Clutch slipping after 2 months of ownership

[BMWAF]

The point is this----any dealership telling you that a clutch isn't covered because it's a wear item is wrong. The failure mode of the clutch is what determines if it's a warranty repair or not.

It's not that they're wrong, it's that they're too lazy to confirm that the issue isn't due to wear because it could be worn due to abuse - although this is very unlikely.. especially if the driver isn't a moron and can drive a manual properly.

I agree that the failure is most likely a warranty repair but until someone gets off their ass to look, it's an easy denial for the dealer.

OP needs to fight and have it investigated.

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[White Shadow]

It's not that they're wrong, it's that they're too lazy to confirm that the issue isn't due to wear because it could be worn due to abuse - although this is very unlikely.. especially if the driver isn't a moron and can drive a manual properly.

I agree that the failure is most likely a warranty repair but until someone gets off their ass to look, it's an easy denial for the dealer.

OP needs to fight and have it investigated.

They are wrong for making a blanket statement without investigating the failure mode. You cannot just say it's not a warranty repair without knowing what caused the failure.

 

[BMWAF]

They are wrong for making a blanket statement without investigating the failure mode. You cannot just say it's not a warranty repair without knowing what caused the failure.

I completely agree. What I am saying is that as a wear item, Toyota (and dealers) essentially push the burden of proof onto the the customer. I'm not saying its right.. It's reprehensible.

 

[lucky phil]

I completely agree. What I am saying is that as a wear item, Toyota (and dealers) essentially push the burden of proof onto the the customer. I'm not saying its right.. It's reprehensible.

The issue is the way the warranty system works. The dealer almost always loses on not only the hourly rate for warranty work but on the allocated times as well from the manufacturer so they hate warranty work to start with. Then there is the aspect of the parts costs. So the dealer removes a part and returns it to the manufacturer and if that part is deemed to not be faulty ( which often happens with an intermittent fault) by the manufacturer or they decide it's failed because of an "operator issue" such as a clutch then the dealer eats the cost of the part as well.
So unless the dealer wants to do the right thing by a " special customer" and pull the GB and clutch to troubleshoot the nature of the problem and then go into bat on behalf of the customer with the manufacturer if it turns out to be a manufacturing fault on a listed "wear item" it's a risk for the dealer. In this case it's a "wear item" and it's far easier to just bat the customer away with that excuse and not take the risk and hassle on something they won't make money on even if Toyota does agree it's a failure and that's a big IF.
I know what I would do in the OP's situation but that's here with our consumer laws and probably not much help in the states.
Another part of the situation is that people no longer stick to one dealer or brand any longer so dealers put little effort into getting your repeat business because they know the customer will either move onto a different brand or go with " the best deal" on their next purchase. What about dealer reviews and social media you may think. The reality is 98% of customers are more interested in the quality of the coffee and donuts in the waiting area and the curtesy car availability and the wash and clean after the service. The customer feedback surveys are a total joke and "gamed" by the dealers as well.

Phil

 

[digicidal]

Of course it's a wear item... so are brakes... but if you had to have new pads and rotors after less than 1K miles... I'd definitely be demanding warranty replacement for that as well. Sadly, without an attorney, they can (and will) be dicks about it. Unless they can prove deliberate abuse... that's either a defective part from assembly or a faulty installation of it.

I've come to despise Toyota dealers more than any other brand over the years... but when you have the products almost everyone wants - you can be absolute shit at your job and still make good money.

 

[stormgreysupra]

There’s no way 568 miles can cause “normal” wear and tear to the point the clutch has to be replaced. That’s like a tank of gas!

 

[S2k]

I appreciate this question is a bit focused.. But… out of interest, is there an easy way to feed a camera up into the clutch to see if anything obvious is wrong like via an inspection plate? (e.g. check presence of Oil)

if possible, you can take the video showing oil and say I have an oil leak, fix it under warranty you buggers!! And obviously they would have to replace the contaminated clutch in the process

 

[RenRed2]

Listen up.... I had a situation similar to this with a different car. When a clutch starts to slip on a brand new car with such low mileage, it's almost always due to gear oil contamination of the clutch disk. There are two very simple ways that can happen. 1. A faulty seal, and 2. A bad pressure relief valve in the gearbox. The second failure mode is what happened to me. So yeah, the repair did end up being 100% covered under warranty.

The point is this----any dealership telling you that a clutch isn't covered because it's a wear item is wrong. The failure mode of the clutch is what determines if it's a warranty repair or not.

Bingo! As i stated they need to investigate this before making ANY warranty determination. This is a case the OP needs to reference. If you do not engage them you will get the treatment you are getting now. They cannot know for certain if this is a problem caused by a driver and not a mech issue of the car/part itself/system as noted in this post above!!!!!!!

 

[White Shadow]

I appreciate this question is a bit focused.. But… out of interest, is there an easy way to feed a camera up into the clutch to see if anything obvious is wrong like via an inspection plate? (e.g. check presence of Oil)

if possible, you can take the video showing oil and say I have an oil leak, fix it under warranty you buggers!! And obviously they would have to replace the contaminated clutch in the process

I'm not familiar with this particular transmission, but the manual transmission on my Audi does have an inspection plug that can easily be removed to see the clutch/bell housing.

 

[White Shadow]

The issue is the way the warranty system works. The dealer almost always loses on not only the hourly rate for warranty work but on the allocated times as well from the manufacturer so they hate warranty work to start with. Then there is the aspect of the parts costs. So the dealer removes a part and returns it to the manufacturer and if that part is deemed to not be faulty ( which often happens with an intermittent fault) by the manufacturer or they decide it's failed because of an "operator issue" such as a clutch then the dealer eats the cost of the part as well.
So unless the dealer wants to do the right thing by a " special customer" and pull the GB and clutch to troubleshoot the nature of the problem and then go into bat on behalf of the customer with the manufacturer if it turns out to be a manufacturing fault on a listed "wear item" it's a risk for the dealer. In this case it's a "wear item" and it's far easier to just bat the customer away with that excuse and not take the risk and hassle on something they won't make money on even if Toyota does agree it's a failure and that's a big IF.
I know what I would do in the OP's situation but that's here with our consumer laws and probably not much help in the states.
Another part of the situation is that people no longer stick to one dealer or brand any longer so dealers put little effort into getting your repeat business because they know the customer will either move onto a different brand or go with " the best deal" on their next purchase. What about dealer reviews and social media you may think. The reality is 98% of customers are more interested in the quality of the coffee and donuts in the waiting area and the curtesy car availability and the wash and clean after the service. The customer feedback surveys are a total joke and "gamed" by the dealers as well.

Phil

Right, so the dealership should do this: Mr Customer, we will investigate the cause of your clutch failure. You will be responsible for this diagnostic work. However, if it's determined that your clutch failure was due to a faulty part and not due to anything you did, then the entire cost will be covered under warranty.

 

[BMWAF]

Right, so the dealership should do this: Mr Customer, we will investigate the cause of your clutch failure. You will be responsible for this diagnostic work. However, if it's determined that your clutch failure was due to a faulty part and not due to anything you did, then the entire cost will be covered under warranty.

Yep.. that's how they do it in Utopia. ?

 

[FuzzyRev]

AT superiority bye

6 port and suspension TOTAL DOMINATION

 

[White Shadow]

Yep.. that's how they do it in Utopia. ?

FWIW, I used to work as a technician at a Toyota dealership. What I described was common practice. That was long ago, but I'd guess that they are still doing it. If not, they should be.

 

[bushido]

6 port and suspension TOTAL DOMINATION

FINE

 

[mdpalmer]

Hmmm someone posted about clutch issues and "clutch smell" on FB recently, I added a comment to that thread, now it's gone. That's suspicious.

Last time I "smelled clutch" was back in high school when my buddy's dipshit brother destroyed his civic's perfecly functioning clutch, trying to learn how to drive a MT ? BTW it only took a short drive around town for the car to become undrivable.

Something you're not telling us OP? ? Here's an example of how to destroy a clutch in short order:

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