Dealership is charging me $1725 to replace my OEM clutch for BR-Z

[diirk]

Originally Posted by Lammie

I though clutches were considered a wear and tear part so it's not covered by warranty.

Even wear items are covered for the first few years. I think it's 3 years/36k miles through the factory. That includes oil changes, brake pads, etc. And therefore should also include the clutch.

From the Subaru site: https://www.subaru.com/my-subaru/warranties-2013.html

Wear Item Limited Warranty

WEAR ITEM COVERAGE is 3 years or 36,000 miles, whichever comes first. Items covered are brake pad/shoe linings, clutch linings, and wiper blades.

[gily25]

Originally Posted by diirk

Even wear items are covered for the first few years. I think it's 3 years/36k miles through the factory. That includes oil changes, brake pads, etc. And therefore should also include the clutch.

That's what my dealer told me...in fact he said I should come in just before 36k and complain about my brakes and get new pads (basically for free). It's in the warranty book, my salesman highlighted mine.

Is the OP racing the car (altho I suspect no one would get an OEM if they were)? I wonder if he is simply complaining to his dealer about the 2nd gear downshift and they're telling him they can try a new clutch. It's overkill but...

[Justin.b]

I had assumed wear items like brakes, tires and clutches weren't covered under the warranty. I'll have to take a look at my booklet.

I would bet that if you came in with bald tires at 5k miles they'd claim it was abuse and not a defect. The same way if this guy's clutch exploded then it's be warranty, but glazed and smoked to hell is abuse.

-Justin

[diirk]

Originally Posted by gily25

That's what my dealer told me...in fact he said I should come in just before 36k and complain about my brakes and get new pads (basically for free). It's in the warranty book, my salesman highlighted mine.

I added more info to my previous post and included a link.

[Justin.b]

I stand corrected. I'll probably never take advantage of that since I don't plan to get into the clutch before the warranty is out and if the brakes wear out I'll upgrade. It'd be nice to get new rotors for free and then upgrade the pads, but I suspect they'll just resurface the existing ones (which is easy and cheap enough to have done without the hassle of going to the dealer).

-Justin

[Shinji2787]

How the hell do people manage to burn up clutches in the first 2-4 months?! Just.. baffles my mind... If the clutch can be determined to have burnt out just naturally by some defect then yea they'll cover it in warranty. If they can find evidence to say you intentionally abused the clutch (such as riding the clutch, or being a doofus and dropping the clutch at every stoplight) then they won't cover it under warranty.

[powertrip]

Why are you opting to replace the flywheel? They should be able to resurface it and that should save you some money.

It would help immensely if you can break out what you are paying for labor vs parts. Given its a RWD car you should assume less than a few hours of shop time to swap. I'd say anything over 3-4 hours at the most in shop time and they are probably bending you over.

For about the same price if not cheaper than the OEM clutch you can also just upgrade to an aftermarket one as well.

[Texas BRZ]

Originally Posted by venom8776

Hey guys, the dealership nearest to me is charging me $1725 to replace my OEM clutch and flywheel (as a kit) for BR-Z. Should I pay for it or go somewhere else? They have the replacement OEM clutch from Japan.

FYI: The current clutch right now is completely burnt out.

Any suggestions or advice?

Thanks!

(new subaru br-z owner as of august 2012)

I remember you bringing this issue up previously, and I had inquired about it then also...

I'm pre-judging and assuming from the mood of your opening post that you may have been the cause of the clutch going out so soon, and it seems as though you have accepted the fault, perhaps. If so, you need to attend to the root cause (and provide aid), otherwise you'll be wasting yet another $1,725 for a clutch again in a few more months.

I've been tracking my car regularly / often since I first took delivery and my OEM clutch is still performing good... So I'm thinking it has to do with your driving habits. AKA, riding the clutch or heavy launches, as others have already mentioned... And any car may not tolerate that abuse or extra wear.

If your car is modified and making a lot more power, then this could be a different story... Then you may be correct, you will likely need an aftermarket heavy-duty clutch which can hold up with the extra power or load. I believe the same would apply if you're running drag races at the drag strip... This car will not put up with that specific abuse. Not to mention, we already know that this car's natural talent is not at the drag strip... Unless you're going to modify it for that type of performance.

Good luck.

[86BRZ]

Too soon... How can you do that in 4 months? And then every 4 months a new clutch the way you use it? Perhaps it could be come from the production being too tight then it wear out even when the foot is off?

[Justin.b]

Originally Posted by 86BRZ

Too soon... How can you do that in 4 months? And then every 4 months a new clutch the way you use it? Perhaps it could be come from the production being too tight then it wear out even when the foot is off?

If there were some mechanical defect preventing the clutch from engaging, it would result in some very noticeable driveability issues well before completely burning out.

On the other end, if there were an issue preventing it from disengaging all the way, you'd have noticeable difficulty shifting gears.

-Justin

[RaceR]

Originally Posted by Shinji2787

How the hell do people manage to burn up clutches in the first 2-4 months?!

Here is one way to do it...

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1d8OZBqCyhA"]Chevrolet Corvette Clutch Burnout - YouTube[/ame]

[Dave-ROR]

Originally Posted by diirk

Even wear items are covered for the first few years. I think it's 3 years/36k miles through the factory. That includes oil changes, brake pads, etc. And therefore should also include the clutch.

From the Subaru site: https://www.subaru.com/my-subaru/warranties-2013.html

Wear Item Limited Warranty

WEAR ITEM COVERAGE is 3 years or 36,000 miles, whichever comes first. Items covered are brake pad/shoe linings, clutch linings, and wiper blades.

Yep but that doesn't cover abuse and I can't think of anything besides a defective unit and abuse that would cause this guy's situation...

[ngabdala]

Get a better clutch and flywheel for less than half that price. Take a look at the one's being used for the high whp wtq turbo cars

Originally Posted by venom8776

Hey guys, the dealership nearest to me is charging me $1725 to replace my OEM clutch and flywheel (as a kit) for BR-Z. Should I pay for it or go somewhere else? They have the replacement OEM clutch from Japan.

FYI: The current clutch right now is completely burnt out.

Any suggestions or advice?

Thanks!

(new subaru br-z owner as of august 2012)

[Justin.b]

Originally Posted by ngabdala

Get a better clutch and flywheel for less than half that price. Take a look at the one's being used for the high whp wtq turbo cars

That's not going to fix the problem. I'm betting the wear is from riding the clutch instead of aggressive driving.

-Justin