# Brand new clutch has broken: garage say not their problem, due to driving style



## NicolaM (26 Mar 2008)

Hi
Any (urgent) advise much appreciated. My boyfriend got a new clutch in his car in January, which now seems to have broken. The garage who installed it say that it is indeed is the clutch, but that it has broken due to the way he drives. I think that is very unlikely, in this time frame, i.e. 2 months, but the garage aren't budging, and say he should replace the clutch again (and pay them full whack again)
The car, to be fair, is old, but it was very expensive to replace the clutch (not far off a thousand euros), and he was hoping to get another year out of the car.
A couple of Questions:
1.Is it reasonable that the (new) clutch kit would break again in such a short time? Is this something that can happen so quickly?
2.Do garages have some sort of a warranty on their parts, from their suppliers, that would cover them in the eventuality that a part fails?
3.Do the garage not have a liability under consumer law, that the part should be 'fit for service', and if not, they should do something about it (ie: fix/repair etc)
4. Can anyone suggest what the best way to proceed with this , as the car is un-drivable, and the garage are not budging.
I think the garage are taking the mick here, but I'm not a mechanic, and I don't know how easy it would be to 'break' a clutch.
We are thinking about getting the car towed to a different garage to have the clutch inspected (to make sure that a new kit was installed, and that it was installed correctly).
My inclination is to put this complaint into writing, and to give them a specific period to reply, and then to see what they suggest.
This is complicated by the fact that we live right next door to the garage, so having an acrimonious dispute isn't the route we want to take. But a thousand euros is a thousand euros.
Thanks for any suggestions 


Nicola


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## clonboy (26 Mar 2008)

*Re: HELP!!Brand new clutch has broken: garage say not their problem, due to driving s*

mmmm. trick one

elaborate more,, is the driver that bad,, recent driver or many years expierneced?

WHAT kind of car was it,, the garage is next door,, are they friends, are they friends to the tune of 1000 euro for fitting the clutch,

i am sure they should pull it out and see what the matter is. thay have a better chance of getting a claim in against the clutch supplier than you do,

did they fit a complete 3 piece clutch??

was it a decent brand of clutch they fitted,,,
so many issues but i think if all fails id like to see what another garage would see when they pull out the gear box again.

maybe reach an agreement , they supply the clutch and you just pay for the labour this time,, they may get a comeback on the clutch.

if the new clutch is not destroyed then maybe they only need to replace the disc,, pressure plate and release bearing may be ok ..


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## NicolaM (26 Mar 2008)

*Re: HELP!!Brand new clutch has broken: garage say not their problem, due to driving s*

Thanks for replying Clonboy.
He's not a bad driver at all, and even if he was, I can't imagine how he could have burned out a clutch in 2 months of city driving, with 2 weekend drives down the country during that time ie must be much less than 2,000 Km
The car is an old Mercedes, and has given trouble before.
The garage people are not friends of ours, but the garage is right next door to where we live.
I have no idea what brand they fitted, but we have the receipt (stating the amount paid), which was for a full clutch kit, as far as I know.
Do you not think that there must be a warranty from the supplier of these parts?
Thanks 
Nicola


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## ford jedi (26 Mar 2008)

*Re: HELP!!Brand new clutch has broken: garage say not their problem, due to driving s*

alot of factors can cause a clutch to go.but the gearbox will have to come out to see the evidence.like which side off the clutch is roasted due to riding the clutch or if the absorber springs are thorn out of the middle of the disc due to wheel spinning and the likes but this will all be evident when the gearbox is out. also leaking oil seals can contaimnate the disc and cause it to slip. 
also when the gaerbox is out you can check to see did the garage put a new full clutch dics in or merely got it relined also common practice,and charge you for anew kit.

in fairness ive had a few clutches come back over the years some due to bad driving others dut to the likes of leaking clutch cyclinders but i will always remove the gearbox before i make a decicision as to what caused the problem and if the customers can see and understand what caused the problem they  usually feel the havent been shafted and can go off knowing what the true cause of the problem is .
but its hard to diagnose a tramsmisson fault without the box out never mind the root of the problem.
get another garage to do the job and examine the new cluch they were meant to have fitted they might not like another garage looking at their work


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## clonboy (26 Mar 2008)

*Re: HELP!!Brand new clutch has broken: garage say not their problem, due to driving s*

last post is a valid point,,

sorry jaut had to ask about the driver,, i had to put in a new clutch ,, 250 miles after a BAD, driver

if i did a clutch and it went again i would certainly want to see what the fault was,, and if it was the clutch itself i would expect the factors/supplier to replace it,

who cover the labour then is another issue..

old mercs have a hydraulic clutch, and the slave cylinder is mounted outside the box, so unlikely that it failed and leaked ,,,

keep us posted


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## NicolaM (26 Mar 2008)

*Re: HELP!!Brand new clutch has broken: garage say not their problem, due to driving s*

Hi Ford Jedi
Do you mean telling them we would like to get the car inspected by another garage and seeing what they say?
I'm not trying to take the mick out of the garage, just wanting to make sure that it's not a fault with the part that was installed.
Also don't want to send good money after bad (as an inspection by another garage might end up being expensive too?)
Aaaaagh!
Thanks
Nicola


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## ford jedi (26 Mar 2008)

*Re: HELP!!Brand new clutch has broken: garage say not their problem, due to driving s*

i just think there not really playing ball if the wont even remove the gearbox to check the clutch, as i said stuff can be faulty **** happens but you dont keep customers that way and things aint exactly booming out there in the motor trade


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## NicolaM (26 Mar 2008)

*Re: HELP!!Brand new clutch has broken: garage say not their problem, due to driving s*

Hi
Surely if they remove the gearbox to check the clutch that's going to start adding up though?(again have the good money after bad scenario in my head..And the only thing the garage have offered so far is to replace the clutch, at the original price, labour/parts, which is a bit of a sting, to be honest,as it was all done in Jan.). Do you have any notion what they might charge (or alternatively, what might be a reasonable thing to charge to do that?)
Thanks
Nicola


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## ford jedi (26 Mar 2008)

*Re: HELP!!Brand new clutch has broken: garage say not their problem, due to driving s*

what year and what model merc was it ?


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## NicolaM (26 Mar 2008)

*Re: HELP!!Brand new clutch has broken: garage say not their problem, due to driving s*

C200 1994 Merc
Thanks
Nicola


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## clonboy (26 Mar 2008)

*Re: HELP!!Brand new clutch has broken: garage say not their problem, due to driving s*

ask this company for a clutch price

www.otto.ie

they specialise in german car parts


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## Mr2 (27 Mar 2008)

Is the garage a main franchise dealer? Did they fit genuine parts?

There is a warranty on the part supplied by either motor factor or genuine part.
The box must be removed in order to make a decision. Ask for a receipt from the garage to show where he bought the parts and make sure all parts he says were fitted are fitted.

The box must be removed, ring an independant motor accessor some one like Maurice Veal 086-2511201 and he will go throught the car with a fine tooth comb and I'd let the garage know that your not letting it lie. Is the garage SIMI approved? If so report them.


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## NicolaM (27 Mar 2008)

Thanks for that advise, will check that out. It is not a main franchise, and I think their reaction is pretty shabby.
Nicola


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## NicolaM (28 Mar 2008)

Hi Mr2
My boyfriend rang Maurice yesterday, who was really helpful. Basically, the gear box , as has been said, would need to be taken out, and the whole thing inspected, and if it was faulty, then he could go back to the original garage re warranty e.t.c. Unfortunately this would  be quite expensive to do, and if the clutch kit wasn't faulty, there would be no come back. And even if it turned out that there was a problem with it, there still would be a large cost to having the car inspected.
Looks like a loose/loose situation, as even if the original garage is at fault, it'll end up costing big bucks.
As it's an old car, I don't think the financial hit would be worth it (it's already had various other costly repairs).
It's incredibly frustrating the way the garage has responded, but I don't think there's any way to make them do anything, without incurring extra costs.
They are SIMI registered, but I don't think he could reasonably make a complaint to them, if he's not willing to pay to have the gear box taken out (spurious complaint otherwise,except if lodging a complaint on 'attitude' or 'customer service', which I don't think SIMI would be very interested in somehow, and wouldn't appear a reasonable thing to do)
So much for customer service anyway.
I think he's going to have to look for another car. Ouch.
Does anyone know any garages that do trade-in's on barely drivable cars? (we're in Dublin South-side/centre)
I doubt it, but no harm in asking! I remember some ads before, offering a (?) thousand euro trade in on bangers, which the car has now unfortunately become


Thanks everyone for your help

Nicola


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