Hello,

I have a Skoda Fabia 1.6 TDi 60 plate. We purchased it at 11,500 miles as an ex-Skoda dealership car in December 2011, it went in for its 20,000 service (Actually done 19,000) anyway they say it needs a new clutch and its £558.

Apparently its not covered under warranty and we were told either me or my wife is heavy on the clutch. We are both over 40 and been driving since we were 17 and this is the first time either of us have had a car with a broken clutch. Our last vehicle did 100,000 miles.

We both love the car, however are very distressed by this chain of events.

Has anyone had a similar experience and any success complaining to the dealership?

Any advice gratefully received.

Chris

Hello Chris and welcome to the site.

This is not normal for the 1.6cr or any Skoda. This may indicate a problem with your particular car. Question: did you and your wife feel your clutch was performing ok prior to it going in for it's 20k service? If not, what were the symptoms? Were the gears changing smoothly? Has your garage stripped the engine gearbox unit to inspect the clutch?

Sorry about the questions but the answers may be crucial to how us lot advise you to proceed (should you feel like taking any advice from us that is!).

But in advance of your reply to the above, I'd say the fact the car had been a garage owned car is more likely to be the problem, It's either been a hire car, a demo/loan car or the service managers car (or something like that). That isn't necessarily a bad thing but it probably means that they are the ones that have been 'heavy with the clutch' and it's clear from your post the previous driver/s have put the most miles on the car. This gives you some leaverage and you should ask for your garage's diagnosis in writing and then ask them again for fix it as you are covered under the 'sale of goods act' which does cover cars, although slightly differently to other goods. Bear in mind the clutch is a consumable, like brakes and is not normally covered under warranty after 6 months unless you can show there is an intrinsic fault with your car or a strong likelyhood of a fault being present. Come back to us as soon as possible with some answers. Bye for now.

20,000 miles isn't acceptable life for a clutch... if your drivivng is good, demand a new one... offer to take them out and show them how you drive to disprove them blaming you... say "how am I damaging the clutch? explain!"

tell them you are asking for advice on briskoda, they may be more helpful

if the worst comes to the worst, ask them to remove the clutch and examine it for manufacturing defects....

a modern clutch should last 100k.. my last manual car was a fiat punto sporting 1.9 multijet deisel.... I bought it new, had it remapped at 4,000 miles, and used it as a driving school car (so the clutch was merrily abused) and when I got rid at 110,000 miles, the clutch and gearbox still worked exactly as they did when it was a new car!

Hello,

Thanks for all the replies, I visited the dealership today and they based the assumption there is something wrong with the clutch on the pressure required to depress the pedal. To be honest my wife and I believe it is the same now as when we took ownership of the car. I haggled and they have cut the cost by £100 to repair it, but I'm still not happy.

To me the car feels fine and I cannot tell anything is wrong with it and saying its stiffer to other cars of the same model to me does not mean the clutch is going to fail. The biting point of the clutch has always been high.

I'm going to give it some more thought before I go back to the dealership, but I strongly believe this is not a fair thing to happen on a car which has done such a low mileage.

Chris

Hello Chris, you are right. If the clutch seems fine apart from maybe being a bit heavy on the pedal, then it doesn't necessarily mean there is a problem brewing. For example, I had a 1.6cr Fabia as a loan car last year and the clutch on that was much heavier than on my own PD engined car, with the bite point quite high also. But it was fine in every respect. I would be inclined to get a second opinion if you are at all unhappy with the pressure needed on the pedal and then see what Skoda UK says about it. Pedal pressure can vary from car to car though, but probably nothing to be concerned about.

If the clutch is heavy and not slipping IMO this a fault not wear & tear hence covered by warranty.

If you do have it done ask to see the parts removed compared to a new set. If the wear is typical of 20k rather than 100k miles get Skoda HQ involved.