Alhambra TDI high revving after gear change

[Flubdub]

Hi all. My first post here and am certainly no mechanic so please bear with me.
I bought a new car today. 2006 Seat Alhambra 2.0 TDI.
It’s done 83,000 miles.
On the drive home, every time I accelerated to pass a car on the motorway, or speed up, the revs shot up really quickly to say 45000 or 50000, before dropping again to 20000 after a few seconds or if I changed to a higher gear.
I had a Galaxy a couple of years ago, which was practically identical, and I don’t remember it doing this.
Google is just terrifying me so I thought I’d ask on here. I will be taking it to my local garage on Monday but I’d like a warning if it’s the clutch or something.

[GreenV8S]

Manual or automatic gearbox?

[finlo]

Does it have a gas turbine motor?

[cuprabob]

One to many zeros on the revs

From the very vague description, it sounds as if your clutch may be slipping.

[Evanivitch]

I'd say it's almost certainly a slipping clutch.

Did you try the bite-point test before you bought it?

[normalbloke]

Clutch switch?

[sunbeam alpine]

Evanivitch said:

I'd say it's almost certainly a slipping clutch.

Did you try the bite-point test before you bought it?

This, I'm afraid.....

Dealer, or private sale?

[xjay1337]

Evanivitch said:

I'd say it's almost certainly a slipping clutch.

Did you try the bite-point test before you bought it?

Bite point test doesn't really matter.

Sounds like clutch slip...who is to say though :-)

[Evanivitch]

xjay1337 said:

Evanivitch said:

I'd say it's almost certainly a slipping clutch.

Did you try the bite-point test before you bought it?

Bite point test doesn't really matter.

Sounds like clutch slip...who is to say though :-)

Out of interest why wouldn't finding the bite point with the handbrake engaged not be a valid test for a slipping clutch?

[Flubdub]

Thanks all.
It’s a manual, we bought it from a dealer and I have never heard of the bite point test.
It only does it when I speed up more than I usually would whilst coasting along, and it drops back to to normal revs very quickly. It only revs high for a couple of seconds.
Im absolutely terrified that it’s the clutch. That is the reason we sold our other car to buy this one!

[Pericoloso]

Why terrified ?
Replace clutch ,all good.

[GreenV8S]

Flubdub said:

I bought a new car today

The clutch is slipping, which means you need to replace the clutch, which can be quite expensive.

If you bought it from a dealer, take it back.

If you bought it privately, unfortunately it's your problem.

[Flubdub]

Pericoloso said:

Why terrified ?
Replace clutch ,all good.

Because I’ve just spent £1200 to replace the head gasket on my Sedona, plus loads of other bits that needed doing, and then the clutch went on it which I couldn’t afford to repair. I’ve got four young children and work two jobs just to keep my head above water. The car is a lifeline for me and I just don’t have the money for it. That’s why I’m terrified really.
I’ll take it back to the dealer.

[GreenV8S]

Flubdub said:

I’ll take it back to the dealer.

You should be aware that the dealer will almost certainly offer to fix the car rather than give you your money back.

You're under no obligation whatsoever to let them. Within the first thirty days of the sale you're entitled to reject it for a full refund under the consumer rights act 2015. I suggest you decide in advance which outcome you want, because they'll definitely be trying to persuade you to keep the car.

[Flubdub]

GreenV8S said:

Flubdub said:

I’ll take it back to the dealer.

You should be aware that the dealer will almost certainly offer to fix the car rather than give you your money back.

You're under no obligation whatsoever to let them. Within the first thirty days of the sale you're entitled to reject it for a full refund under the consumer rights act 2015. I suggest you decide in advance which outcome you want, because they'll definitely be trying to persuade you to keep the car.

Ah, I didn’t know that. Thank you!
It came with a 6 month warranty but it’s a £500 excess so was hoping we wouldn’t have to pay that.
Thanks!

[Flubdub]

Would it be worth taking it to my own garage first, and getting them to look the car over and detail the problems, before we take it back to the dealer?

[GreenV8S]

I don't see any point. It's nothing to do with your local garage and not your problem - no point either you or the garage spending any time or money trying to investigate it.

[Evanivitch]

Flubdub said:

Ah, I didn’t know that. Thank you!
It came with a 6 month warranty but it’s a £500 excess so was hoping we wouldn’t have to pay that.
Thanks!

Selling garage will most likely try to tell you it's not covered by the warranty because it's a wear and tear item. And they'd be right.

But this isn't a warranty issue. It's a consumer rights act issue as what you describe would have been evident before the car was sold.

[GreenV8S]

Evanivitch said:

would have been evident before the car was sold.

Just to clarify: this fault most likely was pre-existing and the seller may well have known about it, but the consumer rights act 2015 applies to faults that occur after the sale as well. If it is not of satisfactory quality, not fit for purpose or not as described you're entitled to reject it. In this case I'd say it fails all three criteria.

[Flubdub]

Thanks very much all. Just took it for a run this morning. It’s now very sluggish in 1st and 2nd and it came up with an ‘Emmisions Workshop’ warning.