Clutch repair

2008 TOYOTA CAMRY
130 MILES • 4 CYL • MANUAL
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KACY FLETCHER
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I had a full clutch replacement approximately two years ago by local mechanic and since then clutch has failed three times. First repair they said i need to pay as it was a "different part of the clutch", second repair was under warranty and third repair includes an excessive $800.00 towing fee and a quote to repair a different part of the clutch again. I received two quotes from towing companies for $500.00 as the mechanic towed himself it is mainly his own profit on this minus his time and petrol.
Do you think all of these repairs should be under warranty, including towing fee?
Sep 15, 2017 at 1:55 PM
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STEVE W.
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Wow! I thought towing here was bad.

I would go over the original receipt and see what was replaced and what the warranty actually covers. For instance a part may have a lifetime warranty from the supplier but most do not cover the labor to replace the part.

So say they replaced all of the clutch parts, flywheel (resurfaced or replaced), clutch disc, pilot bearing, pressure plate and throw out bearing, and one of those parts failed and had a lifetime warranty the part should not cost anything, but you will likely be paying for the labor to remove the trans-axle to get to that part to change it out.(they might give you a discount or even waive that but that is not real common).

Now if the failure was the clutch master cylinder or slave cylinder and those parts were not replaced with the original clutch repair, they usually are not unless they show signs of failure, then you would pay parts and labor to repair those.
I suspect that is the case in this instance. One or the other was the second failure and now the other part has failed.
Look at the receipts and see what those say and what the current part is.

The towing bill is a bit different. In most cases it wouldn't be covered unless explicitly stated in the warranty. Very few places do that.
You might be able to get the towing reduced if you talk to the shop and show the quotes for the same tow. Hard to say.

I would get everything in writing and go from there. Good luck.
Sep 15, 2017 at 10:00 PM