Stone Acre Clutch problems regarding warranty

coreywhitton

Hi,

Can anyone help?

Iv recently purchased a Vauxhall Astra from stone acre motor group.

Iv have had the car for 5 months and done 2000 miles. The car has 10000 miles in total. 59 plate.

The clutch and flywheel has gone and stone acre have told me it has burnt out due to misuse.

I only drive 10 miles to work and back 5 times a week and occasionally drive to a relatives 50 miles away.

The car came with a 1 year warranty and I presumed it would be covered although stone acre have said this is not covered under the warranty.

They are saying the clutch and fly wheel has burnt out due to misuse/abuse. I never leave my foot on the clutch and use a handbrake on hills.

Stone Acre say i need a New fly wheel, new clutch and bolts + 1 liter of engine oil.

Can this be due to a previous owner misusing the clutch or is it solely down to my driving (THIS IS WHAT STONE ACRE ARE SAYING)

I have attached some pictures if there are any mechanics who can help me?

What can I do? Can anyone help? Can i take them to court to recover the costs?

Thanks

Ebe_Scrooge

It doesn't surprise me that the clutch is not covered under warranty - it is a "wearable" item. A clutch can wear out in a surprisingly short space of time, depending on how the car is driven. It's quite feasible that the previous owner had a less than sympathetic driving style, meaning the clutch was almost gone when you got it - not that you'd be able to tell without dismantling and inspecting it. And if your daily commute is mainly stop-start town driving, that puts a lot more wear on a clutch than motorway cruising.


You say it's a 59 plate with 10K miles in total ? That sounds wrong, is it a typo and should be 100K ? If it's only done 10K miles in 6 - 7 years that seems worryingly low.


That aside, I doubt you'd have any comeback against the garage, a clutch is a genuine "wear & tear" item in ordinary use.

coreywhitton

It's definitely 10000 And it's an a road which i use which is a straight road there is never any stop starting

lambda

It was probably on its way out before you even bought it then. If it's only done 10k miles in 7 years, it's probably been driven around the doors with a lot of load on the clutch.

Unfortunately, these 1 year warranties are not usually worth the paper they are written on, in my experience. If I were you, I'd take it to a good trustworthy mechanic for a second opinion on what exactly is wrong and what work needs to be carried out.

Sorry.

Ebe_Scrooge

This ^^^


If it really is 10K in 6-7 years then I strongly suspect the clutch has already taken a real hammering. To be honest, if it were me this would have started ringing alarm bells from the outset. I know people often like a "low-mileage" car, but there are limits !

AdrianC

Ebe_Scrooge wrote: »

You say it's a 59 plate with 10K miles in total ? That sounds wrong, is it a typo and should be 100K ? If it's only done 10K miles in 6 - 7 years that seems worryingly low.

Indeed. 8,000 miles on an Astra in 6yrs screams "elderly owner". Full-rev parking in a cloud of clutch smoke.

Which, of course, brings in a whole raft of questions about pre-existing faults and reasonable expectations.

Proving any of them is an entirely different kettle of fish.

Razoo

coreywhitton wrote: »

Hi,

Can anyone help? I've recently purchased a Vauxhall Astra from stone acre motor group. I've have had the car for 5 months and done 2000 miles. The car has 10000 miles in total. 59 plate.

The clutch and flywheel has gone and stone acre have told me it has burnt out due to misuse.

<snip>

What can I do? Can anyone help? Can i take them to court to recover the costs? Thanks

I was going to say that clutch failure within six months would be considered to be a pre-existing fault - you should ask Honest John, but I see you already have!

HJ replied: "Because this happened within 6 months of buying the car you can contend that the dealer is liable because the DMF and flywheel were already damaged before you purchased the car. The dealer is liable and if he charges you for the repair you can sue him for your money back. Your rights are here "
www.honestjohn.co.uk/faq/consumer-rights/

DMF = Dual Mass Flywheel (very prone to early failure). I think HJ meant to write;"... because the DMF and clutch were already damaged..."

Good luck!
_____
Razoo

coreywhitton

Thanks for all of your help, I think i need an independent quote on this. Can i take it out of the garage is stoneacre have already done a diagnostic to find the problem? I understand i will still have to pay them for doing the diagnostic although i just dont want to deal with them any longer.

s_b

if stone acre have told you its burnt out then that must mean they already have your car in bits?

coreywhitton

Thanks all for your help.

Iv spoken to the dealer and he is giving me the same story by saying the 'Clutch is burnt out. This cannot be due to pre existing faults and that i must have caused this issue as it can only happen when the clutch pedal is depressed.' 'This can only happen when the clutch pedal is depressed therefore you have caused the damage'

Is there anything i can say barring pre existing faults as i genuinely feel although i have not caused this damage.

Iv quoted the consumer rights and stated that i did not at anytime notice this

Many thanks in advance.

coreywhitton

yes they do