Clutch replaced in December has gone

GeorginaHolt

In December I paid around £700 to have the clutch replaced in my Citroen Xsara Picasso. I only do about 5-600 miles a year. On 23/7/16 my car broke down and the garage told me my clutch has gone, but they won't know the extent of the damage until they look at it. To take the gear box out will be a lot of labour, and I was not expecting to have any problems with the clutch so soon after a replacement. I reminded them that they had replaced the clutch recently, and they are looking into this. Meanwhile, I've said that I don't want to start incurring labour costs before I have an idea of what the total cost is likely to be (it's an old car). I don't think they give a warranty with their work, but I feel that I shouldn't have to pay for this to be re-done so soon. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Retrogamer

Did they supply the clutch that was replaced?

Did you ask them to replace the clutch or did they recommend replacing it?

Do you know what other parts were replaced at the same time?

It's possibly to burn out a clutch quickly by poor driving but you would usually find evidence of this when the gearbox is removed.

KingS6

Usually but perhaps not always, there are telltale signs that a clutch is "on it's way out" and will be likely to fail soon. A biting point on the pedal that increases in height until near enough a the top of the travel of the pedal. A jerking type of motion when accelerating, watch for the tachometer needle (or bar in the case of being in a Xsara Picasso) jumping up through the rev range. This is known as the clutch "slipping".

Even with 600 miles of absolutely ruthless driving after having a new clutch fitted I doubt a brand new clutch would just pack in. You say you only do that in a year so 7 months is a non-starter. I wonder if they fitted a used part instead.

Also check whether they fitted a pattern part as these are not always as good as quality as a genuine part. If they supplied the part and fitted it there must be some sort of warranty or guarantee. (Correct me if I'm wrong here).

If it is a diesel car you may also have clutch-related problems such as a Dual Mass Flywheel failure.

You could always get a second opinion from a different garage.

Don't forget that Citroens are not known for their reliability. You could well be experiencing "French car life".

Retrogamer

KingS6 wrote: »

Usually but perhaps not always, there are telltale signs that a clutch is "on it's way out" and will be likely to fail soon. A biting point on the pedal that increases in height until near enough a the top of the travel of the pedal. A jerking type of motion when accelerating, watch for the tachometer needle (or bar in the case of being in a Xsara Picasso) jumping up through the rev range. This is known as the clutch "slipping".

Even with 600 miles of absolutely ruthless driving after having a new clutch fitted I doubt a brand new clutch would just pack in. You say you only do that in a year so 7 months is a non-starter. I wonder if they fitted a used part instead.

Also check whether they fitted a pattern part as these are not always as good as quality as a genuine part. If they supplied the part and fitted it there must be some sort of warranty or guarantee. (Correct me if I'm wrong here).

If it is a diesel car you may also have clutch-related problems such as a Dual Mass Flywheel failure.

You could always get a second opinion from a different garage.

Don't forget that Citroens are not known for their reliability. You could well be experiencing "French car life".

You could kill a brand new clutch on a brand new car in an hour or less if you were really reckless. High revs and riding the clutch on biting point should do it

bigjl

KingS6 wrote: »

Usually but perhaps not always, there are telltale signs that a clutch is "on it's way out" and will be likely to fail soon. A biting point on the pedal that increases in height until near enough a the top of the travel of the pedal. A jerking type of motion when accelerating, watch for the tachometer needle (or bar in the case of being in a Xsara Picasso) jumping up through the rev range. This is known as the clutch "slipping".

Even with 600 miles of absolutely ruthless driving after having a new clutch fitted I doubt a brand new clutch would just pack in. You say you only do that in a year so 7 months is a non-starter. I wonder if they fitted a used part instead.

Also check whether they fitted a pattern part as these are not always as good as quality as a genuine part. If they supplied the part and fitted it there must be some sort of warranty or guarantee. (Correct me if I'm wrong here).

If it is a diesel car you may also have clutch-related problems such as a Dual Mass Flywheel failure.

You could always get a second opinion from a different garage.

Don't forget that Citroens are not known for their reliability. You could well be experiencing "French car life".

Define a pattern clutch?

Unlike body panels they are not made by Citroen.

And what do you mean by "French car life"?

French cars are no more or less reliable than any other car.

In my experience they are perfectly reliable and a lot of the issues are due to owners either not fixing problems and selling on the car by either hiding or bodging the problem or people treating them as disposable due to their low residuals.

French cars also tend to rust less and are often at the sharp end when it comes to safety.

Ever seen the Fifth Gear Modus v Volvo 940 estate crash test? Supplier alert the Modus destroyed the massive Volvo.

5/600 miles a year? So the clutch has done 300 miles or so. If the garage fitted it then it will be under warranty.

Though as the OP has given no details of the vehicle other than the name and no details of the symptoms other than it has broken down I doubt anybody can assist constructively.

BeenThroughItAll

bigjl wrote: »

Define a pattern clutch?

Unlike body panels they are not made by Citroen.

And what do you mean by "French car life"?

French cars are no more or less reliable than any other car.

In my experience they are perfectly reliable and a lot of the issues are due to owners either not fixing problems and selling on the car by either hiding or bodging the problem or people treating them as disposable due to their low residuals.

French cars also tend to rust less and are often at the sharp end when it comes to safety.

Ever seen the Fifth Gear Modus v Volvo 940 estate crash test? Supplier alert the Modus destroyed the massive Volvo.

5/600 miles a year? So the clutch has done 300 miles or so. If the garage fitted it then it will be under warranty.

Though as the OP has given no details of the vehicle other than the name and no details of the symptoms other than it has broken down I doubt anybody can assist constructively.

Let's be fair, the Modus was introduced over FOURTEEN years after the Volvo, so standards had changed considerably in that time.

KingS6

bigjl wrote: »

Define a pattern clutch?

Unlike body panels they are not made by Citroen.

I'm making a generalisation, we do not know from OP's post if there could be another issue. Good advice for the future.

bigjl wrote: »

And what do you mean by "French car life"?

Exactly that. Enquire on Honest John or even better, Pistonheads.

bigjl wrote: »

French cars are no more or less reliable than any other car.

In comparison to a Japanese built Honda for example?

bigjl wrote: »

In my experience they are perfectly reliable and a lot of the issues are due to owners either not fixing problems and selling on the car by either hiding or bodging the problem or people treating them as disposable due to their low residuals.

So how about people who have suffered electrical problems from brand new? This is not an issue they are hiding or bodging. Can you quantify "a lot of the issues"? Electrical gremlins can be hard to treat. Count yourself fortunate that in your experience "they are perfectly reliable" because a lot of people would disagree.

I see more French cars broken down with hazard lights on that any other marques. On a recent road trip from Manchester to Wembley the most frequently vehicle broken down on the hard shoulder was the old shape Megane and second place went to the Xsara Picasso.

bigjl wrote: »

French cars also tend to rust less and are often at the sharp end when it comes to safety.

I never claimed they were not safe or prone to rust.

arcon5

bigjl wrote: »

Define a pattern clutch?

Unlike body panels they are not made by Citroen.

And what do you mean by "French car life"?

French cars are no more or less reliable than any other car.

In my experience they are perfectly reliable and a lot of the issues are due to owners either not fixing problems and selling on the car by either hiding or bodging the problem or people treating them as disposable due to their low residuals.

French cars also tend to rust less and are often at the sharp end when it comes to safety.

Ever seen the Fifth Gear Modus v Volvo 940 estate crash test? Supplier alert the Modus destroyed the massive Volvo.

5/600 miles a year? So the clutch has done 300 miles or so. If the garage fitted it then it will be under warranty.

Though as the OP has given no details of the vehicle other than the name and no details of the symptoms other than it has broken down I doubt anybody can assist constructively.

And what warranty will that be then?

flashg67

The repairer will have a warranty on the clutch part at least, depending on their suppler, it may, or may not cover labour. If it is faulty, and not 'driver error', then any half decent garage would cover the cost as goodwill anyway

There is no way to 100% give the cost without removing the gearbox but you can take an educated guess I suppose based on the previous cost.

Is it just you who drives the car? I caught my other half riding the clutch at a junction the other day. I can't repeat what my comments to her were......

mcjordi

I bet i could kill a clutch in 600 miles if you wanted me to..
also any leaks? im not 100% but i think the piccasso is a hydraulic clutch, so possible leaky slave/master cylinder
also in my opinion there is nothing the matter with french cars, ive owned several in the past and currently drive a renault..

Rain_Shadow

GeorginaHolt wrote: »

In December I paid around £700 to have the clutch replaced in my Citroen Xsara Picasso. I only do about 5-600 miles a year. On 23/7/16 my car broke down and the garage told me my clutch has gone, but they won't know the extent of the damage until they look at it. To take the gear box out will be a lot of labour, and I was not expecting to have any problems with the clutch so soon after a replacement. I reminded them that they had replaced the clutch recently, and they are looking into this. Meanwhile, I've said that I don't want to start incurring labour costs before I have an idea of what the total cost is likely to be (it's an old car). I don't think they give a warranty with their work, but I feel that I shouldn't have to pay for this to be re-done so soon. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Seriously? 500 miles a year. Sell the car and call taxis.

Of course I can't imagine anyone calling troll on this new poster.