Manual V8 clutch going after 18k miles!?

[r8child]

Make sure its fully repaired before you buy, there could be anything once they start really digging around in there.

[mikef4uk]

The only time I have ever changed a wheel bearing in recent years is when the car has for instance bumped a curb and destroyed the wheel, the bearing then follows some 5-10,000 mile later, I bought a TDi Golf for wifey and me as a second car, 35,000 mile (checked via Vagcom, diesels have a computed mileage stored in the ecu) the 2 O/S wheels on the car were quite new, I asked why, ''corrosion'' he said, replaced by VW under warranty, odd how both offside front and rear bearings failed within 10,000 miles of ownership!

[mark25]

Audi changed my clutch under warranty on my V10 at 12K. I only had to pay for the flywheel (£900). The clutch died only a week after buying the car but I bought it privately so they had no obligation to help me. I had to have my clutch changed on my V8 at 40K it cost me £2K but I had it done by my indy and they only charged me £400 labor.

[Veegan]

Does this not seem ridiculously early for a manual to need a new clutch?? although i guess if the owner cant drive it properly anything is possible. im absolutely gutted as i thought i'd found a peach of car. not a single warranty issue in 3 years and now it needs £5k worth of repairs!

I think most people with manuals here have only had clutch wear issues nearer the 40k mark. That your potential buy is needing a new clutch at 18k should raise alarm bells. In the absence of outright mileage fraud it points to a bad driver who at the least is mechanically insensitive.

Also, no warranty issues in three years may be because the car has had no problems, or it may be because the owner has not cared enough to get small problems/niggles looked at.

Additionally, no problems with the shock absorbers in three years on London's roads? Seems as though they may be on borrowed time and leaking shocks can be hard to pick up, even by Audi. £800 a corner if one goes...

V.

[JDH_UK]

Additionally, no problems with the shock absorbers in three years on London's roads? Seems as though they may be on borrowed time and leaking shocks can be hard to pick up, even by Audi. £800 a corner if one goes...

V.

I had a leaking shock replaced under warranty last year and was told it would have been £980 for the part alone, seems to be a big fluctuation in the cost of parts across dealers. I can understand different labour rates but surely there should be some consistency in the cost of parts?

[mikef4uk]

I think most people with manuals here have only had clutch wear issues nearer the 40k mark. That your potential buy is needing a new clutch at 18k should raise alarm bells. In the absence of outright mileage fraud it points to a bad driver who at the least is mechanically insensitive.

Also, no warranty issues in three years may be because the car has had no problems, or it may be because the owner has not cared enough to get small problems/niggles looked at.

Additionally, no problems with the shock absorbers in three years on London's roads? Seems as though they may be on borrowed time and leaking shocks can be hard to pick up, even by Audi. £800 a corner if one goes...

V.

I agree with you here, Audi will only usually respond if you point out faults to them, Porsche are the same, customer brought me a C2911 some years ago complaing of a heavy clutch, car was under OEM warranty, I told him he needed a new clutch, Porsche told him it just needed bleeding, then it need new polywhatsit bearings on the release arm, then Porsche said it was ok as it didn't slip anyway.
I put him a new clutch in it and the pedal pressure reduced that much he was convinced it would slip.........but it didn't.

I guess the point is if the original owner either doesn't notice the faults, or can't be bothered booking the car in the faults will remain, hence no warranty claims in the cars history

[Veegan]

I had a leaking shock replaced under warranty last year and was told it would have been £980 for the part alone, seems to be a big fluctuation in the cost of parts across dealers. I can understand different labour rates but surely there should be some consistency in the cost of parts?

I was quoted £800 for the part both by my dealership and also by an independent (as an honesty check).

[Veegan]

I agree with you here, Audi will only usually respond if you point out faults to them

I took my car in for its first MOT right at the tail end of the warranty period and told Audi the nearside rear shock had gone. They duly replaced it under warranty. A few days later, the offside rear shock goes as well! Happily, Audi picked up the tab for the second shock out of 'goodwill' as the warranty had ended but I was disappointed that they hadn't picked it up when doing the MOT.

[lukeasl]

The rear wheel bearings are, believe it or not, the same as a vw scirocco, as is a lot of the other components of the rear suspension

[JDH_UK]

I was quoted £800 for the part both by my dealership and also by an independent (as an honesty check).

It clearly pays to shop around. All 3 of my nearest Audi dealerships (Leeds, Wakefield and Huddersfield) are owned by the same company so will need to travel further afield to find one that isn't.