Im beginning to lose the faith

[zooooom]

I thought I would never write such a thread but its the last straw,
Ive bearly had the car 15 months from new, of which its been of the road for at least 4 of those, now 14,000 miles later and suspected clutch failure, please tell me a clutch should last longer than that.
Has anyone else had theres replaced and what was the cost ?
I usually take it back to the main dealers were I brought it from but Im dreading the thought of the bill, so thinking of taking it to an indie garage is this a good idea??

[purpleperil]

Fifteen months - that's commendable - I lasted only 10

[chris watton]

Mines done 20K, and was informed that mines about to go, not very happy happy about it, as I have never 'ragged the @rse' off the car!
To have the job done properly, it will cost just over £1K - I have to admit that I too 'almost' lost faith - every 40K, with heavy use, fine, but 20K, with normal/mollycoddled use, I was a bit gobsmacked.
I knew about the top end rebuilds, was/am prepared for that, but I always took the posts about clutches only lasting a few K with a pinch of salt!

[hobo]

Mine went at 21,000. About £1,100 for a new one.

[chris watton]

hobo said:

Mine went at 21,000. About £1,100 for a new one.

Even more galling after just paying almost that for a service too! LOL

[zooooom]

I wouldnt mind, but i havnt done any track days in it and its never driven hard it just pisses me of that a clutch only last 14000 miles . I guess I'll have to suck it up and pay up.


>> Edited by zooooom on Wednesday 15th March 14:39

[holmsie]

I've just had a new clutch put on at 10,500 miles! Plus slight leak in the clutch slave cylinder. Pretty sure it was over a grand for the job. Needed it doing though in order to renew the warranty!
In fact, all in all, i've forked out about £6.5k in the past 3 months on the car!!
I must be insane!!

P.s. I better point out, i've never ragged the arse off the car either, so not sure why mine only lasted 10k miles!

>> Edited by holmsie on Wednesday 15th March 14:45

[chris watton]

Am beginning to wonder if these AP clutches are really fit for the job/purpose! Especially with some lasting only 10K miles, that's just wrong!
If they are this weak, why the hell are we paying £1K a pop for a clutch that, we're told, is expensive because it is well made and suited for the job, it bloody isn't if they're lasting only a few K miles!

I too haven’t tracked the Tam, and have always, without fail treated it with the utmost respect regarding driver/car/mechanical empathy!

(Beginning to wonder if Chan's Clio's clutch would last longer!! )


>> Edited by chris watton on Wednesday 15th March 15:05

[zooooom]

Well its on its last chance im affair, if theres any more major problems then it Sayonara.

[holmsie]

I haven't had my car from new though. The guy that had it before me had only done 3000 miles in 15 months! So i think a lot of the money i've forked out has been to replace parts that have just suffered from not being used enough. I would sincerely hope that my new clutch will last more than 10k miles though!!

[zooooom]

Well I use mine nearly every day, as I was told its a BIG NO NO to leave them sitting around idle for days on end.

[chris watton]

zooooom said:

Well I use mine nearly every day, as I was told its a BIG NO NO to leave them sitting around idle for days on end.

Ditto with me - is the AP clutch the only one that will fit? I guess a triple plater would be a lot more expensive - but saying that, they should last longer than they do anyway!!!

[jimmyt]

If its any consolation, I had a clutch disintegrate at 21K miles on a Mk5 VW Golf 1.8T. Came out the back of the car in (very hot) pieces and left the car jammed in gear. Had to be physically dragged onto a low loader.

Am more worried about the lack of use my Tamora is getting sitting in a garage 250 miles away from me

[targarama]

zooooom said:

I wouldnt mind, but i havnt done any track days in it and its never driven hard it just pisses me of that a clutch only last 14000 miles . I guess I'll have to suck it up and pay up. >> Edited by zooooom on Wednesday 15th March 14:39

I can't see why track days would wear out a clutch any quicker than spirited road driving. I don't do burnouts or force the clutch/gearbox on the track - in fact if anything you're more considerate as you need to keep everything smooth to keep the car punting along properly on the track.

Crap that yours has (possibly) gone.

Note: It shouldn't be the price that the issue - I think its a fair price, its just how soon it needs replacing that should be the issue right?

[raja]

Is the clutch not part of the warrenty? Not figured having to replace it at 20k!!

[zooooom]

raja said:

Is the clutch not part of the warrenty? Not figured having to replace it at 20k!!

I think it is if you've got the new three year warranty as long as the failure is not classed as wear and tear. but its not covered as part of the old two year engine warranty which I have.

[alt]

Blimey! My clutch was up to 30,000 miles with no problems but the garage recommended I change it while the engine was out being blue-printed to save on the labour costs.
New clutch was around £540 and they reckon I should sell the old one for up to £200.

[mongoose]

chris watton said:

Am beginning to wonder if these AP clutches are really fit for the job/purpose! Especially with some lasting only 10K miles, that's just wrong! If they are this weak, why the hell are we paying £1K a pop for a clutch that, we're told, is expensive because it is well made and suited for the job, it bloody isn't if they're lasting only a few K miles!

There is something wrong with the quality or design if they only last 20k!!On a 5l griff a clutch typically lasts 40k miles,which i feel is fair enough,given the cost and performance.But when you think about it,the RV8 is usually putting more torque through the clutch on average i'd say,and it's torque which gearboxes,clutches etc are rated to.A Griff clutch change will cost half the S6 clutch,so i cant understand whats going on there.I'm surprised that nobody has found a better alternative unit from an alternative source,i would have thought something out there would fit the bill


>> Edited by mongoose on Wednesday 15th March 19:26

[chris watton]

mongoose said:

chris watton said: Am beginning to wonder if these AP clutches are really fit for the job/purpose! Especially with some lasting only 10K miles, that's just wrong! If they are this weak, why the hell are we paying £1K a pop for a clutch that, we're told, is expensive because it is well made and suited for the job, it bloody isn't if they're lasting only a few K miles! There is something wrong with the quality or design if they only last 20k!!On a 5l griff a clutch typically lasts 40k miles,which i feel is fair enough,given the cost and performance.But when you think about it,the RV8 is usually putting more torque through the clutch on average i'd say,and it's torque which gearboxes,clutches etc are rated to.A Griff clutch change will cost half the S6 clutch,so i cant understand whats going on there.I'm surprised that nobody has found a better alternative unit from an alternative source,i would have thought something out there would fit the bill:scratcchin:

When I looked into S6 ownership, I looked at the clutch for the S6 cars too, and, as you say, the torque is higher at low revs in the V8s, so I naturally assumed the clutch for the S6 would be virtually bullit proof, due to the torque being a lot higher up the rev range - the clutch was never an issue with my Chim, and it was cheaper!
has there been any known issues with these AP clutches, as I seem to recall them being as rare as hens teeth a while ago, and some rumours stated that it was because AP were fixing known probs, or something like that,, don't know how true that is, but I cannot believe that it is acceptable that a £550 clutch plus the same again for fitting should last only 10/20K miles, even with 'kid gloves' use!

[dubel]

HI All,

Just new to all of this and thought you may be able to help.
Really got my heart set on buying a T350 and wanted to know if you could point me in the right direction, What things should I be looking out for and what are the most common faults.

I went down to my local TVR dealer on the weekend and test drove a T350T and they insited I should only buy from them and ensure to have warrenty and extended warrenty what do you think?