just want to acclaim blame to people to save work being carried out at warrenty, the only thing they covered under warrenty was my leaking tandam pump which has now been fixed twice!!

Our car is only two years and covered 10400 miles since new, we're lucky if we have covered just over 1300 miles in it since we purchased it in August!

Then they had the cheek to quote for a 3 year servicce £165!! I've been quoted the same price at my local garage and thats including the MOT!

I honestly think the Skoda warrenty sucks, my wife took our car in today to Skoda to get the washer motor replaced, at first they said it's a fuse and it would cost her as this was not under warrenty! Needless to say the washer motor has been replaced for the sum of £37 which she paid as they claimed it was weather related and not a warrenty item, I get the feeling the dealers just want to acclaim blame to people to save work being carried out at warrenty, the only thing they covered under warrenty was my leaking tandam pump which has now been fixed twice!!

Our car is only two years and covered 10400 miles since new, we're lucky if we have covered just over 1300 miles in it since we purchased it in August!

Then they had the cheek to quote for a 3 year servicce £165!! I've been quoted the same price at my local garage and thats including the MOT!

It's getting crazy and these people need challenging by whatever means necessary. The problem we have with items that wear is that we can never prove that we havent driven with our foot on the brake, for long spells or been slipping the clutch as some people do, excessively in snow. In the case of a wiper motor, they use the 'reason' that the motor froze and broke because the washer fluid was not used in sufficient anti freeze strength ets. But it's "wriggling" by the dealers and it shouldn't be happening. I once had a similar thing whith a battery which duffed on my Volvo I bought from Volvo of Wakefield. They tried to charge me but a call to Volvo head office soon had them retreating and a new battery was fitted at my local Volvo Dealer FOC.

It's getting crazy and these people need challenging by whatever means necessary. The problem we have with items that wear is that we can never prove that we havent driven with our foot on the brake, for long spells or been slipping the clutch as some people do, excessively in snow. In the case of a wiper motor, they use the 'reason' that the motor froze and broke because the washer fluid was not used in sufficient anti freeze strength ets. But it's "wriggling" by the dealers and it shouldn't be happening. I once had a similar thing whith a battery which duffed on my Volvo I bought from Volvo of Wakefield. They tried to charge me but a call to Volvo head office soon had them retreating and a new battery was fitted at my local Volvo Dealer FOC.

Also speak to your local Trading Standards office..You never know, as they have a fair bit of clout

Thank you to everyone for all you help, advice and support it is very much appreciated. The latest is that Skoda Customer Services has asked for photographs of the clutch to be reviewed by their Technical Department - I will keep you posted on the outcome.

Many thanks again,

Phoebe

Thank you to everyone for all you help, advice and support it is very much appreciated. The latest is that Skoda Customer Services has asked for photographs of the clutch to be reviewed by their Technical Department - I will keep you posted on the outcome.

Many thanks again,

Phoebe

Sounds promising, fingers crossed for you.

Thank you to everyone for all you help, advice and support it is very much appreciated. The latest is that Skoda Customer Services has asked for photographs of the clutch to be reviewed by their Technical Department - I will keep you posted on the outcome.

Many thanks again,

Phoebe

Just to keep the pressure on, ask for the old parts or a set of the photos for yourself and say you are going to get them independently evaluated if Skoda Refuse the claim.

As a general rule this will often help a garage to concentrate on fair play.

+1 Agree with Tsi Fly there

my fiat has been used as a learner car for most of its life, and has been putting 314lbs/ft of torque through the clutch since 4,000 miles, it has now done 104,000 miles, and the clutch is still the original one, and works "as new"

Yup, 103k and counting with 320lb-ft on standard clutch - although I did glaze the surface once trying to reverse up a ramp in a car park due to getting boxed-in by some numpty in a Navara. A couple of weeks of NORMAL driving sorted that out, though!

Hope you get it sorted soon!

If all else fails, write to both the consumer and motoring editors of one of the national newspapers, I have seen many a manufacturer or retailer give in when faced with the prospect of exposure to several hundred thousand readers.

Which one you write to depends on your political bent and/or your intellect.

Thank you to everyone for all you help, advice and support it is very much appreciated. The latest is that Skoda Customer Services has asked for photographs of the clutch to be reviewed by their Technical Department - I will keep you posted on the outcome.

Many thanks again,

Phoebe

I'm surprised Skoda haven't just said fix it at our expense judging by the low miles the car has covered. Do make contact with Skoda Customer services yourself, if you haven't already, rather than leaving it to your dealer to negotiate. Good luck and keep us informed.

Without going into too much detail, I had 4 defective tyres on my Touran discovered at 1st service.

Dealer tried to get replaced, but referred me to VW Customer Service - "They're wear and tear items, our warranty clearly states they're not covered."

"OK - I'll see you your warranty and raise you the Sale of Goods Act - the items were clearly defective at the time of supply.... "

<went away to speak to supervisor; rang back 30 mins later> "Your dealer has 4 new tyres waiting for you...."

I've within the last hour been told that Skoda will replace the clutch under warranty - it's been a battle but the sales manager at the garage I bought it from managed to resolve it this afternoon.

Thanks to all for your advice and support - it most definitely helped.

Pheobe

I've within the last hour been told that Skoda will replace the clutch under warranty - it's been a battle but the sales manager at the garage I bought it from managed to resolve it this afternoon.

Thanks to all for your advice and support - it most definitely helped.

Pheobe

:thumbup:

Nice one, pleased to hear that.

Davy

Thank you. I should also add that Skoda Assist were fantastic - a really good recovery service and excellent communication in organising a hire car and subsequently checking everything was ok - I had a surprising number of phone calls from them! Skoda UK also covered the cost of a hire car for a week whilst they investigated, and despite their inital and second responses being 'no' it was all sorted in the end - hoping to get my car back tomorrow.

Phoebe

Excellent news...well done! It just goes to show how important it is to continue communications if at first things don't seem to be happening. Also to make sure you speak to the right people.