Has anyone else have their clutch slip and need replacing. our car is only 18months old and has only 22k miles.

we are being told it is not covered under maintenance  as it is NOT classed as Fair wear and tear.

 

Too right its not, has anyone else had the same problem, and what was the outcome. not happy they want us to pay £1,500 to have it replaced especially under Personal Contract Hire (PCH).

Any advise would be really appreciate.

@ktb - You can't judge for certain without dropping the gearbox. You could have an oil leak rather than a worn friction plate as has been assumed.

Welcome to the forum.

 

Have the Warranty provider said that your faulty clutch is not covered under the Manufacturers Warranty or is it just a Dealership employee that says so?

What diagnosis have they done on your behalf and the Warranty Provider?

 

Dealership's are not the keeper of the kitty, even though they like to act as if they are.

Thanks for the advise, I'll pose the question.

Pose it to Skoda UK Customer Services. Then get a call handler, then a communications manager that will say they will consult with the Technical Department 

and then they refer you back to the Dealership.   

Do not let them wear you down,  wear and tear,....

 

I know what the Warranty says, 6 months / 6,500 miles.  That is their wish and dream.

http://skoda.co.uk/about-us/contact-us 

 

http://skoda.co.uk/owners/warranty 

It is out of the 6 month or 5,000k warranty, but we have maintenance agreement where the clutch is covered under FAIR wear and tear.  They have offered to dropping the gearbox, but said we will have to pay for the investigation, then if it is a fault they will pay.

 

I have already spoken to Skoda, who have said it is out of their hands and closed the case.

 

Edited 7 August, 20187 yr by ktb

6 month / 6,500 mile is the exclusion.  not 5,000.

 

They have been 'closing cases' like that for a few years, now with the new CEO and the last one had them doing this as well.

 

So if you think it is not fair wear and tear and and not driver caused you have to go with the paying for the diagnosis and then fighting them by getting in an Independent Engineering Expert to check what their Master Tech is saying is Fair Wear And Tear.

 

You will win, they will lose.  

Hate to say it, but have a read of this 

It got sorted eventually but was a battle, and the fault had to be proved independently before Skoda paid out.

Very interesting read, thank you.

I'm not going to give up, although in the meantime, I'm a full time working mum of 2 with no bloody car. 

I was going to post the same thread as Simon.

@Orville is still an active & helpful member on the forum so I'm sure he would be able to give you the détails of the independant specialist he used for the report to fight the claim etc

 

However, I guess until the drop the gearbox & start to investigate the cause its likely that you will have to pay upfront & attempt to claim the costs back once the root cause is known.

I would explain to the dealer about the other case & that you want to persue the same thing.

Ask them to document everything they do, provide photos of the removed parts & keep them for you to send for independant inspection.

 

 

As mentioned above, I suffered very similar issues two years ago. Despite my car being driven normally, it's clutch started slipping after 2-years / 17K miles. Eventually (after lots of hassle and independent inspection), Skoda payed for full replacement and costs.

 

My advice is as follows:-

*Keep a record of all conversations. Email is best.

*Send your Dealer a link to my problem post. They can compare issues, and may be more willing to assist . My post was one of the most viewed within these forums (tens of thousnds), so both Skoda and the Dealer may be reluctant to see a repeat.

*The only way to really tell whether you have the same fault is to remove the clutch. Make sure that you ask them to KEEP ALL PARTS. The Dealer may charge you extra to keep your own parts, but without them you have no proof of fault.

*Hopefully the Dealer will see a fault after removal and complete the replacement under warranty. If not, your only recourse will be Independent Inspection. I used a guy called Alan Watling (based in Kent) who is a specialist Automotive Inspector with many years experience. You can find someone more local here if needed.

*If you need to go the inspection route, then expect this to take months. For me it was well-worth pursuing just for the principle. I knew that my car had been driven normally and that there must have been a fault - I wasn't going to let Skod UK and their crappy incompotent Dealer (Essex Auto Group) rip me off.

 

Good luck.

 

Edited to say that Skoda Customer Services are completely useless and will only listen to the opinion of their Dealers. Things only started moving for me after I got Skoda Legal Team and Skoda Finance involved. Remember that Skoda Finance actually owns the car and that they have a vested interest in having a fully-working car returned to them at end of PCH/PCP term. The other option will be to return the car to them at end of term with a completely knackered clutch. They cannot charge you extra at end of term if the Dealer has said it is normal "wear and tear".

 

 

Edited 8 August, 20187 yr by Orville