£1000 to investigate clutch judder when pulling away

[Mike41]

Hi

I wonder if anyone can advise me on what I should do? I bought the car new nearly three years ago so the warranty is due for expiry in a month or so.

Pretty well ever since new there has been an issue which has got very slowly worse. Initially, I'd only notice it when leaving the carpark at work which is in the basement with steep ramp (like any multi-story really). Pulling away up the ramp would sometimes (and now virtually always) result in judder of varying degrees. Until recently I thought it was was in the cold weather but I could be wrong. It only used to happen at the start of my journey and usually on that ramp. Now it seems to happen when pulling away even after driving for some time and on a flat road.

The car has done 19,000 miles and virtually all of that is driving on motorways/dual-carriageways. My commute to work is 20 miles each way and I typically only need to stop two or three times and because I time-shift my day a little, I'm rarely in stop-start traffic.

Very stupidly, the only time (so far) I mentioned this to the main dealer (Camberley) was during its first service last year. They said that essentially I would need to pay the best part of £1,000 for them to investigate and that they wouldn't know until they investigated whether or not it was my fault and therefore whether it would be resolved at my expense or under warranty. I'm no great car expert but I have driven a lot of cars and never have experienced anything like this. I'm 100% certain I don't do anything that would obviously put the car under stress like holding the clutch, dragging it or pulling away at maximum power or anything like that.

So the question is with the warranty due to run out soon, should I book it in and risk paying such a large sum? I don't think I would be in any position to argue with them if they provided "evidence" that he problem was "bad driving" or similar.

[fest0r]

Might be DMF failure :(

Good info here:

Dual Mass Fly Wheel symptoms??? (http://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/showthread.php/133239-Dual-Mass-Fly-Wheel-symptoms)

Dual Mass Flywheel failure after only 39K miles (http://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/showthread.php/107949-Dual-Mass-Flywheel-failure-after-only-39K-miles)

£1000 seems steep as you should easily get a clutch and DMF fitted by an independent for that, but I guess it depends on their hourly rate and if you want to risk a warranty knockback. They seem to be more than covering themselves for labour. Maybe someone technical can confirm the job time on this… 7/8 hours max?

[Chesterfield313]

Hi

I wonder if anyone can advise me on what I should do? I bought the car new nearly three years ago so the warranty is due for expiry in a month or so.

Pretty well ever since new there has been an issue which has got very slowly worse. Initially, I'd only notice it when leaving the carpark at work which is in the basement with steep ramp (like any multi-story really). Pulling away up the ramp would sometimes (and now virtually always) result in judder of varying degrees. Until recently I thought it was was in the cold weather but I could be wrong. It only used to happen at the start of my journey and usually on that ramp. Now it seems to happen when pulling away even after driving for some time and on a flat road.

The car has done 19,000 miles and virtually all of that is driving on motorways/dual-carriageways. My commute to work is 20 miles each way and I typically only need to stop two or three times and because I time-shift my day a little, I'm rarely in stop-start traffic.

Very stupidly, the only time (so far) I mentioned this to the main dealer (Camberley) was during its first service last year. They said that essentially I would need to pay the best part of £1,000 for them to investigate and that they wouldn't know until they investigated whether or not it was my fault and therefore whether it would be resolved at my expense or under warranty. I'm no great car expert but I have driven a lot of cars and never have experienced anything like this. I'm 100% certain I don't do anything that would obviously put the car under stress like holding the clutch, dragging it or pulling away at maximum power or anything like that.

So the question is with the warranty due to run out soon, should I book it in and risk paying such a large sum? I don't think I would be in any position to argue with them if they provided "evidence" that he problem was "bad driving" or similar.

I'd find a way of getting rid. Sell and buy something else. The £1000 might not be the full charge.

[rowdy-999]

Hi

I wonder if anyone can advise me on what I should do? I bought the car new nearly three years ago so the warranty is due for expiry in a month or so.

Pretty well ever since new there has been an issue which has got very slowly worse. Initially, I'd only notice it when leaving the carpark at work which is in the basement with steep ramp (like any multi-story really). Pulling away up the ramp would sometimes (and now virtually always) result in judder of varying degrees. Until recently I thought it was was in the cold weather but I could be wrong. It only used to happen at the start of my journey and usually on that ramp. Now it seems to happen when pulling away even after driving for some time and on a flat road.

The car has done 19,000 miles and virtually all of that is driving on motorways/dual-carriageways. My commute to work is 20 miles each way and I typically only need to stop two or three times and because I time-shift my day a little, I'm rarely in stop-start traffic.

Very stupidly, the only time (so far) I mentioned this to the main dealer (Camberley) was during its first service last year. They said that essentially I would need to pay the best part of £1,000 for them to investigate and that they wouldn't know until they investigated whether or not it was my fault and therefore whether it would be resolved at my expense or under warranty. I'm no great car expert but I have driven a lot of cars and never have experienced anything like this. I'm 100% certain I don't do anything that would obviously put the car under stress like holding the clutch, dragging it or pulling away at maximum power or anything like that.

So the question is with the warranty due to run out soon, should I book it in and risk paying such a large sum? I don't think I would be in any position to argue with them if they provided "evidence" that he problem was "bad driving" or similar.


Engine? Auto/manual?

[Guest 2]

I'd find a way of getting rid. Sell and buy something else. The £1000 might not be the full charge.

Why get rid?

Cars need clutches, no manual car can avoid it. If you pay someone £1000 for a clutch and flywheel change that's mad, an independent can do it far cheaper using the same parts.

[A6S]

Why get rid?

Cars need clutches, no manual car can avoid it. If you pay someone £1000 for a clutch and flywheel change that's mad, an independent can do it far cheaper using the same parts.
Even the new dsg autos need flywheel and clutches so they all can wear out. Totally agree that it's not a reason to get rid of a car.
Dmf problems are well known for all makes and the manufacturers been shying away from fixing these for over 10 years.
At 19k it's a bit early but not unheard of. I would give Audi uk a call and see what they say. I've had dealings with them and they do try and help as long as you got a full Audi service history otherwise they wash their hands of it saying it would have been picked up by the engineers at the dealership.
Even if they don't pay for it all there will be some goodwill towards it.

[JamesMo]

I had the clutch replaced on my first a6 at 18 k miles and the dmf at about 48k just before it was 3 years old. I'd suggest taking it to another dealer for diagnosis. It's fairly simple to check something is wrong without dismantling the car - find a small gentle incline and allow the car to gently roll backwards. As this happens pull away forwards and if there is a dmf/clutch issue it will judder like crazy as you do this. I was shown this technique by the master tech at my local dealer. Both of my replacements were covered fully by warranty no questions asked. Hope this helps

[SMILEMAN]

I had full clutch and dmf replacement under warranty at Basingstoke Audi, car was 2 and a bit years old with about 24k.
I cannot understand why they want £1000 investigation fee, car is under warranty and faulty, their problem.
I would persist, these dmf failures are well noted and certainly not uncommon....good luck.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

[Bloater]

I pushed my dealer when mine was causing issues. Eventually Audi UK agreed to fund the investigation.

They found the DMF was ok, and no sign of damage on the clutch, but after much pressing agreed to replace the clutch. Juddering much reduced, although not gone altogether, so suggests the clutch was partly to blame. Not entirely happy, and I have fed that back to the dealer, car is now out of warranty, so not expecting anything to happen now.

Fortunately, maybe, I am going to work abroad for well over a year later this year, so I will be handing the car back to them. Shame someone else will get the issue, but then Audi claim there is nothing wrong.

Keep pushing, Audi UK should be paying for the investigation

[burningoil]

we had the same with our 2012 estate. diesel. mostly always on cold damp / wet mornings, the local jokers could not fix it. we got shot of it at 3 years old. p&ss poor machine.

[Adman]

I'd try another dealer, I've just had my clutch replaced under goodwill at 25k and car was 4 months out of warranty. Sounds like you had identical symptoms to me.

[Eshrules]

If a vehicle presents with a fault whilst still under warranty, I'd find it very unusual for that garage to charge to investigate the fault.

I suspect there's some swinging of the lead here and would contact Audi UK (as well as Citizens advice perhaps) and ask for their opinion.

The fact others (as above) have had theirs investigate and replaced FOC would suggest it's a case of standing one's ground on this.

[JannerAudi]

See the first part of my post "Transmission Thud". My car has done just over 21,000 miles.

[JMR1]

1000 just to have a mechanic give it a test drive.........unbelievable.:aargh4:

[whitter45]

3rd year is dealer backed not group backed

Your dealer wants you to go elsewhere as they do not want to foot the bill

[Chesterfield313]

3rd year is dealer backed not group backed

Your dealer wants you to go elsewhere as they do not want to foot the bill

Surely it doesn't work like that?! Isn't it the selling dealer that would foot the bill on year 3, not the one you choose to have the work done at? Seems a little harsh that the dealer selling gets the revenue from the sale and another dealer could get the cost of repairs?!

I only said sell, because from my experience you either get a good one, or a bad one when buying a car. Odd problems, or ones that have come unexpectedly early are just warning signs of a bad one to me. I had a new 2006 Golf GTD many years ago that was trouble from around 15,000 miles onwards (about 9 months), with hindsight I would have got shut the first time the dealer said "I think this will fix it" or "sorry, diagnostics isn't showing a fault, can you comeback when it's doing it"......

[fest0r]

3rd year is dealer backed not group backed

Your dealer wants you to go elsewhere as they do not want to foot the bill


Surely it doesn't work like that?! Isn't it the selling dealer that would foot the bill on year 3, not the one you choose to have the work done at? Seems a little harsh that the dealer selling gets the revenue from the sale and another dealer could get the cost of repairs?!

I have seen this mentioned a few times although not sure how it works either. I know you get a 2 year unlimited mile warranty and the third is a 60,000 mile limit so it makes sense, but is it Audi UK/VWFS backed or a dealer network “pot” setup? I can’t believe a dealer is expected to foot the bill in individual cases :confused: The incentive to reject legitimate claims would be far too great from privately owned dealerships.

Also, is the 4th and 5th years of the manufacturer extended warranty (bought at build) covered in the same way or is that Audi group backed?