Yeah I'll put my money on the clutch too!! Getting that many km on the stock clutch ain't that bad since I've heard of members that get under 60km's on there stock clutch!! Just take it easy on the driving till you save up for the job!! Maybe buy the clutchmaster stage 2 kit if it equals the price of the dealership!!!
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extremely rare for clutch to be covered under warranty
you can ask to see if the clutch and the dealer might be able to explain why it's not covered under warranty
ps: orphanboy, I always like ur avatars
You should come post in the toronto section more
you can ask to see if the clutch and the dealer might be able to explain why it's not covered under warranty
ps: orphanboy, I always like ur avatars
You should come post in the toronto section more
<rant>
I totally agree with you Calvin, and if I were your situation, I'd be posting up some seriously rude words out of frustration... and then I'd come back 10 mins later and edit the post
But here's the part that upsets me. Mazda has created quite a "safe" position for itself by washing its hands on clutch related issues.
1. Yes, the clutch is a wear-and-tear item that gets consumed
2. Yes, I realize that a wear-and-team item cannot by nature be covered under a warranty, much like a set of brake pads aren't covered.
However, there's a fundamental difference between a brake pad and a clutch disc. One is buried deep within the engine and the other can be accessed relatively easily.
Since the clutch assembly is so inaccessible (requiring several costly hours of labour simply to gain access to it) it goes without saying that a clutch must be designed in such a manner that keeps issues at a minimum and so the lifetime of the part is maximized within the warranty period. This is where Mazda has failed. Why should a clutch be failing at such a low mileage when the rest of the power-train is still under warranty.
I'm currently on my ninth car with manual transmission. I've owned and driven manual cars in Canada, in the US and back home in the UK where I started out many years ago. All of my cars were driven a lot and clocked many many miles by the time I got rid of them.
I ended up replacing the clutch in only three of the cars. These cars had well over 150,000 kms on the dial when the clutch was replaced. The remaining cars were never touched from a clutch standpoint. Most of the cars ended their lives in collisions. One of them had the engine seize up. Two of them blew head gaskets and since the repair cost was more than the value of the car, I just abandoned it. In most cases the transmission/clutch was never touched.
In addition, none of the cars ever had clutch judder/shudder issues. I've even owned cars that double in value whenever one fills the gas tank with gas, and the clutch was problem free and just awesome.
My 6 is the ONLY car that has a clutch that misbehaves... several club members who have ridden in my car have verified that the issue is definitely there. My fear is that come the 70K or 80K km mark, my car will be on a hoist and the prognosis will be a new clutch, just like Calvin's situation.
On top of that, my car was sold to me as a demostrator car, having been using from 0 to 15000 kms by some schmuck (aka the Business Manager) at the dealership where I bought my car. If he barely knew how to drive a manual car and thereby determined the fate of my clutch for all eternity, then why should I have to suffer? I started reporting this problem to my dealer back in ON around the 20,000 km mark, but by then it was too late and the dealer pretty much told me "sucks to be you bud".
Sometimes living in Canada really sucks because we don't have adequate consumer protection laws (especially governing cars) to prevent a person from getting screwed.
</rant>
I totally agree with you Calvin, and if I were your situation, I'd be posting up some seriously rude words out of frustration... and then I'd come back 10 mins later and edit the post
But here's the part that upsets me. Mazda has created quite a "safe" position for itself by washing its hands on clutch related issues.
1. Yes, the clutch is a wear-and-tear item that gets consumed
2. Yes, I realize that a wear-and-team item cannot by nature be covered under a warranty, much like a set of brake pads aren't covered.
However, there's a fundamental difference between a brake pad and a clutch disc. One is buried deep within the engine and the other can be accessed relatively easily.
Since the clutch assembly is so inaccessible (requiring several costly hours of labour simply to gain access to it) it goes without saying that a clutch must be designed in such a manner that keeps issues at a minimum and so the lifetime of the part is maximized within the warranty period. This is where Mazda has failed. Why should a clutch be failing at such a low mileage when the rest of the power-train is still under warranty.
I'm currently on my ninth car with manual transmission. I've owned and driven manual cars in Canada, in the US and back home in the UK where I started out many years ago. All of my cars were driven a lot and clocked many many miles by the time I got rid of them.
I ended up replacing the clutch in only three of the cars. These cars had well over 150,000 kms on the dial when the clutch was replaced. The remaining cars were never touched from a clutch standpoint. Most of the cars ended their lives in collisions. One of them had the engine seize up. Two of them blew head gaskets and since the repair cost was more than the value of the car, I just abandoned it. In most cases the transmission/clutch was never touched.
In addition, none of the cars ever had clutch judder/shudder issues. I've even owned cars that double in value whenever one fills the gas tank with gas, and the clutch was problem free and just awesome.
My 6 is the ONLY car that has a clutch that misbehaves... several club members who have ridden in my car have verified that the issue is definitely there. My fear is that come the 70K or 80K km mark, my car will be on a hoist and the prognosis will be a new clutch, just like Calvin's situation.
On top of that, my car was sold to me as a demostrator car, having been using from 0 to 15000 kms by some schmuck (aka the Business Manager) at the dealership where I bought my car. If he barely knew how to drive a manual car and thereby determined the fate of my clutch for all eternity, then why should I have to suffer? I started reporting this problem to my dealer back in ON around the 20,000 km mark, but by then it was too late and the dealer pretty much told me "sucks to be you bud".
Sometimes living in Canada really sucks because we don't have adequate consumer protection laws (especially governing cars) to prevent a person from getting screwed.
</rant>
Paul... in your case they shouldn't even be trying to make excuses since a synchro has to be covered by warranty... but, the fact that their attitude is exactly the same towards your issue as it is towards our clutch issues, proves the point that some Mazda dealers just don't give a damn about the people who've bought cars from them.
Yep, bottom line is they're in the game for the sole purpose of making money... and to do so at whatever cost. Usually when a business starts taking that sort of an attitude, its a good indication to start looking elsewhere. Problem is, Honda's the same way, and so is Toyota and Nissan. I've got friends driving brand new cars from all the major Japanese makes and they all have similar stories to tell. American cars just aren't fit for consideration and the Euro makes aren't easy to own either.
Man, I just love how the 6 drives, looks and handles. But its the attitude that the dealers here in Canada have that really sours the relationship.
This is one time that I wish the US would invade this place so we can at least have a lemon-law or something to fall back on... or at least the TSBs that have been issued by Mazda USA would get honoured.
MCI is fully aware that TSBs exist for clutch problems for this car in the US... yet, they choose to turn a blind eye and hope the problem goes away.
Yep, bottom line is they're in the game for the sole purpose of making money... and to do so at whatever cost. Usually when a business starts taking that sort of an attitude, its a good indication to start looking elsewhere. Problem is, Honda's the same way, and so is Toyota and Nissan. I've got friends driving brand new cars from all the major Japanese makes and they all have similar stories to tell. American cars just aren't fit for consideration and the Euro makes aren't easy to own either.
Man, I just love how the 6 drives, looks and handles. But its the attitude that the dealers here in Canada have that really sours the relationship.
This is one time that I wish the US would invade this place so we can at least have a lemon-law or something to fall back on... or at least the TSBs that have been issued by Mazda USA would get honoured.
MCI is fully aware that TSBs exist for clutch problems for this car in the US... yet, they choose to turn a blind eye and hope the problem goes away.
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