Premature Clutch Failure

ToxicBunny said:
The previous history of the car is ultimately not your problem, they sold you a defective vehicle and they will be required to fix it....

If they won't, I think you can invoke the CPA and return the vehicle.
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This is not the case. THE CPA specifically precludes returning a car for defects on wear and tear items. Clutch is a wear item.


Getting back to your case.

1. Spongy clutch. = air in systems. Most likely the clutch was not fully disengaging and therefore was dragging on the flywheel. This WILL lead to accelerated wear. The cause may be a poorly adjusted clutch (after they installed the new one, most dealership do not re adjust.) There are other causes. But your symptoms do not indicated them.

2. The clutch could have been poorly installed. They might have replaced only one part of the clutch system. Saving on costs.

3. You state you bought the car at 75000 and the clutch was replace at 68 000. Did the previous owner drive more mileage on the clutch. If so, they could have worn it out.

BTWE you said you bought the car at 75000 and you are picking up an issue at 75000. = no mileage done by you. This would be a fault when purchased.

4. There is something odd here, wrt to the mileage between clutch changes. 6000km. This is excessive wear. I am not sure you could abuse a clutch into that much wear. My bet is that there is a underlying fault. Get that found before you fit a new clutch.


5. Your last option is the RMI ombudsman. They can help you negotiate with the dealer. Margins are tight now and dealers are getting sticky with costing.

Try to speak to the DP. You will be surprised how helpful they are. Every person is different. I was refunded an amount after buying a new car, 18 months later. I had forgotten about the claim. They changed DP and the new guy took care of ALL the outstanding complaints.
 
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If its 3 or 4 days after purchasing then its very definitely a defect that should have been corrected prior to delivery...

The wording of the CPA seems to be very specific, it doesn't EXCLUDE wear and tear items, it excludes returning a vehicle based on wear and tear.
 
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Dolby said:
No I only bought it 2 months back :) And phoned the dealer the next day
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Hmm I think the previous owner abused it.

Buying a 2nd hand performance car is always a crap shoot.

I do hope they come to an equitable solution. Try speak to DP first then RMI.

Good luck

I quote

2. Wear and Tear:

The buyer will be required to sign that he accepts that he is buying a used vehicle and that it has a level of wear and tear and that it is not expected to perform like a new vehicle. i.e. The buyer will not be able to return the vehicle based on wear and tear complaints.

from here

http://www.autoadvice.co.za/auto/consumer-protection-act

And further

3. Right to return the vehicle:

The buyer may return the vehicle to the seller within a 6 month period under certain conditions. This is subject to Section 56 (2) of the Act. - Wear and tear is excluded. There has to be a proven defect in the car or the buyer must prove that the vehicle was sold to him which was not fit for the purpose for which he bought it. The onus will be on the buyer to provide evidence of such defect. The buyer has the option of requesting a repair, replacement or refund. The reasons for such an action have to be legitimate, reasonable and provable. A motor vehicle is a complex piece of machinery and will be treated differently to buying a fridge or a toaster, for example. It is very important to note that the National Credit Act has to fit into the CPA, so if the car you have bought is under a finance agreement, things will be a lot more complicated.

Since vehicles are goods which devalue with use, the purchaser will be liable for the usage of the vehicle,plus any damages he has inflicted on it, plus the costs of re-roadworthying the vehicle and getting it back into the dealer’s stock. For those naive buyers who thought they could buy a car from a dealer and hand it back after 6 months and keep going like that forever having a free car, well, sorry, but that is simply not a reality. There is also a certain time frame and a process for dispute resolution which has to be taken into consideration. The Motor Industry has its own Ombudsman to whom all unresolved disputes will end up with. It is expected that the time frame for resolution will be about 3 months.

In cases where refunds are given on vehicles, the buyer will be responsible for the difference in price attained when the vehicle is resold to a new buyer. These are all items the media have failed to inform the public of. My concern is that this will lead to unrealistic consumer expectations.
 
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Those are my 2 references as well, and the way I read them doesn't exclude wear and tear items, but it does exclude wear and tear.

And yeah, if I owned a vehicle for 6 months and tried to return it on wear and tear items I'd be an idiot.. but if I bought a vehicle and took it back to the dealer after a few days with the complaint, i'd expect it to be rectified as a defect that was not disclosed to me thus making the vehicle not fit for purpose.
 
ToxicBunny said:
The previous history of the car is ultimately not your problem, they sold you a defective vehicle and they will be required to fix it....

If they won't, I think you can invoke the CPA and return the vehicle.
Click to expand...
this

OP,

you are not the previous driver.

how many km have you driven?
 
ToxicBunny said:
T
I bought a vehicle and took it back to the dealer after a few days with the complaint, i'd expect it to be rectified as a defect that was not disclosed to me thus making the vehicle not fit for purpose.
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I agree, this is reasonable. And I think a fair DP will also see this point.
 
Update on this :

On recommendation on another forum member, I took the car through to Audi Rivonia who were quite happy to test drive the car and diagnose the issue. After 5km he told me what he thought (gear synchro) and the pedal was a relatively minor issue with either grease required or something else small. In short - it wasn't the clutch itself. We chatted afterwards and he answered all my questions on mechanics, no matter how trivial.

He booked the car in on the 1st September while he waited for the synchro parts, organized me a brand new little A1 S Tronic to drive in the meantime and called me again on the 4th September to fetch my car. I drove the car out and felt fantastic! Everything was covered under AWP as well.

It goes to show how an individual dealership can make or break a brand - and I see clearly why they win customer care awards year after year!
 
Hatfield FTW! :D

Glad your outcome was good!
 
Good news that you got it sorted out.....

I'm also guessing the repair was considerably cheaper than a new clutch plate. Shows that a dealership can save money by actually doing some basic diagnostics before just replacing a part.
 
It came to around R16,000.00 - but that includes R6,000.00 for a new brake caliper because I picked up an issue with funny sound too. So in actual fact it was around R10,000 in all, and they'd agreed to cover half a clutch (R15,000) - so they it was better for them.

And yes, all they had to do was DRIVE the car and we'd not have had any issue. Now we sit with almost 4,000 folk knowing the full issue and how Audi SA tried to get around the problem in the first place
 
Audi SA were only going on what the dealership told them...
 
Sinbad said:
Audi SA were only going on what the dealership told them...
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True, but they should have suggested getting a second opinion for a different dealership before trying to get all hardarsed with Dolby.
 
Sinbad said:
Audi SA were only going on what the dealership told them...
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Well the one thing they did that annoyed me is when they called they said :

'hi Dolby. We understand you bought your car at Audi Westrand and there is an issue with it. We are going to be trying everything to help ... etc etc' BUT I stopped her halfway and said 'actually I brokered the deal through them'.

At that stage I heard the cogs turning while they thought an excuse to not pay - and the next day it was 'hi Dolby - unfortunately we'd love to help you but you bought you car via unauthorized means ....'

They used the same excuse on their Facebook that the buying process is why they're declining ; and lastly it was charge for diagnosing my car. I do feel they weren't fully angelic
 
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