Stock 2016 GTI : Clutch Failure

First of all, I am basically beyond angry writing this. Mostly angry at my dealer currently.

I have a 2016 Volkswagen GTI S with the 6 speed manual. I bought it in June 2016. The car mechanically is completely stock besides stock air filter replaced with higher flow filter. I believe it was K&N. The car has 35,142 miles on it currently.

The car has been great up until a few weeks ago when I noticed when giving about 75% throttle the RPMs do a weird drop and catch. It was wet outside and I had traction control off, so I thought it was just wheels spinning even though it felt different.

Well I was able to reproduce it twice since then in dry road conditions in 2nd gear, sport, traction off, full throttle. It gets up to around 3800-4000 RPMs, then drops 600-800 RPM without letting off throttle at all. So I guess this was around 33,000-33,500 miles when I first noticed this.

I knew immediately it was a clutch related issue. It was obvious when boost got so high the clutch could not hold in gear anymore. I took it into the same dealership I bought it from. I paid $160+ tax for them to diagnose that Yes the clutch is slipping. When I first signed for that diagnostic amount I thought they were taking it partially apart to look. Apparently all they did was test drive to confirm they reproduced it.

That alone pisses me off. They should not have charged for that or at least said it was for a test drive to reproduce instead of just telling me it was a diagnostic fee, leading me to believe diagnose means look at it.

Except what really pisses me off is now they say that I have to authorize $1,400+ for them to do a full tear down to take pictures of the parts and send to Volkswagen. Of course if Volkswagen covers the repair I would not have to pay anything. But $1,400 for just a tear down?!? So I'm gambling $1,400 just to see just if VW will pay for it. That's beyond stupid.

Then they tell me it's a total of $3,460+ to replace both the clutch and flywheel wheel if VW doesn't cover it. Although minus about $975+ flywheel is fine. I'm guessing obvious the $1,400 is credited into that. I knew immediately that about $3,500 price was WAYYY too high.

I refused to do anything further beyond paying the $160 + tax "test drive fee" I already signed for. Called VW and they basically said they can't do anything or make any decisions until it's torn down for them to look at.

So I called another VW dealer just 205 min drive further and they're only going to charge me $1,182 labor + $300 clutch (something like that) + $875 flywheel. So that's over $1,100 cheaper than my dealer, which pissed me off more knowing my dealer was ripping people off.

Although that other dealer seemed very understanding and their manager is supposed to call me back. He also said he had seen VW "step to the plate" on this before, but of course can't gaurentee. So they seemed that maybe they will work with me to try to get VW to cover it without making me gamble a ton of money. Just a disclaimer... no one knows if the fly wheel is bad too, my dealer was just giving me worst case scenario pricing.

Anyways I'm about 98% confident that whatever the problem is has nothing to do with driver fault for the following reasons....

1.) I bought the car brand new and no one has driven it except my father once and he drove it fine. I was in the car with him.

2.) I don't do clutch drops ever, except maybe 3 or 4 times around 1,500-2,500 miles just to see what it was like in this car. It basically didn't give me much more launch, just spun the tires a bunch. So I never did it since after a 3 or 4 attempts over 30k miles ago. I do drive with a bit of a heavy foot sometimes, but this car should be made for that, so that obviously should not matter.

3.) I drove a 6 speed manual Acura RSX Type-S before this from 52k miles until $136k+ miles with absolutely no clutch slipping. If it was my driving style, clearly it would have happened to my last manual car too.

4.)My car at 35k miles still has the original tires on it with still plenty of tread left on them. Likely around half the tread. Further proof I have not been doing a bunch of burn outs with the car.

5.) Plus for those who do burn out the clutch from 'driving style,' then I imagine it would be burnt out in the first 10k miles. If you're using something wrong, it's going to break pretty quickly. Not just randomly break 20-35% in to a clutches lifespan, just out of no where when the same owner has been driving it for 35k miles.

Anyways what do you guys think? I did some reading and can see other stock MK7's have had this happen before. So I know I'm not alone. Please explain any experiences you or anyone you have known with a stock MK7 clutch failing. Also what else can cause clutch to go bad besides dumping the clutch? I want to be able to challenge this as much as possible, with as much knowledge as possible.

Thanks in advance! I'll also update the post to let everyone know what happens over the next several days or weeks.

No warranty on friction materials. Some people get lucky and the dealership likes them or whatever and helps to get things like this covered under warranty.

Slipping the clutch (too much) causes more wear then dumping it. Dumping the clutch tends to break the disk causing instant failure. Riding the clutch will cause it wear. Obviously a mechanical failure of components can cause the clutch to not work, or not work right. User error can destroy a clutch in 5 miles, or 500,000. So yes, an improper driving habit could have just taken out the clutch now. Most cases like this have been user error... but normally because racecar.

Basically, if they tear it down and there is any glazing or hot spots, it won't be covered.

Yeah sorry to hear about the frustration. Clutch is a wear item so best you just pay out of pocket and get it behind you. In this case, unless you're getting ready to sell the car, I'd opt for a higher performance one and run Stage1 or 2. GL

The best that you can do is to buy a TTRS clutch kit for around $550 it feels 95% like an OEM clutch but it will hold torque until 400+ of torque. Also I would look for an Indi shop, here in PA I found one that installed mine for $400 and never had a problem with the clutch.

Wrath And Tears said:

No warranty on friction materials. Some people get lucky and the dealership likes them or whatever and helps to get things like this covered under warranty.

Slipping the clutch (too much) causes more wear then dumping it. Dumping the clutch tends to break the disk causing instant failure. Riding the clutch will cause it wear. Obviously a mechanical failure of components can cause the clutch to not work, or not work right. User error can destroy a clutch in 5 miles, or 500,000. So yes, an improper driving habit could have just taken out the clutch now. Most cases like this have been user error... but normally because racecar.

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Okay, that makes sense. Except I still know it wasn't improper driving. As I said, I drove a manual to over $136k on the original clutch. So unless the stock GTI clutch is just too weak for the power, or made of inferior materials compared to the Acura clutch I had, therefore causing wear 3-4 faster than most car clutches, then it certainly isn't wear.

Although I know it could be still possibly due to wear if it's just not a good clutch for this engine, but that's why I don't want to risk gambling $1,400 for disassembling. All I want right now is for them to simply disassemble for free or actual cost they are paying the guy.

So that way I can give the warranty a shot before deciding what to do. That's the least any dealership can do if you bought from them. It costs them nothing if they just charge me an at cost labor rate of $25-30 an hour that they pay the guy. For them to not do that when you're in warranty is just shitty business practice.

Golfs everyday said:

Yeah sorry to hear about the frustration. Clutch is a wear item so best you just pay out of pocket and get it behind you. In this case, unless you're getting ready to sell the car, I'd opt for a higher performance one and run Stage1 or 2. GL

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Maybe, but I really don't want to blow my warranty early from any upgrades. Although if VW/dealer refuse to pay or mostly pay, and I decide to still keep the car, then I would do a higher performance clutch.

Jose_Gti said:

The best that you can do is to buy a TTRS clutch kit for around $550 it feels 95% like an OEM clutch but it will hold torque until 400+ of torque. Also I would look for an Indi shop, here in PA I found one that installed mine for $400 and never had a problem with the clutch.

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Interesting, I didn't know TTRS clutch would fit in a GTI. Yeah $400-$500 install cost was what I was expecting. I knew dealer would be a bit higher, but about $2,000 in labor alone?! That should be illegal to up charge someone 400%. Sadly people fall for it all the time.

That's too bad.

Sounds like the clutch is a weak point on these cars.

In the name of re-use and cost savings, the 1.0 TFSI probably uses the same clutch as the GTI's 2.0 beast.

AndroidPurity said:

Okay, that makes sense. Except I still know it wasn't improper driving. As I said, I drove a manual to over $136k on the original clutch. So unless the stock GTI clutch is just too weak for the power, or made of inferior materials compared to the Acura clutch I had, therefore causing wear 3-4 faster than most car clutches, then it certainly isn't wear.

Although I know it could be still possibly due to wear if it's just not a good clutch for this engine, but that's why I don't want to risk gambling $1,400 for disassembling. All I want right now is for them to simply disassemble for free or actual cost they are paying the guy.

So that way I can give the warranty a shot before deciding what to do. That's the least any dealership can do if you bought from them. It costs them nothing if they just charge me an at cost labor rate of $25-30 an hour that they pay the guy. For them to not do that when you're in warranty is just shitty business practice.

Click to expand...

Wow, you expected them to take your car apart for $160? Yeah, they should just forget about the shop's overhead, employee benefits, and the profit they lost from being nice to you just because you bought the car from them? I guess if VW won't pay you'll want them to reassemble your car for free too?

AndroidPurity said:

Interesting, I didn't know TTRS clutch would fit in a GTI. Yeah $400-$500 install cost was what I was expecting. I knew dealer would be a bit higher, but about $2,000 in labor alone?! That should be illegal to up charge someone 400%. Sadly people fall for it all the time.

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Even the flywheel is only $380 but maybe you can reuse yours if it’s not fried.
This is what you may need: https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/audi-vw-clutch-kit-sachs-performance-529542
That clutch kit is $500 + install worse case scenario you can drive up to PA for the install and have it all done for $900 ish.
$2000 in labor is just nonsense...
Good luck with the stealership but at least you have a plan B

AndroidPurity said:

Well I was able to reproduce it twice since then in dry road conditions in 2nd gear, sport, traction off, full throttle. It gets up to around 3800-4000 RPMs, then drops 600-800 RPM without letting off throttle at all.

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Shouldn’t clutch slip make the revs increase?

AndroidPurity said:

Okay, that makes sense. Except I still know it wasn't improper driving. As I said, I drove a manual to over $136k on the original clutch. So unless the stock GTI clutch is just too weak for the power, or made of inferior materials compared to the Acura clutch I had, therefore causing wear 3-4 faster than most car clutches, then it certainly isn't wear.

Although I know it could be still possibly due to wear if it's just not a good clutch for this engine, but that's why I don't want to risk gambling $1,400 for disassembling. All I want right now is for them to simply disassemble for free or actual cost they are paying the guy.

So that way I can give the warranty a shot before deciding what to do. That's the least any dealership can do if you bought from them. It costs them nothing if they just charge me an at cost labor rate of $25-30 an hour that they pay the guy. For them to not do that when you're in warranty is just shitty business practice.

Click to expand...

Unfortunately, this is an issue. Even stock power, if you load it right (100% throttle in too high a gear for your speed), can cause slip for some people. It really is a bad clutch. There is also a few things that VW added, like the Clutch Delay Valve, which lets the clutch slip even more.

dj06 said:

Shouldn’t clutch slip make the revs increase?

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Hahaha, great point, completely missed that. Yes, clutch slip makes revs increase. So if OP's rev's aren't increasing while speed stays the same, he is not experiencing clutch slip. Jesus I should have read the OP a bit more. Yeah rpm drop could point to ECS intervention. 2nd gear 100% throttle supports that. The car has awesome torque and you can easily spin the wheels and have ECS intervene, even with ECS in sport and TC off.

Thanks for pointing that out. It could still be an issue with the clutch, but not with clutch slip.

The Fed said:

Wow, you expected them to take your car apart for $160? Yeah, they should just forget about the shop's overhead, employee benefits, and the profit they lost from being nice to you just because you bought the car from them? I guess if VW won't pay you'll want them to reassemble your car for free too?

Click to expand...

I was never assisting free the only option, I completely excepted and was open to paying some labor. But I'v never heard someone defend a company that charges nearly 400% the market rate for something. But okay.

Jose_Gti said:

Even the flywheel is only $380 but maybe you can reuse yours if it’s not fried.
This is what you may need: https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/audi-vw-clutch-kit-sachs-performance-529542
That clutch kit is $500 + install worse case scenario you can drive up to PA for the install and have it all done for $900 ish.
$2000 in labor is just nonsense...
Good luck with the stealership but at least you have a plan B

Click to expand...

Thanks! Yeah, flywheel might be fine. They were just giving me worst case scenario pricing. Yeah the labor they are charging is insane. If I wasn't in such shock I would have laughed when they said the prices. If I do go route of paying for clutch out of pocket then it certainly would not be OEM.

But right now plan is to get VW to cover, then if not maybe I'll try to just trade in for a 2016 DSG and not deal with it. As a last resort if those 2 options don't work, then I'll replace with a upgraded clutch a good shop.

dj06 said:

Shouldn’t clutch slip make the revs increase?

Click to expand...

Good point. It kind of does both. Drops RPM then drastically climbs without accelerating. I left off the gas completely about a second after it catches and RPMS climb again. Maybe a sign there's something more at play than just a work clutch? That would be good, increase chances of VW covering? I'm worried to test again, worried it will make things worse or break something else in the transmission assembly.

Although on another note, the VW mechanic agreed it was clutch slip too when he test drove it. Also on a weird note this VW mechanic had a very heavy German accent. Like such a heavy accent I could barely understand him. You don't see that often in dealerships.

Wrath And Tears said:

Hahaha, great point, completely missed that. Yes, clutch slip makes revs increase. So if OP's rev's aren't increasing while speed stays the same, he is not experiencing clutch slip. Jesus I should have read the OP a bit more. Yeah rpm drop could point to ECS intervention. 2nd gear 100% throttle supports that. The car has awesome torque and you can easily spin the wheels and have ECS intervene, even with ECS in sport and TC off.

Thanks for pointing that out. It could still be an issue with the clutch, but not with clutch slip.

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See my above comment. I elaborate a little more. I'm a little worried to test it again, in result that it makes whatever it is worse. Anyways if it's something electronic sensing issue, then shouldn't they be able to get that by running logs while testing? If so I'm gonna call to ask if they did that. If they didn't do that, I'm going to make them do that before taking it apart.

Are you deadset on getting an oem replacement to stay in warranty?

AndroidPurity said:

I was never assisting free the only option, I completely excepted and was open to paying some labor. But I'v never heard someone defend a company that charges nearly 400% the market rate for something. But okay.



Thanks! Yeah, flywheel might be fine. They were just giving me worst case scenario pricing. Yeah the labor they are charging is insane. If I wasn't in such shock I would have laughed when they said the prices. If I do go route of paying for clutch out of pocket then it certainly would not be OEM.

But right now plan is to get VW to cover, then if not maybe I'll try to just trade in for a 2016 DSG and not deal with it. As a last resort if those 2 options don't work, then I'll replace with a upgraded clutch a good shop.



Good point. It kind of does both. Drops RPM then drastically climbs without accelerating. I left off the gas completely about a second after it catches and RPMS climb again. Maybe a sign there's something more at play than just a work clutch? That would be good, increase chances of VW covering? I'm worried to test again, worried it will make things worse or break something else in the transmission assembly.

Although on another note, the VW mechanic agreed it was clutch slip too when he test drove it. Also on a weird note this VW mechanic had a very heavy German accent. Like such a heavy accent I could barely understand him. You don't see that often in dealerships.

Click to expand...

Supply and demand. You can always try other dealers, which you did. Most people don't. I don't know if ever had "the psychology of selling" in a marketing course, it's explained. And never forget a dealer's goal is to separate the customer from as much money as possible. But whether they try to on you involves your relationship with them. Did you nicely ask if they could do any better? Did you have this dealer do your scheduled maintenance? Do you have a relationship with the service advisor, keep in touch, stop by or email or test just to say hello, so you're not just another faceless customer? These things do help. I'm not defending the company, just not defending you unless you forgot to mention the above. People are people, and service advisors work on commission.

On another note, I'd be interested if any shop does the replacement of a stock clutch PP and disk and doesn't replace the flywheel. I'm not sure they can even be resurfaced anymore. That's like not replacing rotors if you want the best braking performance. I think the days of cutting rotors are gone.