Clutch burned - Hire car..please advise

doraappa

Hi

I hired a car for 5 days starting yesterday evening. This morning when I was driving I was struggling to get the gear from 3rd to 4th. The car felt slow in the first gear and I had to rev up a bit to get the car going. When I came out of my car I felt some smell. This evening I drove it again and I really felt something wrong with the car. I drove it straight to the car hire with the hope of getting another car.

The smell was bit strong when I came out this time. It was clear that the clutch was overheated.

The lady in the counter says that the manager is not in so they will make a decision on how much they will charge me. I paid 1600£ as deposit

1) How much are they likely to charge me as there is no way I can prove it’s not my fault

2) I bought excess reduce insurance separately few hours before starting my hire car. Can I be able to claim this back from them?

Thanks for your responses in advance

sevenhills

doraappa wrote: »

1) How much are they likely to charge me as there is no way I can prove it’s not my fault

So will you pay?


Maybe they will have to prove it was your fault?

Clive_Woody

Ask for reduced hire charges as they provided you with a car with a knackered clutch that meant you had to return to their office to get a replacement.

Any suggestion from them that you killed the clutch, tell them to provide proof (assuming this wasn't a brand new car with delivery mileage only....and even then it would be a faulty clutch and not your problem).

doraappa

I am not looking to pay if I don’t have to but it feels that I will be told an amount tomorrow. I don’t have a way to prove it’s not my fault either.

Will getting an independent mechanic advice do any good? Can they look at it and say how long this issue has been?

doraappa

The car is an Year old and had 20590 miles on the clock

konark

...and only 100 (not-so) careful owners.

esmerobbo

Greenmotion by any chance?

loskie

they need to be able to prove that there was NO fault with the clutch when you collected it.
Do not pay, you should NOT be charged. In fact the hire co should be apologetic for renting you a faulty car.

Your post suggests you are looking at it all wrong.
Pretty high miles for a rental car.

VFR

As Loskie (above) has stated, please read and take note.

lopsyfa

doraappa wrote: »

I am not looking to pay if I don’t have to but it feels that I will be told an amount tomorrow. I don’t have a way to prove it’s not my fault either.

Will getting an independent mechanic advice do any good? Can they look at it and say how long this issue has been?

The point is it is not for you to prove the fault is there before they gave you the car. It is for them to proof the car was not faulty before they gave it to you. Even then, cars can develop fault anytime. They need to proof you have done something to cause the issue.

Don't go in and start apologizing and asking them not to charge you much, I'll advice you put in a complain now asking for them to give you your rental money back for the days you weren't able to use the car because of the fault. That will push them back a bit and make them think twice about asking you to pay anything.

To answer your other question, your excess insurance will probably not cover this as that only cover excess in case of an accident not for repairing faulty car.

DoaM

esmerobbo wrote: »

Greenmotion by any chance?

The story sounds very familiar, so it might be worth the OP searching this forum about them.