Hi Guys

Firstly I am Darron and new to this site and would appreciate your comments with a problem I have with my car.

I bought a 59 plate octavia vrs petrol version privately 2 weeks ago with 56500 on the clock.

To be honest I got it for good money with me knowing it needed new tyres.

Car has full service history.

Since it has been really cold the last few days it has developed a noise when reversing mainly like a chirping noise from the clutch when pulling away. I have looked on many pages and seams to be a common problem.

So took it into my local Skoda dealer for a test drive and let the tech listen to the noise which we found did it more severe in reverse but also did it in first on hill start but then went when warmed up.Firstly the tech said he had not heard that type of noise before but said he didn't think it was the clutch as it would do it more often. Advised me he would put it on ramp and take a look. 40 mins later service manager comes to me and told me they had diagnosed the problem and guess what turns out to be the clutch.

Told me it was not under warranty so played dumb and asked if they had taken the box out and inspected the clutch which he replied no (of course) but sad they had tested it and it all pointed to the clutch £742 to replace. Came out of the dealers and found my car by the smell of clutch, don't know what they had done but it stunk.

After looking round on internet it looks like it could be a few things and some have had flywheel and clutch done under warranty which has solved the problem.

I have now spoke to Skoda and told them i was not happy with there diagnosis and have escalated it to a Skoda claims manager who will be contacting me in a few days.

Any advise would be great

Cheers

Darron

If it's a single chirp in reverse, first and maybe second, then I would say it is probably the clutch. The warranty will not cover a replacement clutch.

Is there any vibration?

thanks for the reply

No judder or any vibration

Skoda claims man just spoke to me and was going to speak to the dealer and see what they said as tech told me he didn't think it was the clutch yet later service manager said it was, only started in last couple of days since it has been really cold. My last car an S3 had 100k on the clock with no clutch issue

Edited 7 December, 201213 yr by Dazzla

My dad had clutch issues on his Fabia at 21K miles, it was all sorted but he had to agree to a possible bill before they stripped down the car as the clutch is not covered by warranty.

As luck would have it, after he agreed the car was stripped down and it was found a leaking oil seal had been leaking oil all over the bell housing, DMF, Clutch plate etc. As the primary failure lay elsewhere he did not pay a penny, and has a new DMF, Clutch, Release bearing, and the oil seal was replaced, all under warranty.

When you get the 'single chirp' symptoms, the clutch may last another 10000 miles (or even more) before it starts slipping badly enough to replace. If the tech said it didn't need replacing NOW then he was probably right.

I assume they did a slip/stall test (hence clutch smell) on the clutch and that showed it was the clutch. Ask them how they have diagnosed the problem.

That is the option they have given me at the moment but I have said I wanted to go to another dealer first to see what they think.

The guy agreed with me so I have to find another dealer outside my area.

That is the option they have given me at the moment but I have said I wanted to go to another dealer first to see what they think.

The guy agreed with me so I have to find another dealer outside my area.

Do you know when the brake/clutch fluid was last replaced?

If it has never been done, I'd have it changed before I'd consider having the clutch replaced.

Do you know when the brake/clutch fluid was last replaced?

If it has never been done, I'd have it changed before I'd consider having the clutch replaced.

It had brake fluid change at 34k along with 40k service july 11

Best of luck on the clutch front, i have been battling for over a year with a faulty DMF, Customer service is shocking.

Had a result today

Had the car in to another dealer and they told me it was clutch release bearing which is covered under warranty so is going in Thursday to be done.

Spoke to the master tech and service manager who said it is down to the dealer to decide.

The clutch isn't covered under warranty but the bearing is, what a nice chap.

He even said if there was any wear on the clutch they will let me know and just charge me for the parts no labour but said he would be surprised if the clutch needed replacing and if it did i could go and inspect it.

Just goes to show that it pays to get a second opinion.

The second dealer believe it or not was the same franchise also.

Sounds like a result to me- let us know what the final outcome was once they've returned your car

All the best

Ade

I hate the 'not covered by warranty' line

A clutch that is knackered at low mileage has a manufacturing issue. That should be covered by sales of goods act if nothing else

Had the same problem with a type-r I wonder from new. That had 8000 miles on it but Honda were more than happy to replace the whole clutch assembly when it had a problem.

I hate the 'not covered by warranty' line

A clutch that is knackered at low mileage has a manufacturing issue. That should be covered by sales of goods act if nothing else

Had the same problem with a type-r I wonder from new. That had 8000 miles on it but Honda were more than happy to replace the whole clutch assembly when it had a problem.

On a used car you don't know how it was driven from new , lots of stop start traffic or traffic light grand prix's could easily see a clutch off , I killed a new clutch in 2500 miles once

Especially the only owned for two weeks bit as it could be said the fault was on he car before it was sold

I think the second dealer has been extremely reasonable

...A clutch that is knackered at low mileage has a manufacturing issue...

If only that were the case. This week I've seen a failed clutch on a new car at 432 miles. Initially it was assumed that there must have been a manufacturing fault and it would be covered by warranty (only wear and tear is not covered). We were wrong. We had to stop the owner driving away in a courtesy car as she would've wrecked the clutch in that one too - slipping the clutch at high revs. It turns out that the last time she drove a manual car was when she took her test 40 years ago.

Sounds like my mother in law. All starts require at least 3.5k rpm to be held until she is in third.

She said her car felt a bit funny, I then drove it up a steep hill in fourth at about 10mph and realised there was no clutch left.

Sent from my HTC Vision using Tapatalk 2

I accept there are exceptions to the rule but the normal general public aren't going to kill a clutch in a few thousand miles.

Hi Guys

Update

Got car back today from dealer and he informed me that all is now well with car and that annoying noise has gone.

Dealer had the car from Thurs morning till tonight as when they stripped it down they found the slave had contaminated the clutch so they had to replace everything, so now a very happy chap. All was done under the warranty.

When i got to the dealers the service manager told me what they had found and what they had done to the car.

Also only charged me £35 for an MOT which i had done at same time.

Cheers

Darron

Sounds like a proper result.

Sounds like a proper result.

+1 good to see they sorted it all out for you. Don't think you could have done any better TBF

Ade