my gf bought a tc thinking that toyota was a great car company and takes care of their customers. friday she started experiencing clutch problems. it seems to me that the clutch isnt completly disengaging. has anyone heard of this?

also the dealer is saying its a wear item which to an extent i can understand but a clutch should not go out this fast. this is her third manual trans car and i hate to say it she can drive it better then i can. they said this car only has a 12 month warranty.....WTF????


can anyone enlighten me? anyone else have this problem?

 

i dont know on clutches its kinda like brakes if that makes sense but still 20k is bad it sounds like it just need adjusting thats easy to take care of probably would have taken as long as it did for them to tell you no and give you a explination of it it could have been easy to

 

you can try lots of things, you can go to a different dealership, you can call scion corporate and complain, you can just take it to an independant shop and get a new clutch or whateverelse is needed.

as far as the clutch being a wear item, it is, like the tires, brake pads etc. so they aren't covered by the bumper to bumper or powertrain warranty, but they do have an implied warranty as such that you can't just pull out of the dealership, and have your clutch fail, or a tire blow out for no apparent reason, so they do have some warranty.

as far as warranty's go

bumper to bumper 3 year/36 k miles, whichever comes first
powertrain 5 year/60 k miles, whichever comes first

read all about this in your gf's owner's manual or www.scion.com.

 

thanx for the help. i flipped through the owners manual and could barely find any info on things. i believe the only info i found was on page 118.

as far as the actual clutch goes. they said it was completely gone. i could understand if it was gone due to racing but the car is stock and she more or less drives like a grandma.

we called scion corporate today and they wernt much help. they said they would come down 200 bucks off the repair but i feel that isnt good enough. this car still has the orig brakes.

a few months ago we took the car into star toyota down here for the engine light being on and she said the clutch was feeling funny. all they did was clear the check engine light and wouldnt explain to her why when she called.

i figured id ask on here since everyone seems to love the tc and i love it, i just hate toyota/scion customer service. thanks for the help so far guys. please keep it coming and ill keep posted.

 

well, does she have any bad driver habits like resting her foot on the clutch pedal while driving? or starting out in 2nd gear from a stop?

it might be a case of dealership not taking her seriously cuz she is a girl and doesn't know a thing about cars stereotype. i'm glad i took my ex gf's xa in for service because they would try to sell me stuff like "adjust the belts" and i was like...the belt isn't adjustible, there isn't a belt tensioner on this engine, i could only imagine what they would try to sell if she actually brought it in.

 

well if the clutch is totally warn, id like to see it. i used to have to deal with people trying to return warn clutches when i worked at the local parts store so ive seen worn out clutches. i just honestly dont see how it could go out that fast. my brothers truck still has the original clutch in his 01 f150 at 175K.

the main thing that is ____in me off about this is toyotas poor customer service. ive never been treated the way these people treat us.

as far as her driving habits, i got on to her when she had her last car (05 cavi) about starting in 2nd and skippin gears and i havnt seen her do it since i got on to her. shes taken real good care of this car since this is the first car she has actually had to pay on her own. hopefully we can get them to cover it. otherwise no more dealing with toyota/scion for us. we'll end up getting it fixed by someone else and sell the car. thanks for the help guys

 

Nothing wrong with that when it's done right, and using the clutch less means it'll last longer. I routinely go from 2nd to 4th when in town cruising, sometimes 1st to 3rd to 5th.

 

it seem like to me all the newer 07 and up tc;s seem to have alot of problems with clutches and gears and everything else....i dont here much problems on the 05 and 06 tc's..you would think the newer models would perform better and last longer....

 

yeah you would think, ive got a case with scion corporate and her step dad has been dealing with the gen manager at star toyota so maybe something will come out of it. otherwise no more tc and no more toyotas in our future

 

hmm 20k seems alil to early im at 86k on my stock clutch and still no probs :knock on wood:

 

my 06 tc been very good to me little mods here and there only 46000 miles runnig strong......when its realy cold out or on cold starts something the gears are a little sticky but other then that all is good....i can understand that no car is perffect but people are having problems os pratically brand new cars with low miles on it..either someones not doing there job putting these cars togther or using cheap parts....

 

yeah from what ive been reading online it seems like the later model tc's have more problems. should be the other way around. apperantly the dealership never even actually looked at the car before they started pointing blame and saying it isnt warrantied. supposedly they finally took it apart today. the guys are finally starting to help us out after im guessing our constant "_____ing" its just getting old dealing with them talkin down on us like we dont know anything. sad thing is my impala is a 77 pushing 320K miles and its stick rockin the original motor and tranny. the only probs ive had were with the brakes. seems to me a brand new car should be running a hell of alot better lol

anyway wish us luck with this

 

i buddy got and 09 tc brand new after about 10,000 miles on it the water pump some how broke and the engine was over heating not only that some of the gears wouldnt engauge he had to hold down the clutch sometimes for 5 sec in order for the gears to go in......majority of the post i read here either say i have problems with my 08 or 09 tc ..this went out this isnt working or what not im saying i dont reemeber having any of those problem on my 06 tc......i was goona trade it in for the 09 one but hearing all these problems i change my mind the only real difference is the interior and maybe a different model engine btu same specs..i dont know bro people have better luck with old cars rather then new..i hate going to the dealership i dont feel confident in them i do my own work so i know it done right its not gonna affect the warrenty unless they can prove it but going to the dealership is like going to jail...

I wish you luck just dont understand toyota suppose to be reliable

 

thanx for the good words. i love the tc. i was thinking about getting one of my own to build a little bit and use as a daily to finish my impala.

im not a christian man or anything but im praying everything works out. tired of using 15 bucks a day in gas to drive her to and from work. hopefully we'll get good news tomorrow.

 

that sucks they did not even look at it the first time,it is a lot of work to get in there yes,but goodness they should of and not just blew you off like that.

I find it hard to see a clutch worn at 20000 unless the driver has bad habits,I know I could kill a clutch in 20000 easy but I got bad traffic habits like leaving it pushed half way in from 2-3 and then realising I am doing it and letting it all the way out.......sad huh at nearly 40 years old and still suck at stick.......lol

 

well it looks like all they are going to do is cover half the cost. i guess its better then nothing but i now frown apon toyota/scion customer service and this will be our last unfortunatly. thanks for the good words everyone. hopefully this clutch will last longer then the previous one.


im think she still wants to do a few things to it so ill have a build page on it.

 

well to the tune of 1300 bucks (10% discount for service work at the dealer she got it at) we have the car back. i also got the old parts back, took pix, and would like you guys opinion on it.

 

sorry for so many pix. i wanted to make sure i got everything real well.

 

If you got a clutch to look like that in 20000 miles and it looks as if nothing is broken on it by looking at the pictures,I say practice driving a stick a little more.

 

lol the funny thing about that is this is her 3rd car. never had clutch problems with the other 2. if anything clutch related, you could think the first cars clutch would have went out seeing as she learned in that car. but i suppose maybe chevy clutches are built better lol jk