[venom]

Hey, I'd appreciate some opinions please!

I bought my car in Sept '04, currently at 54,000 km. It's been running fine for the most part except for the clutch judder. It's steadily gotten worse since it first appeared at 15,000 km (the warranty covers it until 12,000 km). The service rep has always given me a "could not reproduce" until today, when I actually left it overnight and they've finally confirmed the clutch judder (it usually happens in the mornings). Here's what they said it'd cost to replace:

$665.00 labour
$291.13 new clutch
$256.56 clutch cover
$125.00 current flywheel machined ($396 for new flywheel)
$56.93 release bearing
$8.03 another bearing

$1402.65 cdn + tax (~1240 USD + tax).

Once the tranny is taken apart, they'll have someone from Mazda Canada come and take a look at the clutch. If the Mazda rep determines that there is significant wear on the clutch, then I'll be on the hook for the full amount. If, however, there is lots of clutch material left then they'll cover the full cost. At this point, it's impossible to tell which side it'll fall on. If they take it apart and decide it's not covered by warranty and I decide not to proceed, I'm still on the hook for the labour of course.

The car is sitting at the dealership as we speak. I'd like to make a decision soon. What would you guys do? Since it only happens when cold and on damp days, and works normally otherwise, can I assume there is still significant clutch material left and take a chance that it'll be covered by warranty?

 

[happyhourhero]

i have had the same thing happen with my clutch for over a year, of course when i brought it in they couldn't reproduce it. now that im over the mileage it won't be covered when i decide to replace it so im taking my time with it because i can't afford it but it really hasn't gotten worse though, but it happens alot.

i would just get it done now, if it starts getting worse over the winter they might just make you pay for it. atleast there is a chance that mazda will cover it if you do it now

 

[nightracerx]

If you are getting a new flywheel, they shouldn't charge you the machining fee. Flywheel is like brake rotor, new rotors don't need to be machined. Also add pilot bearing to the list, the parts cost is like $8 U.S. dollars, not sure how much they charge in Canada.

 

[fullmetal6]

I would take them a list of peps here that have had clutches replaced, and a list of people with the problem. And tell them they could fix it. And tell them you dont want to pay them to find out if it is their fault.

 

[RoX]

Exactly... ^^^^^^^^ It is a known problem. You only have what, 33 and some thousand miles on your car, they should cover it. People here have had it covered past 40. Gather a list of people on the forum and take it to them. Just fight for it, thats a lot to pay for something you should not have to pay for.

 

[venom]

Thanks for the input guys, much appreciated. I agree, it's BS that they even raise the possibility of me covering the full thing, since it's a known problem... I'm confident I haven't abused the clutch though, but I won't be around when the Mazda Canada rep looks at it and makes his decision, for all I know he could just arbitrarily decide that it's my fault.. wonder if I should ask for pics to be taken or something. And good point on the machining a new flywheel too, I'll have to ask them that.

They've given me a couple of weeks to think about it, so I'm going to go to another dealer and get a second opinion, see what they have to say about it...

 

[fullmetal6]

You have the right to examine the parts yourself. Definatly show up with a camera and ask to see the clutch. I made them show me mine. It was blue from heat, but considering it had been slipping for at least a week, of course it would be blue from heat...

 

[venom]

What should I be looking for, when examining the clutch? What factors would decide that it'll be covered by warranty, as opposed to wear and tear?

You have the right to examine the parts yourself. Definatly show up with a camera and ask to see the clutch. I made them show me mine. It was blue from heat, but considering it had been slipping for at least a week, of course it would be blue from heat...
[/b]

 

[junkan]

Just for the record, my clutch was exchanged under warranty here in sweden when the car was 30 months old, it is going to get worse by the time (the repair cost had beed 1800$).

I have changed car since then and is driving a 2006 M6 with automatic gearbox...

 

[Slv6sPitt]

I think it says a lot that you reported the issue early in the life of the car. That is proof in itself that it just didn't start yesterday. However, that doesn't necessarily guarantee you a new clutch under warranty. Do you still have the service receipt from the original trip to the dealer when you first reported the issue?

I would show them the TSB and print the various threads related to the clutch issues. Also bring the service receipt if you have it. You might be able to get them to pay for part of it (some of the labor or some of the parts).

If they still deny the warranty work after tearing down the car, then take your money and buy an aftermarket clutch and flywheel and have them install those since you have to pay for labor already anyway. No way would I pay what's quoted above for OEM parts that aren't much better than the original ones that came in the car.

If it were me, I wouldn't let them touch the car unless they would guarantee me that it would all be covered under warranty. I would find someone else to do the work and go aftermarket. But that's just me....

 

[sshe11]

the problem is we are in canada and dealers here dont give a shit about the US TSB's, its ridiculous as there are no TSB's here (none that i can find) ... apparently the canadian 6's are different from US 6's ... what a load of BS ...

to the OP, fight for it man ... you reported it earlier and they gave you a "cannot reproduce" which is another load of BS ..

 

[venom]

Update FYI:

- Friday: I called two other dealerships in the area and both said pretty much the same thing as the original dealership, that they'll have to open it up to determine whether it's a defect or my fault. I decided to go ahead with my original dealership.

- Yesterday: Dropped the car off at 8am, hopped into an atx M3 loaner (t feels faster than my 6! prob because it's lighter). Got a call at noon. They opened up everything and said there was scoring on the flywheel, and that the clutch wear and tear was greater than normal. They said they sent photos to the mazda regional rep and that warranty service was declined, so I was on the hook for the full cost (~$1600 cdn incl. tax).

Obviously I wasn't happy at all, but I calmly and politely thanked her (I used to work in customer service and know how it feels to deal with pissed off customers), but said I have to do my due diligence and would like the rep's # so that I can talk to him myself. I was put on hold for 5 mins, then she said they'll try to go "one level up" to see what they can do for me.

- Today: Got a call this afternoon informing me that the work's complete, replaced with updated clutch. They managed to cover most of the items under warranty. I just have to pay for the release bearing. I'm happy!! Going to pick it up this afternoon. Here's hoping the damn clutch judder will be a thing of the past!! Good luck to the rest of you who may be experiencing this same annoying problem!

 

[robv]

I bet your clutch was going to be covered under warranty even yesterday, but bastards at the dealership tried to milk you for cash.

All you said was that you want the number of the rep, and now all of a sudden everything is cool; they went "one level up". Bullcrap. How come they couldn't have gone "one level up" for you as their customer right away? But they could do it when you asked for the rep number?

Glad to hear that you were smart and cool about this whole issue, and got a new clutch.

Btw, which dealership was this?

 

[fullmetal6]

Typical clutch story... LOL Glad you got it fixed.