New Corsa clutch. 1.3CDTI

A friend is having real problems with the clutch on his Corsa 1.3 CDTI. The
car is only a few months old and had done 23,000. The invoice was as
follows:-

Labour, remove and refit clutch assembly £315
Clutch Disc £64.50
Clutch Plate £73.50
Cylinder-Clutch £104

+ vat

Although Vauxhall have agreed to pay 50% of this I still think that it is
way over the top.

I have not had any dealing with this new clutch setup in the new Corsas but
I gather it is similar to the new Astras

Has anyone got any ideas about this.

Allan

 

A clutch should last longer than that! What sort of driving has the car
done? Stop-start driving puts a higher level of stress on the clutch than
just cruising along.

Does he know how do drive the car? I know several people who let the clutch
slip a lot when setting off. I know diesels need a few more revs to set off
but usually the clutch is bigger to cope with the extra torque.

When if failed, what happened? Did it drag or slip?

Are you sure 23,000 miles is right on a car that is a few months old?

assuming it's 4 months old, thats about 200 miles / day!

Peter

 

Yes you are right Peter, its a driving school car doing about 35k a year. We
would normally expect to get about 40 - 50k in these circumstances.

 

This sounds about right for the type of driving, obviously, some learner
drivers need to get used to the clutch / revs balance so this will wear it
out quickly. I have read in magazines that BSM corsas wear their fron brake
pads out in about 7 to 8k miles !!!!!! Discs need replacing every year as
well at mega expense.

No doubt about it, running your car rond town is much more expensive than
longer runs.

My corsa (1994 1.2 GLS) has done 56,000 miles and it still on the original
clutch however, the peopson that I bought it off had it from new and did
longer journys.

My old C reg Fiesta 950cc had done 180,000 miles on the original clutch! and
still going... Amazing really

The cost of replacement is a little OTT even with the 50% towards it.

If you can find out, did it slip or did it drag? There is a big difference
between the two.

Peter

 

The clutch was slipping, worn down to the rivets (probably bonded) on one
side. Clutch wear on driving school cars is always going to be an issue. I
used to run the old Micras 1988 - 93 and although they were great cars to
learn in I only used to get about 12 - 15k out of a clutch - just a Sunday
morning job to plonk another one in though. The next version of the Micra
was a non-starter for driving schools with only 8 - 10K per clutch. My
Toyota Starlets always started to judder after about 20k but there was
always plenty of wear left when they were replaced. I have Honda Logos at
the moment and seem to be getting about 50k which I am more than happy with.

The brakes are not a problem. My last Starlet did 102k on the front pads and
138k on the rear shoes and never needed new discs. I think using the brakes
all day every day keeps them free and the discs rust free.

 

A clutch should last longer than that! What sort of driving has the car

off

No they shouldn't - much less usually.

Well people do buy diesels to do high mileages - 50k/year is not at all
unrealistic.

Peter

 

The clutch was slipping, worn down to the rivets (probably bonded) on one

8-10k per clutch? That's bloody ridiculous. Fair enough, most learners
will be crap at clutch control, but surely past the initial few times any
decent instructor will teach their students proper clutch control. Mine
did.

Peter