allthatiszen
New member
- Location
- PA
Hey folks,
Newbie here looking for some input from others. I have a 2016 GTI 6-speed manual with 38k miles (purchased with 24k miles in March of 2018) that still has another year of Certified Pre-Owned left on it as of today.
I took it to the dealership on Black Friday to have new front brake pads/rotors and 4 brand new tires. I picked it up at the end of the day, and when I drove it later on that night (after the dealership was closed), any acceleration past halfway on the gas pedal, the RPMs would fly up but my speed didn't (slipping out of gear). This NEVER happened before.
Emailed the dealership (closed for the weekend) and told someone to contact me ASAP, which they did the following Monday. The soonest they could get me in (somehow) was yesterday, 12/10/2019. At the end of the day, I was contacted and told that my clutch was failing and needed to be replaced.
In March of 2019 (this year), I had it in for a coolant issue (cracked thermostat housing and water pump replacement) as well as for my 30k mi service. The coolant issue was covered under CPO warranty. According to VW, 30k mi service includes replacing the clutch fluid at 30k mi or 3 years (whichever comes first) and then every 2 years after that. My paperwork doesn't list that as being done at all.
I asked the dealership if they could see that clutch fluid was replaced. The service woman stated that, because the dealership underwent management change in October of this year, that their documentation was a bit different than the previous ownership, but that she saw nothing regarding the clutch. This task is not documented and I have the paperwork that doesn't mention anything about the clutch at all.
I was quoted by the dealership $1,500 just to take the clutch out and inspect it to see if it is a manufacturer issue or due to my "driving style." If it ends up NOT being a manufacturer defect, then the total cost for clutch and flywheel replacement is $3,400.
Jaw hit the floor, contacted VW Customer Care immediately and explained the situation, and a case was opened. The case manager contacted me today and basically explained the same cost and said nothing could be determined until the clutch was out of the vehicle and I would be responsible for all charges if the dealership deems that it wasn't a manufacturer's issue with the part and they won't know until the clutch is out of the car. I told her that she must have missed my main grievance, which is that I requested and paid for 30k mi service and there is no record of clutch fluid being replaced, and now suddenly I have a failed clutch 9 months later. Not to mention I've been driving manual vehicles for 20 years and never had to replace a clutch, nor do I believe any clutch should fail at 38k miles. She said she'd have to call me back tomorrow after she requests that info from the dealership and told me not to tell the dealership to do anything yet.
So if you're still with me here, what are your thoughts? If the dealership missed the fluid replacement at 30k mi service, and the part fails, why would I still be held liable for failure to that part? Also, $3,400 for a clutch/flywheel replacement seems double the amount it should be. Especially if they're going to put the same crappy OEM clutch back into the vehicle. And with that said, should I just tell them I want my car back, order an aftermarket clutch and have an indie put it in, essentially voiding my CPO warranty? Or do I take the gamble and have VW remove the clutch? I mean, if they take it out, I'm going to have to pay them to put a new one in. At that point, do I just pay the money and then sell the vehicle since I've already had a major cooling system issue and clutch failure? Who knows what's in store for me!
Seems to me that all signs point to VW being responsible for this if the maintenance was missed BEFORE that clutch is removed from the car. I get that a clutch is considered wear and tear, but so are brake calipers and if maintenance says they need to replace the hoses at a certain interval and they fail to do so and the calipers fail, shouldn't they be held responsible regardless of my braking style?
Anyhow, any advice on next steps, similar experiences, predictions on my odds of winning this thing, or random comments to make me feel better are appreciated. FYI, this ain't my first VW. Had a B5 Passat, MK4 Jetta VR6, MK4 GTI, and now MK7 GTI. Each had their own problems here and there, but nothing some knuckle scrapes and DIYs couldn't solve. Also, all were manual and never had a clutch issue. My MK4 GTI had 201k miles before I said goodbye last year and never had clutch replacement.
Thanks and hello to all who read this book!
Newbie here looking for some input from others. I have a 2016 GTI 6-speed manual with 38k miles (purchased with 24k miles in March of 2018) that still has another year of Certified Pre-Owned left on it as of today.
I took it to the dealership on Black Friday to have new front brake pads/rotors and 4 brand new tires. I picked it up at the end of the day, and when I drove it later on that night (after the dealership was closed), any acceleration past halfway on the gas pedal, the RPMs would fly up but my speed didn't (slipping out of gear). This NEVER happened before.
Emailed the dealership (closed for the weekend) and told someone to contact me ASAP, which they did the following Monday. The soonest they could get me in (somehow) was yesterday, 12/10/2019. At the end of the day, I was contacted and told that my clutch was failing and needed to be replaced.
In March of 2019 (this year), I had it in for a coolant issue (cracked thermostat housing and water pump replacement) as well as for my 30k mi service. The coolant issue was covered under CPO warranty. According to VW, 30k mi service includes replacing the clutch fluid at 30k mi or 3 years (whichever comes first) and then every 2 years after that. My paperwork doesn't list that as being done at all.
I asked the dealership if they could see that clutch fluid was replaced. The service woman stated that, because the dealership underwent management change in October of this year, that their documentation was a bit different than the previous ownership, but that she saw nothing regarding the clutch. This task is not documented and I have the paperwork that doesn't mention anything about the clutch at all.
I was quoted by the dealership $1,500 just to take the clutch out and inspect it to see if it is a manufacturer issue or due to my "driving style." If it ends up NOT being a manufacturer defect, then the total cost for clutch and flywheel replacement is $3,400.
Jaw hit the floor, contacted VW Customer Care immediately and explained the situation, and a case was opened. The case manager contacted me today and basically explained the same cost and said nothing could be determined until the clutch was out of the vehicle and I would be responsible for all charges if the dealership deems that it wasn't a manufacturer's issue with the part and they won't know until the clutch is out of the car. I told her that she must have missed my main grievance, which is that I requested and paid for 30k mi service and there is no record of clutch fluid being replaced, and now suddenly I have a failed clutch 9 months later. Not to mention I've been driving manual vehicles for 20 years and never had to replace a clutch, nor do I believe any clutch should fail at 38k miles. She said she'd have to call me back tomorrow after she requests that info from the dealership and told me not to tell the dealership to do anything yet.
So if you're still with me here, what are your thoughts? If the dealership missed the fluid replacement at 30k mi service, and the part fails, why would I still be held liable for failure to that part? Also, $3,400 for a clutch/flywheel replacement seems double the amount it should be. Especially if they're going to put the same crappy OEM clutch back into the vehicle. And with that said, should I just tell them I want my car back, order an aftermarket clutch and have an indie put it in, essentially voiding my CPO warranty? Or do I take the gamble and have VW remove the clutch? I mean, if they take it out, I'm going to have to pay them to put a new one in. At that point, do I just pay the money and then sell the vehicle since I've already had a major cooling system issue and clutch failure? Who knows what's in store for me!
Seems to me that all signs point to VW being responsible for this if the maintenance was missed BEFORE that clutch is removed from the car. I get that a clutch is considered wear and tear, but so are brake calipers and if maintenance says they need to replace the hoses at a certain interval and they fail to do so and the calipers fail, shouldn't they be held responsible regardless of my braking style?
Anyhow, any advice on next steps, similar experiences, predictions on my odds of winning this thing, or random comments to make me feel better are appreciated. FYI, this ain't my first VW. Had a B5 Passat, MK4 Jetta VR6, MK4 GTI, and now MK7 GTI. Each had their own problems here and there, but nothing some knuckle scrapes and DIYs couldn't solve. Also, all were manual and never had a clutch issue. My MK4 GTI had 201k miles before I said goodbye last year and never had clutch replacement.
Thanks and hello to all who read this book!
