Clutch failure on 11 month MG ZS

MGCLUTCHDUDE

My clutch has failed on my 1.0L t MG ZS. The car is only 11 months old with less than 10k on the clock. The garage won't cover it with the warranty saying it was us that has abused the car. Could someone advise us on what is the best way to resolve the problem. I have been in contact with customer services who have backed up the garage. Cheers Gary 

Grumpy_chap

MGCLUTCHDUDE said:

My clutch has failed on my 1.0L t MG ZS. The car is only 11 months old with less than 10k on the clock. The garage won't cover it with the warranty saying it was us that has abused the car. Could someone advise us on what is the best way to resolve the problem. I have been in contact with customer services who have backed up the garage. Cheers Gary 

Quite difficult as clutches are usually a wear and tear item.  Plus, aggressive driving can wear a clutch very prematurely.

Have you had the car serviced as per the manufacturer's recommended schedule (if any services are due yet)?  That probably won't directly have affected the wear or otherwise of the clutch, but would give the manufacturer a point of argument if the services have not been undertaken.

You may have to find an independent specialist to assess the clutch and report on whether it is wear and tear or an inherent fault.
Have you looked at any online boards as to whether there are others with the same car and premature clutch wear?
Is it a known issue with the particular car?

diveunderthebonnet

As the clutch has to be repaired at some time ,you cannot park a brand new car up and walk away from it ,why not come to an agreement ,i presume it is with the car dealer as it is less than 12 months old, that they remove the gearbox and clutch and you or someone you know who knows about cars inspect it with the dealer ,it might be obvious what has failed.
At least you can then all move on and get your car back on the road,the dealer might even give you a discount IF it is your fault.

Nobbie1967

You’ve got to decide whether you think it’s likely your or your partners driving style that has caused this or a faulty part. Have you had clutches go on previous cars? Do either of you rest your foot on the clutch pedal? If you’re sure it must be a faulty part then get the dealer to replace it and see what they make of the bits that they replace. If it’s a worn out pressure plate then that’s likely driving style and they won’t pay for it.

If it might be your driving style, then get it replaced at a much cheaper independent garage or clutch specialist.

What are the symptoms? Slipping clutch, pedal goes to the floor?

Mildly_Miffed

MGCLUTCHDUDE said:

My clutch has failed on my 1.0L t MG ZS. The car is only 11 months old with less than 10k on the clock. The garage won't cover it with the warranty saying it was us that has abused the car. Could someone advise us on what is the best way to resolve the problem. I have been in contact with customer services who have backed up the garage. Cheers Gary 

I presume it's a manual non-hybrid?

The important question is whether they've already removed the gearbox and clutch to inspect the clutch friction plate.

If they have, then they can easily see if it's burnt and worn.

If they haven't, then it may yet turn out to be a manufacturing flaw... but it's certainly more common for clutches to fail through misuse. A manufacturing flaw is more likely to result in failure in VERY short order, the first one or two thousand miles.

paul_c123

I've driven a new-ish MG with a worn out clutch too. It was briefly, I was a trade plate driver, phoned it in as an issue and refused to drive it any distance (it was into deepest mid Wales) so I turned round and went back to the collection address.

So yes, for some reason a proportion of MG clutches are made of cheese, and can fail within a short space of time through wear, its not something which breaks within the first few weeks of use like a manufacturing defect would, but its clearly the material isn't specified properly, or isn't quality-controlled so some of them are much less durable than others and will fail rapidly - in your case 11 months.

I guess if the warranty doesn't cover wearing components, and its worn out (not broken in another way) you're not covered. And with it being >6 months, you're not covered by CRA2015 either.

My only suggestion would be to fix it in the cheapest way possible (back street garage with the cheapest clutch you/they can find), then WBAC or part ex the car for something secondhand like a Vauxhall Corsa or Renault Clio.

35har1old

Grumpy_chap said:

MGCLUTCHDUDE said:

My clutch has failed on my 1.0L t MG ZS. The car is only 11 months old with less than 10k on the clock. The garage won't cover it with the warranty saying it was us that has abused the car. Could someone advise us on what is the best way to resolve the problem. I have been in contact with customer services who have backed up the garage. Cheers Gary 

Quite difficult as clutches are usually a wear and tear item.  Plus, aggressive driving can wear a clutch very prematurely.

Have you had the car serviced as per the manufacturer's recommended schedule (if any services are due yet)?  That probably won't directly have affected the wear or otherwise of the clutch, but would give the manufacturer a point of argument if the services have not been undertaken.

You may have to find an independent specialist to assess the clutch and report on whether it is wear and tear or an inherent fault.
Have you looked at any online boards as to whether there are others with the same car and premature clutch wear?
Is it a known issue with the particular car?

It hasn't reached its first service 1year or 12000 miles

Goudy

As mentioned, warranties on clutches a very limited due to the nature of the part.
At best you might get a few months cover, after that it's down to proving there was a manufacturing fault.
Read your warranty documentation, that will spell it out.

As you can imagine, proving that is almost impossible and someone needs to get in there to check it anyway.

The car is useless without a working clutch so it needs replacing.
You might, with some persistence get some "help" towards the replacement from the dealer or manufacturer but don't count on it, they haven't tended to help anyone else.

There is plenty of evidence of MG ZS clutches failing early and I believe there might even have some other problems with other parts of the clutch system. (but that's just hearsay)
I seem to remember dealers having a bit of a back log of ZS's with knackered clutches and I don't think a lot of owners got any joy with the dealers or the manufacturer.


But writing that, I wouldn't be happy fitting the same parts or any other cheap clutch kit if I was stuck with the car for a while (like it's on finance). It's almost certain the MG part is of poor quality.

If you can't get them to pay up or even help, I'd look to fit a quality known brand like LUK and have that done by a clutch and gearbox specialist.

So you are stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Pay the dealer to inspect the clutch (it'll be worn though) and pay them to replace it with a part that's probably inferior.
Or
Take it to a specialist and get them to fit a quality clutch kit. (this would work out cheaper and hopefully a better clutch).

chrisw

You need to get it inspected to determine the cause of failure, although this might cost you. I had a Volvo clutch replaced under goodwill at 5 years and 30k miles, I had to promise to pay if it was wear but they found it was a manufacturing fault with very little wear so I didn't have to pay.

m0bov

How did you pay for the car? With that you will know where liability lies.