Clutch

Itchyy

Hi all

Hoping someone can please advise.

I purchased a Hyundai i40 (63 plate, approx 57k miles) from Arnold Clark back in December 2018. It had an alleged new clutch fitted prior to collection.
I took the car away, and on two occasions over the course of 4 weeks I returned the car to be checked over with concerns I had (clutch, vibration) however was constantly sent away with “No fault found”. Unfortunately there was some health problems, which led to a loss within the family, so I lost will on chasing the problem.

At the point of collection I was reassured the clutch itself had a 12 month warranty (verbally). So come June/July I chased the sales rep via email, however this went unanswered - I then placed phone calls, which were met with “I’ll have your call returned”.
Roll on to today, I had the car MOT’d and asked for them to take a nose/test drive. The result of this is that the clutch is “f****d” and that the bite is too high.

I contacted AC to be told the sales rep was no longer in the business, but was passed on to servicing. They have arranged for the car come in on Tuesday for a “road test”, but I’ve has this TWICE! I’m worried I’m going to be wasting time here and would like to prepare myself for what action I can take?

Thank you for reading this!

DUTR

Take it in on Tuesday for a road test.

EdGasketTheSecond

They will try and fob you off and hope it lasts out the warranty period. If you can get a statement from the garage that says it is f***** etc. then you have something meaningful to argue back with. Otherwise as the car is presumably getting from A to B the clutch is at least working. Does it slip if you accelerate hard?

jimbo6977

Arnold Shark bites again!

forgotmyname

Clutch is high may not be a failed clutch though. I bought a car and thought the clutch was a bit high and thought its going to need a clutch soon.

Purchased it with that in my mind and happy at the price.

Towed my caravan to Cornwall and back for over 5 years and towed to other locations which added approx 6000 miles just towing, add the mileage for my fairly short commute every day and it was exactly the same height when i sold it some 5 or 6 years later.

Itchyy

Thanks for the replies - I’ll see what happens Tuesday, however I’m somewhat anxious!
I can get written documentation from the garage I attended not a problem, I will also take Halfords up on their free clutch test if it goes sour.

The only problems I noticed was vibration and overall just not smooth. It’s never slipped and I’ve never had issues changing gear.

Thanks

Itchyy

Morning all,

So this morning I took my vehicle back to Arnold Clark - the Mechanic noticed the issue straight away. I have also been advised the 12 month warranty does not exist on the clutch?

They are asking £150 to drop the gearbox, and any further costs/labour will be met by me. I challenged this, and immediately they said I have to pay the £150, and they *may* be able to get sales to front the remainder. They cannot guarantee this however.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

AdrianC

It's a hydraulic clutch, so the pedal height is totally unrelated to the state of the friction plate. It's only defined by the master cylinder and the pedal stop.

If I were to take a wild guess, I'd say that it probably had a clutch, which is still fine, but the DMF wasn't replaced and is now on the way out... That won't be covered by any warranty. And whether it had a clutch or not is academic - you'd be daft to put that one back in, but the only difference is the parts cost.

Itchyy

Thank you for your reply.

Just an update - I went direct to customer service, who weren't totally happy which gives me confidence - they spoke with the Service Manager, who then spoke to me. Apparently I still have to pay £150.00 to have the gearbox dropped. They then assess the vehicle (clutch/flywheel) and come back with a solution.

It's either
a). It's a parts fault from when the "new clutch" was fitted in December.
b). It’s wear and tear

If it's a). they will fix, but I am still £150.00 down
If it's b). I can attempt customer service again who will speak with sales, or walk away - still £150.00 down.

He did say the strength in my approach is that I have raised this twice upon collecting the car, however defends his mechanics for not noticing the fault back in December/January. I am 100% certain the noise has not got worse since I brought it in, but hey, they know better.
The Service Manager also states it does potentially sound like a part-warranty, which gives me confidence - however it's the initial £150.00. Could this be claimed back? Should it be claimed back? Personally (business aside), I feel let down and led astray. He threw a dig in for not extending warranty, but my response is I was advised the clutch has 12months - silence.

The odd things is the car doesn't slip gears, it's just a noise when slightly compressed (from my opinion and not an expert that is).

Thanks

AdrianC

Itchyy wrote: »

The odd things is the car doesn't slip gears, it's just a noise when slightly compressed (from my opinion and not an expert that is).

Which would either back up it being the DMF, or I suspect it has an annular slave cylinder/release bearing.

Do you have any proof these were replaced back at the time (if so, they would be warrantied), or did it just get friction/pressure plates (so these are the originals)?

Itchyy

Hi Adrian,

The email I have simply states - "....the only mechanical work that is needed on the car is a new clutch kit was has been authorized and ordered" I have no further information as to what was actually done, other than clutch it?