I am a new member and am hoping to get some advice. I have a 2005 Accord with only
16,000 miles. My clutch has gone bad very quickly over the last week. Withina very short
time, the engagement of the clutch has gotten very short (only the last 1 inch or so of pedal movement)
and the clutchbegan slipping when I accelerated when in gearwith the clutch pedal totally
released. I was able to limp the car into the dealership and they took apart the transmission
and found nothing wrong(other than the wornout clutch plates, flywheel was overheated)and say that it is a wear item that is not covered by the warranty. I have a meeting with the local Honda rep on Friday but was told not to expect any help from him. The dealer saidthat since they couldn't find anything else wrong with the transmission, the clutch wore out from normal use or perhaps poor shifting/clutch use of the driver and that the cost of the repair $1,500 dollars is going to have to be paid by me.

I can somewhat understand where they are coming from but on the other hand 16K seems awfully short for a clutch to wear out. Granted it was mostly short distance driving but I live in Michigan and it is flat here and the only uphill driving is going up my very gently sloped driveway. Also, I hada Mustang in the 1990's with a manual that I drove 90,000 miles without changing the clutch that was an 8 cylinderwhich I drove fairly hard. I could tell from 70K on with the Mustang that the throw of the clutch was slowly changing as if the plates were wearing out. With my Accord however, the feel of the clutch changed very rapidly over a period of a day or so.

I have the 4 cylinder Accord and am in my mid 40's and drive conservatively. My wife drives the car occasionaly but I have driven with her and sheshifts and uses the clutch fairly well. She also drove myMustang(more often than the Accord). I would welcome any advice or thoughts. Could a clutch wear out so quickly under normal conditions? Wouldn't it take quite a bit of abuse or very hard driving to cause a clutch to go at 16,000 miles? Any advice on how I can put pressure on the Honda rep or dealer to cover this item if it is justified? Thanks!

Dave Adams

 

That seems way too soon for a clutch to wear out to me. Unless it was some youngster who had no idea how to drive a standard. And Iimagineyou have good clutching/shiftingskills because my first car was a 90 Mustang 5.0 and it was one of the hardest-to-drive manual tranny's i've ever driven before (I miss it.)
That sounds like a factory defect to me. If they give you the run around and tell you you have to pay for it, to this: When they change your clutch, make them give you the old one (along with anything else they removed.) Tell them you are going to have it analyzed for factory defects. If you feel like finding someone (NOT HONDA) to "analyze" it, it's probably going to cost you some $. But at least then you could be satisfied that you tried everything you could. I say "not Honda" becausei would be afraid they wouldjust throw it away and say it was wear and tear. I'm not dissing Honda here, but I work in commercial insurance claimsand I know how car manufacturers handle these "manufacturer defect" issues. They will hire some professional(a "hired *****" if you will) to voice their professional opinion that the clutch was simply worn out or that there were no manufacturer defects.
Hope this helps! Sorry for the long post.

 

Not only is it far too early to wear out the price is outrageous. If the rep won't approve it under warranty maybe he/she will pick up a portion of the tab. Can't hurt to ask.

 

welcome to the forum...and for future knowledge, there is no need to post the same question in two different locations....

 

Im gonna agree With both of our two posters about that pre time wearout of your clutch system, maybe the previous owner was a parking lot drifter or something of the sort!
By the Way WELCOME to the Forums...

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