We bought our 1.2 petrol  Skoda Yeti at a mileage of 3,600 just two months ago from a Skoda dealer in Stirling. We have done about four longish journeys in it, never driven it in town and never towed anything with it. On Sunday night the clutch just failed, out of the blue, on the A1 (so dangerous the police had to help the AA to remove it). It's only done 4,990 miles in all. The garage says it was catastrophic act that caused it and it's not covered by warranty. How can that be? it was just bowling along the A1. It's going to cost a huge amount to repair.

Has anyone got any experience of whether this can be challenged? It has to be a fault in the car as, genuinely, nothing occurred under our ownership to cause this.

 

Seems a regular occurrence for the pressure plate springs to fail destroying the clutch and bell housing. 

A yeti with only 3600 miles?

How old is it and how many previous owners?

Who was the previous owner? Was it a rental/hire/taxi company?

Was it a Skoda approved car? Offered with a warranty?

Did it have symptoms like clutch slipping, unusually high/low bite point, or strange noises?

Did the garage elaborate on what a catastrophic act is/was? Thats not a term I've ever heard.

Edited 11 October, 20187 yr by xman

10 minutes ago, Parkesie said:

Seems a regular occurrence for the pressure plate springs to fail destroying the clutch and bell housing. 

 

Never heard of this on a 1.2 tsi, bell housing destruction is something associated with the 2.0tdi engine.

Edited 11 October, 20187 yr by xman

Hardly “merchantable quality” surely.

West End Skoda Stirling can get a Master Tech on the job, then refer to the Warranty Manager and Skoda, get the new part, get it fitted and job done.

Courtesy car while it is done.

Premature demise of the clutch after being used a a Courtesy car or what ever after Skoda UK Pre-Registered late Skoda Yeti

 

?

Do you have in writing who was the First Registered then user of the car?

Thanks guys, this is so helpful to us. It was registered in October 2017. It had only been driven by the mother of one of the Skoda salesmen before we got it.  The approved Skoda dealer was its first and only former owner. It had a three year warranty from registration so still two years to run but they say this isn’t covered. 

Do you have any advice on how we should proceed?

Lying barstewards.

 

Get that in writing, 'only driven by the Skoda Salesmans Mother.'   HMRC will be interested.  Was she Louise Aitken-Walker MBE?

 

It has a 3 year manufacturers warranty, 

& they can forget the 6 months / 6,500 mile exclusion as they got a Tax Break on a Demonstrator and put 3,000 miles on it, and punted it, 

made good money as well, then say a Salesman's Mother was the one wrecking the clutch.

 

http://skoda.co.uk/about-us/contact-us

 

Edited 11 October, 20187 yr by Offski

Ask them what this catastrophic act they refer to is? Did they say catastrophic failure?

 

Wear and tear on a clutch means the friction plate is worn and it starts slipping. Clutches do not fail catastrophically in any normal wear and tear scenario.

 

Has it got/had a towbar?

 

As for dealer registered only, driven "only" by a mother of a salesman, 3600 miles, 1 year old, I smell several fish straightaway. 

 

Catastrophic failure at under 5000 miles in 1 year, needs to be a warranty job, its not wear and tear.

I would start off by writing to the Principal of the supplying dealer.  Explain the cars usage and nature of the failure and the fact that you are not satisfied that the issue isn't covered under warranty.  Keep copies of all correspondence and where possible do everything in writing.  If you're not satisfied with their formal response then take the matter up with Skoda UK Customer Services.  You could also risk the cost of an independent inspection and report of the failure which could strengthen your case but wait to see what the initial response is first. 

 

You should also check your manual as I'm sure that fair wear and tear can only be used as a 'get out' by the dealer AFTER the first 6k miles but I'm not sure if that's 6k miles and/or NN months, whichever comes first .   It also may only be applicable to the first registered owner.  Perhaps something for you investigate.  @xman do you know how this works? 

Edited 11 October, 20187 yr by penguin17

^^^ 6,500 miles / 6 months.    Not going to apply here because the Dealer Principal will not want to appear in court to under oath say, Only Driven by a Salesman's Mother.

& Yes it was a Demonstrator.

Skoda Warranty Terms and Conditions

 

Items where the lifetime of the component is, or can be, influenced by 
driving style and external factors will only be considered under the terms 
of the warranty for a period of six months or 6,500 miles (whichever is 
soonest). Beyond that limit, the defects must be classified as wear and 
tear and will not be covered by the vehicle warranty unless a clear 
manufacturing defect is identified.

 

Catastrophic failure at 4900 miles sounds very much a manufacturing defect. The dealer needs (and is obliged under law) to give written evidence of how it failed and how the failure is wear and tear.

 

As a used car its also subject to the Consumer rights act 2015 where the dealer has to prove this was not an existing fault.

 

https://www.theaa.com/car-buying/legal-rights

Thank you very much Penguin17, Xman and Offski.  Feel less alone with this horrible situation. Your advice really helpful in knowing how to take this issue forward. I didn’t even know it was possible for a clutch to collapse in under 5000 miles. This has never happened - or anything close to this - in 40 years of driving. Do u have any idea what could have caused it? We are gentle, boring drivers. 

Edited 11 October, 20187 yr by rhamscallion

Manufacturing defect in the clutch or operating mechanism is the default assumption.

 

Stories about mothers of salesmen sound like hogwash and call into question about the true history of the car. Has it been clocked. Why did the dealer decide to sell after a year (6 months is the norm for staff cars which are normally also demonstrators) Allowing a family member to be the main driver, I would think is highly unusual, HMRC might be interested in speaking this mum and the dealer.

 

Trading standards legislation needs to be invoked to out the truth.

 

Trade Descriptions

Trading standards legislation is wide-ranging and complex. It is vitally important that you ‘get it right’ and there are many laws to protect customers from being treated unfairly.

If you breach any law, the penalties can be high and can even result in you losing your business.
 

• 'Clocking' offences
• False or misleading descriptions applied to goods
• Description of quantity
• Description of method of manufacture
• Description of composition
• Description of fitness for purpose
• Description of testing or approval
• Description of place of manufacture
• Description of history and past ownership
• Liability of company and employee
• Descriptions made in course of trade or business
• Application of trade descriptions
• 'Material' trade descriptions
• Oral descriptions

• False statements about services
• Statements made 'knowingly' or 'recklessly'
• Statements about provision of services
• Statements about nature of services
• Statements about timing of services or persons involved
• Statements about subsequent examination or approval of services
• Defences
• Defence due to mistake or reliance
• Defence due to default of another
• Defence 'of all reasonable precautions and due diligence'
• Penalties Compensation orders
• Mitigation in Trading Standards disputes
• Advertisement and sales literature Handbooks

Edited 11 October, 20187 yr by xman

Catastrophic failure is admission of a catastrophic failure of a VW component supplied to Skoda.  Nothing to do with wear and tear.

 

At the very least an examination of the components should show whether the clutch has been subject to abnormal wear. It could be worn out at such a low mileage by very bad driving, but should exhibit slipping and fail slowly. This sounds more like a complete failure of drive from clutch to gearbox suddenly. It sounds more like the system which transmit power from the clutch to the  have failed, which is much more likely to be a manufacturing defect?

Here's a useful definition of wear and tear taken from the Skoda Approved Used Car Warranty booklet page 7

 

Wear and tear* of clutch component: clutch 
pressure plates, bearing and disc.

 

* Wear and tear: Means the gradual reduction in 
performance of a component over time from 
normal usage, resulting in the failure to perform 
its intended function.
 

SKODA_Warranty_Terms_Used_Car (1).pdf

The garage says the driver must have done something to cause it but the driver was just changing from fifth to sixth gear on the A1 as you do, when Armageddon struck.

I’m going to print out all your responses and study all this great advice so we can take forward. I’ll keep you updated. Thank you again. 

Garage does not deserve to be in business by the sounds of it. You have the option of involving another dealer (re warranty) .

 

Skoda UK needs to know both about the cars history, fault and how you are being treated.

 

Offfski can give you some contact links

Edited 11 October, 20187 yr by xman

I simply cannot believe that this would not be fully covered by the warranty. I recently had a couple of minor jobs carried out under warranty on a 2.5 year old car, no questions asked....they just did it at no cost to me. Clutches don't just "fail" less than 4,000 miles unless there is a fairly major manufacturing fault.

A year back there were so many Yeti in the UK and on the way that were getting First Registered and ones that had to be First Registered or Flogged before 2018 or March 2018.

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/440425-£5000-off-a-new-yeti

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/447026-new-yetis-with-big-discount

 

Just ask Skoda West End again but in writing,

who was making sure that there was 3,000 miles covered and that it was over 3 months old, 

was the car lent out by them, or a demonstrator?

Was it a non Employee that put the miles on the car you bought?

 

Edited 11 October, 20187 yr by Offski

We went to a skoda garage in 2014 and ended up buying a one year old diesel fabia with 11k on the clock, on the day it had a massive price reduction so as to be gone for end of year. The car had actually done that mileage in 6 months then not sold as too expensive for so many miles in a short time. (There was also a petrol one which had done 3k but someone was already buying that by the time we got there. After 13 months the mileage was acceptable, and the price very reasonable after bthey had knocked £2500 off the screen price to shift it.

Car turned out to be fine, but both originally registered to VW or Skoda. Can't recall now.

 

However since that time we have learnt that all such cars with our registration prefix of FY are actually first used as hire cars for 6 months before return for sale as second hand demonstrators.

Thank you so much ken. They are saying the issue was because of user error. Having a meeting at 3pm today. I’ll keep this thread updated. Have hugely appreciated this forum’s support.

Ask them how on earth anyone can abuse a clutch in such a way that causes instant catastrophic failure? Not high wear, which manifests itself as clutch slip over an extended period of time.

 

Quote Skoda's own words taken from their used car warranty booklet

 

* Wear and tear: Means the gradual reduction in 
performance of a component over time from 
normal usage, resulting in the failure to perform 
its intended function.

 

Demand that Skoda UK contact you directly

 

Quote your statutory rights under Consumer rights act 2015 where the dealer has to prove this was not an existing fault.

 

https://www.theaa.com/car-buying/legal-rights

 

Ask them for the car's true and full ownership history in writing. Do not tell them what you were told by the salesman, to make sure they don't try and make the history fit.

 

Edited 12 October, 20187 yr by xman

?

Do you have contact yet with the Warranty Provider, and a handler from Skoda UK Customer Services?

http://skoda.co.uk/about-us/contact-us

 

Looks like the Warranty provider will need a Qualified Motor Engineer into West End Skoda and look at the Clutch.

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/446646-clutch-failure