Insignia Clutch problem - any advice?

nicnicj

We have a Vauxhall Insignia 09 plate that we bought last year when it was just 1 yr old and had done 21000 miles. all been ok, had it serviced last mth - fine and then 10 days ago started making dreadful noise and had to be towed to garage by AA. Dealer garage are now saying they think it is the gearbox/fly wheel/clutch issue (that seems quite common from what I've read online) and that we may be liable to pay around £1500 if it turns out to be wear and tear and not manufacturer fault. We have only driven it 8000miles since we bought it and are not heavy on the clutch. We have a lot of driving experience between us (my husband and I) - have owned 8 cars and the last family car we had before this had done 80,000 miles and not needed a new clutch.

I have spoken to both the dealer (Evans Halshaw) and Vauxhall - admittedly the dealer has actually been more helpful and can see my point I think, but obviously they need approval from Vauxhall (who were less helpful) that they will get paid for doing the job....

any advice greatly appreciated!!

Strider590

Diesel? It'll be the DMF (dual mass flywheel), if you give em a real hammering they can fail very early on. I would get a solid flywheel fitted in it's place, should cost a lot less, the engine noise will be slightly higher and vibrate through the car slightly more, but it'll never fail again.

Should really be a warranty job though........ Didn't VX have the life time (100'000 mile) warranty in place in 2009?

If not diesel, then im very surprised.

nicnicj

hi - thanks for replying...yes it is a diesel.

they are saying that it's not covered under warranty cos it's from wear and tear but we've only done 8k in it (had previously done 21k) and not heavy on the clutch at all....

really not happy about spending about £1500 on it, don't even have that much money anyway and not sure how to proceed! feeling v stressed about it!

rodenal

They are feeding you some absolute nonsense. Just to confirm the car has done approx 30k miles? You would need to be doing the traffic light gp every time you were in the car to make it fail after that kind of mileage.

Go back to them and get them to show you where in the service schedule for the car the 30k mile replacement clutch and flywheel are shown.

Legally I am not sure how you should proceed other than escalating the case as highly as you can within vauxhall and kicking up as public a fuss as you can about it - make it crystal clear you wont be paying anything towards the repair

nicnicj

hi thanks for replying... yes the car has done 29k... and we've done 8k of those!
previous car history - never had to have a replacement clutch and we owned a mondeo prior to the insignia, had it for 8 yrs and did approx 70-80k in it!!

not sure where we stand legally but i have now done loads of research and feel more confident to argue with them about it!

nicnicj

by the way what do you mean by traffic light gp?? (sorry if i'm being dense!)

rodenal

Just mean that you would have to be dumping the clutch from a standstill at every opportunity (i.e sitting holding at 3.5k revs then just dropping the clutch to pull away) - No sane person does this so dont worry lol

s_b

unfortunately its a wear and tear item or a consumable if you like
i wouldn't go guns blazing seeing as dealer is being helpful but more looking for a contribution to the costs from manufacturer
not sure if solid flywheel would be a good move on an vauxhall insignificance

BM-AK

For a clutch to last just 30,000 miles is completely unacceptable and I'd push for a replacement under warranty. It is certainly not a reasonable period for a clutch to last.

If the car was under a used car warranty, then it may be classed as wear and tear. However, as it is not over 3 years, I assume you were given the remainder of the manufacterers warranty - which covers more comprehensively.

If you don't get anywhere with it being replaced under warranty then i'd push the dealer to speak directly with Vauxhall and apply for it to be replaced by Vauxhall at no cost under goodwill. I've done this before (albieit with other manufacterers when the car had just lapsed its warranty). Whilst they didn't pay the whole cost, they ended up paying 100% parts and 50% labour. Certainly better than paying for the whole thing!

Strider590

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=90792

Might be helpful

SAAB 9-3 / Vauxhall Vectra = GM Epsilon Platform

Vauxhall Insignia = GM Epsilon II Platform

The Epsilon II was designed (amogst other reasons) to allow the addition of 4 wheel drive.

Essentially all use the same engines, gearboxes, flywheel and clutch. Difference obviously being the final drive...

nicnicj

thanks! yes i agree with all you've said and i will wait and see what they come back and say to me this morning. waiting for the sales mgr to make a decision at the mo regarding the fact we've only done 8k since buying it from them!
i have to say that Vauxhall customer care were not v good when i spoke to them y'day but i will try again.

another thing that i hate about this sort of thing is the amount of time it takes up! i'm a teacher and should be writing my children's reports or spending time with my own children but have spent most of the morning researching the car issue! nightmare!
thanks for all advice, much appreciated!