Burnt clutch - hire vehicle
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So what are you doing... seeing if they take you to court or taking them to court for the windscreen?
Arcon, CAB says I can wait until GM takes me to court and bring up both the issues at the same time. And then it is upto the Judge to see how this should be resolved.
At the moment I'm not getting any response from GM whatso ever..0 -
Without physically examining the components it would be difficult to give any sort of advice which you could use in a court.
Looking at the pictures again it would seem the friction plate has friction material left on the pictured side. I would assume they would photo the worst side. However without being able to measure the thickness of the material and measuring it to against new one you could not give a view.
The pressure plate would need looking at and the diaphragm spring checking for breaks and pressure.
They have not shown you pictures of the flywheel or the release bearing. Which you would need to see.
There are several reasons a clutch could slip badly but there is only a couple of ways you could cause it and that is by riding it or overloading it.
I would like to know why the clutch was washed before the pictures were taken. Why no picture of the clutch in situ, the flywheel, the release bearing, input shaft, clutch pedal.0 -
Back in 2003 I foolishly bought a new 1600 Clio. This car Needed a new clutch every 11,000 miles. The pressure plate was underated for the car and had very poor quality springs, the friction plate was like new but the clutch started slipping.
The Renault dealers tried to blame my driving but they apologised when they saw the amount friction lining on the plate.
It might be worth investigating if your hire vehicle has a similar bad design problem.0 -
Without physically examining the components it would be difficult to give any sort of advice which you could use in a court.
Looking at the pictures again it would seem the friction plate has friction material left on the pictured side. I would assume they would photo the worst side. However without being able to measure the thickness of the material and measuring it to against new one you could not give a view.
The pressure plate would need looking at and the diaphragm spring checking for breaks and pressure.
They have not shown you pictures of the flywheel or the release bearing. Which you would need to see.
There are several reasons a clutch could slip badly but there is only a couple of ways you could cause it and that is by riding it or overloading it.
I would like to know why the clutch was washed before the pictures were taken. Why no picture of the clutch in situ, the flywheel, the release bearing, input shaft, clutch pedal.
Thanks, I guess those are very valid questions I can put forward. But requesting for the parts now doesn't make any sense is it, especially when you can't tie the part to the particular vehicle, like chasis number i mean..
In your experience do you think such a damage can happen in such a short travel?? they claim the way the damage has occurred suggests that it is due the driver at that time...0 -
Back in 2003 I foolishly bought a new 1600 Clio. This car Needed a new clutch every 11,000 miles. The pressure plate was underated for the car and had very poor quality springs, the friction plate was like new but the clutch started slipping.
The Renault dealers tried to blame my driving but they apologised when they saw the amount friction lining on the plate.
It might be worth investigating if your hire vehicle has a similar bad design problem.
Useful to know... particularly when it is not a such a common vehicle on the road..0 -
Most of my knowledge of clutches is from HGV clutches, I have seen clutches destroyed in a short time but this was usually because of poor gearbox use overloading the clutch.
A normal slip would be caused by a worn friction plate or the springs breaking or weakening in the pressure plate.
The friction plate in the picture does not look worn enough to cause a slip without another factor, Like a weak pressure plate, mechanical malfunction or contamination.
From a distance I would say that you would have to badly misuse a clutch to destroy it in a short distance and if it was misused to such an extent the both components in the pictures would show much more damage.
I would expect the friction plate to show much more wear or break up of the friction material, and the pressure plate to show blueing and crazing if it was badly slipping, and damaged in a short period.0 -
A court case would be decided on the balance of probabilities. With regards to the clutch, you would need a qualified engineer simply to state that it is unlikely that a clutch would be destroyed in that short a time by a single driver and that the damage could have been caused at any time previously, just because it failed on you doesn't mean you caused the damage. As the hire company cannot prove it was your specific driving that caused the fault, they will not be able to pin it on you. You depend on the judge grasping this argument, he will not be using his knowledge, but be relying on you.
If you win, which you should, you would be able to claim costs.
What you do need to be careful of is that there is a proper court procedure to follow. It can be intimidating for a lay person, especially as I suspect that this cowboy firm will not themselves follow proper process but then try and trap you for not following process (happens all the time in the parking court cases). It might be worth posting in the "Off topic" forum of the Pepipoo forum for real legal advice from real solicitors who will be more than happy to guide you.0 -
The angle of the picture doesn't the thickness of the plate at all, if you compare it with a picture of a new one it hardly looks worn.
https://www.ebay.ie/itm/LuK-Clutch-Kit-LuK-RepSet-Fiat-Ducato/131975565724?hash=item1eba5b519c:g:hoMAAOSwlp1Z0Wy6
I'd say any slippage of this clutch is not down to wear, it's probably caused by weak springs in the pressure plate and is no fault of the driver.0 -
This is why I avoid small "independant" car hire companies, and prefer to pay a bit more for an international firm."
These small hire companies will shaft you like this, keep claiming for the same damage over and over again to different rentors.
I just looked up reviews for this company on yelp. Loads of people claiming they were charged £126 for pain chip damage. (should not have been charged anyway as they were less than 10mm small).
When asked for receipt of repair on their insurance claim, none was provided so the hirer could no claim on excess insurance.0 -
Thanks, so can we say that there isn't enough evidence in the pictures that suggest the damage could have been caused during my hiring period.
I guess as you had initially commented, we need more associated parts to and preferably better pictures showing all sides to say something concrete.
The fact that they decided to make it so vague and clearly didn't give me a chance to send a independent engineer to check the vehicle summarises their fraudulent intentions..0
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