Urgent - Stronic Clutch Not Covered By Warranty??

[ryan-westlondon]

All, long story but need to know if anyone has had their clutch, specifcally a clutch repair kit or clutch pack replaced under warranty.

Basically my car after 1 month ownership developed an shuddering issue, it has a 3 month warranty handled by Mapfre provided by the car dealer (non audi)

it's been with Audi for the past one week waiting approval from the warranty company, they today said it's not covered as the clutch is classed as wear and tear. My arguement along with the dealer I bought it from, is that it's an automatic. Fair enough if it was a manual, it's open to abuse. Being an automatic it's an internal part which has simply failed (only 3 years old and fails already!?).

I'm waiting for a response back from Audi who are now challenging the warranty company, my next concern I've bought an audi extended warranty which starts next month following on from the current mapfre one. I've asked audi does their warranty cover an automatic clutch.

Has anyone had theirs replaced under warranty? If not, I'll be returning the car back to dealer basing it not fit for purpose.

Thanks

 

[RedDejavu]

I'd be taking it back to the dealer mate, too much hassle with those non audi warranty cowboys.

 

[ryan-westlondon]

the dealer has given to me in writing that either the warranty company, or the dealer themselves will cover it. Assuring me I won't be out of pocket.

I need to know if anyone has had their stronic clutch replaced under Audi's own warranty. Otherwise I'd be paying out myself if it happens again years down the line.

£700 clutch repair kit
£1350 labour

 

[ryan-westlondon]

100% confirmed - Audi extended warranty or any other in the world DO NOT cover stronic clutch frictional material.

Lovely car yes, great tech the stronic, but when there's a problem, ££££££££££££ pants is taken down and robbed. No thanks Germany, unreliable and should they be bothered making so much on repairs.

 

[S3Alex]

But you're still covered by the dealer?


If so,there's no problem,but I don't know of any warranty that will cover clutch friction materials.

 

[ryan-westlondon]

yeah still covered by the dealer who confirmed I wouldn't be out of pocket in writing, just wary about it failing again as the clutch is only gauranteed for 1 year according to Audi.

 

[S3Alex]

yeah still covered by the dealer who confirmed I wouldn't be out of pocket in writing, just wary about it failing again as the clutch is only gauranteed for 1 year according to Audi.

I think that's about as good as you're ever going to get(from my experiences) as all clutch friction plates are seen as wear items,and essentially your problem as soon as it's out of the box,other than for obvious manufacturing defects(which naturally seem to be very difficult to prove....)

 

[ryan-westlondon]

I'm just amazed it's already worn out after 3 years, I've had other cars for ages, much older and still on their original clutch. Friend of mine she's had her little ol Renault Clio from new for the past 13 years, not a single problem.

 

[S3Alex]

I'm just amazed it's already worn out after 3 years, I've had other cars for ages, much older and still on their original clutch. Friend of mine she's had her little ol Renault Clio from new for the past 13 years, not a single problem.

It is a bit early perhaps,but if the previous owner was doing lots of launch starts,that might account for it.

 

[RSW46]

I'd say if the dealer is willing to leave you not out of pocket for it, then go down that route. I wouldn't hastily demand money back on the car; I had the same debate with myself when the turbo went in mine after 2 weeks of ownership, but the dealer was very apologetic/helpful and it was all sorted very quickly, plus I was given a courtesy car etc. I know it takes the magic out of owning a new car a bit, but I wouldn't let it put you off.

 

[ryan-westlondon]

update:

Having raised the issue with Service manager and Audi UK twitter (whether twitter helped I don't know) - Audi confirm they will contribute 100% towards the part, leaving just the labour to pay. This is obviously only beneficial to the dealer, as I wouldn't had to have paid anything anyway.

Dealer is now trying to get the warranty company to pay for labour (would they?!) - failing that, the dealer will. Dealer has been extremely helpful to be fair (Jaguar dealer), just aswell we purchased from a reputable dealership as I can imagine mickey mouse motors would say jog on.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

Ryan, you need to get the Audi dealer to declare that the fault is due to a failure of the component, not wear and tear. Knowing your issue I would suspect that it is a shim that is causing the problem as that is why they issued a revised part number last year, and not wear of the clutch friction plates. You maybe in a catch 22 if Audi have not got your DSG in bits as yet, but just diagnosed the fault. If they find that the clutch material is worn ( and get them to check both clutches, i.e. clutch for even numbered gears and clutch for odd numbered gears, and explain uneven wear if it is the case), I'd be asking serious questions of Audi UK as the part is obviously not "fit for purpose" and mention trading standards.

 

[ryan-westlondon]

Hi Tom - I think it's a whole new clutch but I'll try and clarify. The part is costing £750, which is what a clutch costs according to Audi's website.

Oh don't worry about me mentioning trading standards, over the past month or two I've had all kinds of things ready if it needed raising any higher i.e SaleOfGoodsAct etc etc. As the dealer is happy to be paying everything if the warranty company doesn't, I'm leaving it to them for now.

Audi confirmed last week once the new part is fitted, they will then thoroughly test to ensure the shuddering I felt in second gear is no longer there. I'll ask them to clarify if both clutches have or have not already been checked, I'm assuming they have as already there's a bill for labour taking the clutch out for investigation

 

[johny]

hi Ryan just to let you know you say you bought Audi extenderd warranty and it doesn't start for another month, ad be very careful with that as if you have made Audi already aware of the clutch problem before the warranty in valid then al be a 100% they wont entertain you with the clutch issue on there warranty that for sure, i have had the most amount of trouble with Audi over the years and what i will say is cancel your warranty with Audi its not worth the paper its writ on mate and save the amount££££ for when you car does go bad. because they are conmen mate take it from me i cud fill pages an pages of stuff they have manged to riggle out off.

 

[ryan-westlondon]

Hi Johny - was thinking of cancelling it anyway to be honest, and as you say put money aside for possible scenarios.

If the clutch is replaced, and then classed as a new part no longer faulty, surely the warranty would cover it. As it's not technically an existing fault reported, and left alone. If a new part is fitted, then I would have thought a warranty would cover it?

 

[RSW46]

How much was the Audi extended warranty going to be? For about £400 a year you can get a Warrantywise one, which I bought recently and it seems really good, they cover pretty much anything and have good reviews although it is quite an outlay at the beginning.

 

[johny]

well yes you think like me mate but Audi don't think like us am afraid they r c##ts mate haha . but you could be right there mate cause i no every part is cover for 12 months from the date its bought. but i don't no if that only apply if you have paid for the part in cash our by card, i dont no if you get Sutton replaced on warranty then its automatically got 12 months our if its just got the remanding amount of time left on warranty as every think else.

1 of the things happened to me was i bought a 2010 Audi s3 dsg 47k everything was perfect i read up about the gearbox service an it says every 40k dsg gearboxes need service so looked in me book banggg it didn't have the dsg service done our should i say it wasn't stamped in book as being done although car had full Audi service history. hmmmm okk i ring Audi purchase warranty get dsg service done in dealers, get car bk everything ok so i do 4k more miles gearbox starts playing up, so i put in Audi thinking am covered by warranty more fool was i they tell me okk we found problem the car needs full gearbox and we wont be covering the box cause it wasn't serviced at 40k , biggest load of bull s--t av heard in all my life mate i stated use have had car on every service why hasn't it been done when come in to get service,they turn t round and said cause its optional you choose if you want it doing, i went mad and said i choose am a customer of Audi i use Audi for service i think its down to you guys to tell its customers what service the car needs when it comes in especially Sutton so important so you are saying it is to be on time with dsg service normal people rnt going to beware of this. cut a long story short they f--ked me off didn't offer any good will considering the circumstances that the car was fine after its gearbox services for 4k,they told me the oil in the box had deteriorated and the damaged was caused ******** cos car was fine after the fresh oil was put it for 4k , they also tell me we don't strip down an inspect we just change which was another lie cause my friend had same problem with his car 2 years b4 me and they striped it down and changed the macatronic unit in the box. now i went and got my car fixed in Bristol transmitions good people by the way and the problem was the macatronic unit had failed same as my mates who Audi changed and guess what his car was listed as cat d an they still done it but with me told me go away our pay the 5 grand for new box basically cheeky robbin bas--rds mate

 

[ryan-westlondon]

How much was the Audi extended warranty going to be? For about £400 a year you can get a Warrantywise one, which I bought recently and it seems really good, they cover pretty much anything and have good reviews although it is quite an outlay at the beginning.

£285 named component

 

[ryan-westlondon]

update: 100% part is covered by Audi goodwill, 100% of the labour is covered by the dealer I bought the car from (Stratstone, who have been massively helpful, very considerate I must say, definetley one to trust)

Part is being delivered tomorrow to Audi, being all fitted up start of next week.

 

[RPB]

Sounds a great outcome! Thumbs up to both Audi and Stratstone then

 

[pburv]

Just thought I would add my experience of Audi warranty .Since buying my A3 quattro dsg at the beginning of May it has had a brand new bumper fitted as part of the deal when I purchased it (due to the fact they could not repair existing damage from previous owner).Also a coil pack.I only had the car for 1 day and went on holiday,when returning home from the airport the car failed to stop quickly enough at a roundabout .So back to Audi dealership I bought car from..New set of discs and pads for front as they were totally' chewed to bits' on the inside(as goodwill gesture and apology they replaced rear discs and pads). So I thought all was well......Wrong the turbo decided to develop quite a loud chatter when starting and stopping engine..New turbo now fitted..The dealership tried to get Audi Uk to pay for new turbo but failed,so they had to pay for it(another goodwill gesture )..So I have had the car almost 3 months from purchase and it started to develop a repetative whining noise ,so I phoned dealer to tell them about this problem and they wanted me to take it to them for investigation(this I refused because they were based 2 hours away from where I live and was by now quite peeved by the whole experience).I took the car to my local Audi dealer this time and upon inspection they said the prop shaft was 'stuffed' so this was replaced at the other dealerships expense...So had that done and I thought all was well...You guessed it another problem arose this time it turned out to be a wheel bearing that has failed..This was replaced free of charge by Audi Uk .I now have 8 months warranty left(what else can go wrong?)..I am glad I bought this car from an Audi dealer(would be crying in my boots if I bought private)All in all I reckon they have spent around £5,000 in repairs on this car..I think I have been very lucky in dealing with warranty claims from the main dealers..Ps the car is a 2010 model with 66,000 miles on the clock..

 

[T8DPR]

the LAW covers you for any faults for 6 months when you buy a car from a dealer (sale of goods act) so never worry

the ONE AND ONLY exception to this law is if the car you bought is an ancient £500-or-less banger that was, for example, a "px to clear" car

 

[ryan-westlondon]

just to confirm, car was driven back by Walton Audi yesterday all washed etc. Took it out for a short spin to tesco for petrol, all seems well and a pleasure to drive with the real test being longer runs when things are warmed up.

Definetely recommend Walton Audi, my neighbour is going to start using them now as he's had an absolute nightmare with West London Audi with ongoing issues being investigated by Audi uk (broke his seat height adjuster, brakes came back all squeeky with a local garage finding them misalligned with pads wearing half n half - and this was just after a routine service, with one of the younger fellas at West London saying "i'm on my final warning due to speeding in customers cars" not so clever telling other customers.

 

[ryan-westlondon]

Also - just to add incase anyone in future finds this thread having experienced the same problem - WARRANTY WISE confirm they would have covered me. They cover premature wear and tear

They confirm having spoken to a technician that if worn out much sooner then it should as mine did, they class it as premature wear and tear factoring in age and miles, in my case 3 years old / 39k miles. And confirm I would have got a new clutch under their warranty.

So after the audi 1 year warranty is up on my new clutch, I'm heading to warranty wise for complete peace of mind.

 

[veeeight]

Will the warrantywise max labour rate cover the labour rate at an Audi dealer?

Otherwise you'll have to get it done at a non Audi-dealer (but one of their approved repairers). May not be a problem, but just something to consider when comparing Audi Extended Warranty, with others.

You select the max labour rate depending on what you want to pay, of course, but bear in mind that Main Dealer Audi hourly rate is between £120 and £160 per hour.

The Mondail Assistance Audi Extended Warranty will cover this of course, plus the dealership will deal directly with them.