This is ____ing me off so much that I wanted to get some feedback from all of you for possible solutions. Check this out...

I have a manual transmission 2005 Scion tC (no mods, yet) with 22,000 miles that I have been very nice to. I was driving on the highway yesterday doing about 75 mph when a car cut infront of me and reduced my speed. well, as anyone else would do, I tried to downshift to 4th gear to accelerate to a faster speed. I wouldn't go into 4th gear so (side note, i hate how sloppy the shifter is), with the clutch pedal still down i tried third to get the clutch movement going to fit into 4th. it went into 3rd and then finally into 4th. when i left up off the clutch pedal i hear a springing sound and a little hesitation and slippage from the clutch. When i came off the highway 2 seconds later and tried to get it to move it would only engage the first gear at the last top 5% of the pedal but sliipped otherwise.

I called the dealership and gave me a number to the tow truck company they use. they came out towed it to the dealership in Troy, Michigan about 25 miles from my work. I'm thinking, no problem, warranty. Well I get a call a day later from the repair manager giving me a quote of $1,700 for the replacement of a clutch assembly. They needed approval before tearing it apart. If there is a defective issue after the removal then everything is covered under warranty, if not then i have to pay the $1,700 and also the towing costs!

I mean 22,000 miles? I have had 4 other manual transmission cars and I have never had to replace the clutch in them, other then my preformance car to put in a lighter flywheel and tighter clutch for performance reasons, not because of failure. what's everyone's take on this? what do you think i should do here guys? I have no more than like $500 in the bank right now (total!) and am just frustrated.

Let me know what you gusy think.

 

How fast were you going when you downshifted to 4th?

 

well after the lady cut me off, i was doing about 60 mph then by the time i got it in gear and let up off the clutch around 55 mph.

 

our cars are geared high enough(i think at least) that that shouldn't have been the problem....although i have blown a clutch doing that, but the truck had 97000 miles on it, not 22000

this should be warranted....something went wrong i believe

 

so, to add a little more to the story...

i called a good transmission company i have used in the past for projects cars and they gave me a price of $750.00 to replace the clutch assembly (OEM clutch, PP, throwout bearing). $550 for labor if i wanted to put in a ugraded clutch assembly.

Talked to the supervisor or the repair in that dealership and he said that he would take apart the transmission at their cost since i was pitching a _____ and being honest.

since i did hear a spring snaping sound i'm hoping it was the springs on the clutch that gave away and would be warranted. i'm crossing fingers here. If it's not warranted, should i just pay the dealership their inspection costs and go to the other shop and still pay less than $1,700.00?

GRRRR. I'm frustrated. I bought an import because they are known for longevity. It was inexpensive and a nice car. Maybe I should have looked into a honda (bite my tounge).

 

a clutch isn't under warranty because it's a wearable item, but if it blows out... not gradually slipping, should it still be covered under warranty?

a clutch starting to slip and then blowing out, I would assume takes some time. I took this car in every 5,000 miles for it's oil changes / maintance checks. they had to drive it to the shop, wouldn't they have felt the slippage then if i was bull____ing them? I mean come on!

 

^^^ I'd watch yourself about Hondas in this forum you're likely to get

But i used to own one myself that woulda handed my TC its **** even with the SC and the extra boost

 

had an eagle talon tsi myself that i ported and polished the engine, upgraded to a 20g turbo, had a turbo clutch, short shifter, ported and polish intake and exhaust manifold, 3" exhuast pipe from the turbo back with an apex N1 style muffler, stainless steel brake lines, drilled roters with dual piston calipers, Apex AFC, 720CC injectors, K&N filter with modified box, 18" rims, stainless steel rockers and arms and others i can't remember off the top of my head. on the dyno it was at 345hp verse the 200 something stock.

so i know about cars, but this clutch going out on me just ticks me off. especially when i have babied this thing since i drove it off the lot. this wasn't going to be a project car, it was going to be the import that i have for 15 years and hand off to my kids later in life type of car.

 

well, if i were you i think i'd give them the go ahead to tear down the motor, you aren't what they're going to key in on as far as a typical racer, I mean you're 28 and have a stock car, I think you'll be ok. Its bad that it happened but hey atleast your engine didn't blow up on ya I think your warranty will definitely cover this, i'd tow it to another dealer though just because your current one had the ***** to even think of charging you $1700

 

i would definately talk to as many dealers around you as possible and also never talk to the service writers always go to the service manager. also get in touch with corporate toyota and tell them what has happened. there is no reason for them to not cover this under warranty. that sounds like clutch failure not clutch wear!!

 

well my last post was on friday after i spoke with the supervisor at the dealership repair center. as a recap to friday, i spoke with the supervisor at the troy, michigan dealership (David) and after stating my case and complaining, he agreed to take about the trans to see what the deal was.

so all day friday, no word other than the 10am conversation. saturday and sunday, nothing. monday nothing, so i called and left a voicemail at 5pm asking what was going on with my car since he hasn't called me in the last 2 working days. tuesday the sup called me at 7am while i was sleeping and left a voicemail. i called back while i was on the road to work and left him a voicemail. the supervisor called me back at 10am and explains the following:

after inspection the clutch pad was very thin and what he thinks happened was that while downshifting the plate gripped and tore off a piece of the pad, which, hit and caused damage to my flywheel. then he goes on to tell me that my pressure plate is blue and needs to be replaced as well. he told me that he had called a scion rep for the manufacture to see if they can cover the damage under warranty or knock anything off the final price but wouldn't hear back from him until later that day (tuesday).

never heard from him on tuesday. wednesday rolls around and he calls me to tell me that after the rep looked at the photos he had sent him, they are declining warranty or any assistance because it looked like normal wear and considering that my tires were worn significantly.

that's where i'm at right now with this crap. priced out a Clutch Master FX200 clutch kit at $445 and a great shop i took my performance car to for trans work will do the labor for $550. so for $995. I can get a performance clutch in there rather than the piece of crap OEM clutch kit that wore out after a year and 3 months for $1.700 (no warranty). now i just have to find out what they are going to charge me for inspection and towing since it wasn't a warranty job.

i am going to call and write the manufacture. my thoughts on this are this:

1. i had all my maintenance done with that dealership (oil, tires rotate, $400 maintenance package), why didn't they see slippage at my last visit? why didn't they rotate my tires?

2. they are going to loose all my business from this point further. i will take my car elsewhere for oil changes and repairs because going to them is just over priced and ____ service for warranty.

3. if the clutch was worn thin after a year and 3 months then wouldn't that be abnormal wearing? abnormal wearing wouldn't constitute defective? and defective should be warranty right? I have had 3 other manual transmission cars and not on ONE of them did i have to replace the clutch after 80,000 miles plus!

4. why are they at $1,700 when i can get it done by transmission specialists for $750?

what do you guys think? isn't this ridiculous?

 

That's messed up. I called my stealership to see how much they would charge to install a after market clutch just for the hell of it. 1000.00 to 1200.00. Good luck with your ride though.

 

follow up to the story thus far:

called the number in the warranty book that came with the car and explained my situation. they said they would look into it and they ended up calling back and said there's nothing we can do, sorry. The supervisor called me back from the dealership and gave me my options:

1. machine flywheel, new stock clutch and pressure plate, plus the towing costs would be around $1,200.

2. same as above but a TRD clutch would be around $1,600

3. out the door with no repair $122 for towing since the supervisor agreed to take apart at dealership's cost.

I told him that option 1 and 2 are out of the question. I don't want to put back in a stock clutch that blew at one year and three months (23,000 miles). i'm not going to trust a toyota branded trd clutch since it's the same manufacture of the stock clutch. I also told him that i was going to go to this other shop and pay them $550 for labor and i was going to have them put in the Clutch Masters Stage 3 kit I was buying off the internet for $450. To see that they retain business from me and to try and pleasure me as customer he offered to put it in for the same price that the other shop would install it for. so he saved me the convience of towing my car to the next shop after all this.

well with this situation i don't think i'll be taking my car into the dealership for service any more. i would rather save the money at another shop that will do the same quality work for way less. what did that $400 maintanence package at 15,000 miles and oil changes at like $40 a pop get me? guess this is where the mods start. first it's the clutch. i'll probably get a shift kit soon. i'm looking at getting twm shift kit http://www.twmperformance.com/shorts...rtshifters.htm stage 2 that lowers the shaft 2.5" over stock. it looks like a freaking ***** right now. not to mention it'll shorten the throw a lot!

 

call a lawyer... right now... thats all i can tell you

 

Ask them if they will install the stage 3 for 550. That would be fair considering it will cost at 300.00 + towing to install itsomewhere else.

tc2nut4 why a lawler?

 

because, the drivetrain warranty is not subject to the "wear and tear" dismissal clause. Aalso, they have to prove that what caused the failure was his fault, when clearly, if everything he's telling us is true, it is not.

Those are the two big reasons why but my other reason is it seems the dealership is intent on screwing him over so I know how he feels to have thousands of dollars of what should be covered warranty work rammed up your @ss.

 

It's hit or miss with stealerships. Usualy miss. I feel you I almost got arrested at a BMW dealership for attempted murder.

 

the final result... after ALL of the problems and trouble, the dealership decided to honor the price of the other transmission shop, that quoted me $550 for labor, and install my clutch masters stage 3 clutch kit. It has now been a week and 5 days today without my tC. chack out the break down below.

$550 labor
$525 Clutch Masters Stage 3 Clutch kit w/ 2 day shipping
$50 Machining flywheel
$125 Towing
----------------------
$1,250 total (better than the original $1,700 w/ original clutch)

I went to the dealership to grab something from the truck and inspected my tires. my front ones were bald because the dealership didn't rotate the tires during the $375 / 15,000 mile maintanance package. this was a little frustrating since that was what the manufacture rep considered when debating whether or not he was going to cover it under warranty. So really, what the F did i pay $375 for on that maintanance package? checking my belts, oil change? that's it? all i know is that i will be taking my car somewhere else for any repair from now on.

I'm going to get a TWM stage 2 short shift kit with a weighted shift **** in the near future. right now they are on sale so i will probably do this sooner than later.

The part arrived today and they should have it done end of today or first thing tomorrow morning. Thanks for all your support, ideas and comments. has really helped me keep it somewhat calm over this whole ordeal, otherwise i could have done what schuller attempted. lol.

 

Not bad. Take your time breaking in the new clutch. I'll be installing the CM stage 3 soon as well.

 

damn dealerships... im starting to dislike them