Faulty used car

SaveSmartly12

@lisyloo I’m talking to them tomorrow. I’m not doing anything without speaking to them first. They may well surprise me but I doubt it. 

born_again

destype said:

@born_again I have been emailing Suzuki customer services and every time they refuse to say anything about the matter and revert me to the garage. When the clutch initially went the man at the garage told me he would teach me how to use a clutch as he was insistent I had burned the clutch. This time the same man said to me that I was going to believe a local garage over a Suzuki mechanic, the same mechanic who has incorrectly installed the replacement clutch and they have broken the bracket that holds the clutch. The bracket that if completely broken will make the car undriveable. I’ve driven enough cars that I can tell that the gears are not changing as they should be. 

Suzuki customer services, won't get involved as you are dealing with a franchised dealer. They would only get involved if warranty was involved.

As before 6 year old car, 5 different owners. what's the mileage?

You have not contacted dealer that fitted the clutch, yet are expecting help from SCS 🤷‍♀️

facade

The description is a bit vague, but some Suzukis have a steel bracket attached to outside of the bell housing that anchors the outer clutch cable.

If it is cracked then it could flex and reduce the effective movement of the clutch cable, so the clutch won't disengage fully and gears are hard to select. If it breaks off then the cable has nothing to pull against and the clutch won't work at all.

Since eBay sell them I suspect that they break a lot by themselves, it may be nothing to do with fitting the clutch badly.

Wait and see what they say when they inspect it, a new bracket is under £20 and a few minutes to fit.

SaveSmartly12

@facade Thanks. Yes that’s what my local garage said. He said that it was basic mechanics. This is the list. 

SaveSmartly12

@born_again I have contacted the dealer and I am taking the car to them tomorrow. From the way the guy at the garage spoke to me again I don’t think they are going to assist so I am getting all my ducks in a row. Mileage is 49000. 

lisyloo

Can you give us the timeline please?
was the clutch replaced after 6 months?
leaving things a long time to resolve means you lose rights but also doubts creep in about misuse, wear & tear, other causes, even usable life etc.

SaveSmartly12

@lisyloo I bought the car in March 2023. The clutch went in September 2023 and was replaced. I still felt that the gears weren’t changing smoothly so I got my local
garage to take a look while doing my MOT this month February 2024. The clutch should still be under warranty. The other thing the guy in the garage said was that I had burnt the clutch again because I had driven it 500 miles in 5 months. I don’t think 500 miles in 5 months is alot. I don’t drive a huge amount as I work from home. My mechanic neighbour told me that it takes 500 miles to bed in a new clutch. It’s all these comments the Suzuki garage is making that makes me have zero trust in them. 

400ixl

Why did you not return it to the garage who did the work once you suspected the gears weren't changing smoothly? Waiting  5 months to then have a different garage look at it is not a reasonable action.

Who exactly has said you have burnt the clutch again? Is this your local garage? Gear changes if the brackets have been bent and cables not fitted correctly could well not be right without doing any damage to the clutch. Equally they could be slipping the clutch and causing an issue, How have they diagnosed a burnt clutch when they don't know if the cable is the issue (as they haven't fixed it).

Equally it could be driver error, riding the clutch is a common cause for clutch failures. Some people drive with their foot resting on the clutch pedal and can cause clutch slip and burning out. 500 miles in this scenario could easily cause an issue.

Your neighbour mechanic saying it takes 500 miles to bed in a clutch is talking BS. Clutch friction plates bed in within a few miles.

Seems like lots of conclusion jumping from lots of misinformation and delays. See what the garage says tomorrow without any of these conclusions.

The problem is the gear changes are not smooth since the clutch change and your MOT found that a bracket is bent and the cable not routed correctly. Can they please investigate and correct under the warranty for their work.

Leave it at that and see how they respond.

SaveSmartly12

@400ixl the dealer I bought the car from was almost 2 hours drive away and the car could not be driven because I couldn’t change the gears. I decided to get it towed to my local Suzuki garage instead so I could retrieve it easily when it had been fixed. 

I don’t ride the clutch. This is the first time I have had to replace a clutch in 30 years of driving and having owned 5 cars. The red flag to me is that the previous owners have only kept the car for about a year before selling it on. 

I’m not going to go in guns blazing but I do need to be firm with them as they are going to blame me and charge me. 

SaveSmartly12

Also it was the Suzuki garage that replaced the clutch who said I had burned it again without actually checking it. I don’t actually think I burned it previously. There definitely wasn’t a smell. I think there has possibly been a problem with the clutch with at least the last owner. I know the person who sold it to me said that the guy was selling because he wanted to get an automatic.