Has anyone here had there clutch burned out yet? Mine went out at 45K. At first dealer said it is not under warranty that it's the way I drove it. I know how to drive standard so that can't be it. Now they are saying there is a 50/50 chance the warranty might cover it after the mechanic took a look at it cuz the flywheel was kind of jacked too. Any similar problems?

 

My Mazda 3 2004 is a little over 2-years-old and the clutch just went. It only has 34,000 miles on it and the dealer is claiming it's a wear and tear item even though I've done everything right in terms of maintenance for this (oil change every 3,000 miles! tire rotation, etc). I've also driven standard cars for the past 20 years and have never blown out a clutch so this is ridiculous. Mazda says it's not under warranty so I have to pay for this, which is also crazy. I've driven cars with thousands of miles on them and never had a problem with a clutch. Is anyone else running into this problem?

 

I have a 2006 mazda 3 and there is a smell when the heater is on that the dealer claims is the clutch. There is only 12 500 miles on the car and the dealer will not garantee me that mazda will cover the component. Iam an experienced manual car driver and don't believe the burnt clutch was my doing. The smell comes every 3 or 4 days and remains for only a few seconds, but it is still unnerving. I don't only smell it when I change gears, but sometimes when I have been in 5th for a while on the highway. Also, I experience a huge lag in 1st gear when Iaccelerate from rest.

 

For whatever reasons the clutch has gone bad, they cannot tell you it's your fault if it's under the time/mile warranty boundries. Straight up tell them you think they are 'silly' for even considering it to be your 'fault'...that you're dropin it for service and that you'd like a loaner. Period. It sounds like some individual dealers wanting to make a bit more off you on parts. They still get paid for warranty work, no questions asked. I will admit i've been in vehicles where people were completly self confident and i left thinking about the poor car, but that's beside the point. Under warranty is under warranty, stand up for yourself as a consumer and fight it till they show you where a lawman has written you cannot be covered. Thank goodness my local dealers and especially my speed dealer i am tied to are'nt of this nature. Either bow and say sorry to the clutch, or put the man in his place.

 

Yup, my 2004 Mazda 3 Clutch went out at 37,000 miles ( 1,000 mls past the warranty - what a Beech), but I use the clutch a bunch. Even though, IMHO it's a bit too early to burn out a clutch. Didn't even think about taking it to the dealer. I've got a local Wrench who does a great job on my cars. Only cost me around $850. Ouch!

 

Sounds odd. I have never went thru a clutch. Even my 1995 Suzuki Swift (God rest her sole) never needed a clutch. She went at 320,000 kms.

Sounds kind of fishy to me.

 

phylex, was the smell kind of sulfury smelling? cuase i smelled that too a few times. As for the clutch, isnt that part of the powertrain? that warranty is good for 5 years/ 60k miles is it not?

 

while the clutch is part of the powertrain it's generally considered a wear item and is not covered by a warranty. Some dealers may go ahead and take the hit, but that's what most are going to tell you. Now if the clutch is burned out due to something else being screwy then that's a different story and they may cover it.

 

While "spots" beat me to the punch I was going to say exactly the same thing. A clutch is like belts or brake pads when it comes to warranties and that's generally how they look at them.
So, in short, and as usual, I agree w/icspots assessment.
V V V V V [sm=groupwave.gif] [sm=icon_rofl.gif]

 

^^^^^ [sm=groupwave.gif]