Busted clutch

[antipilor]

Like just about everyone with the 1.4 6 speed I've had the issue with grinding between 1st and 2nd. Didn't really have to much of an issue with it since I don't race my sonic around.

Noticed a clutch slip last Monday and called a dealer, said they'd have time for me a week from that Tuesday. Today the clutch goes out altogether and I need a tow. At 13000 miles I'm told the clutch isn't covered past 7000 miles and I'm quoted $1900 to get it fixed.

What on earth do I do now? Nearly all the money I've paid off on this car I'm gonna have to put back into it to make it drivable. How should I handle this from this point on?

 

[Breezybro]

Call gm.

 

[Breezybro]

They can be pretty good with bull**** problems like this. Best of luck to you, it's obviously a defect

 

[$ub$onic]

If anything else, you can get it fixed way cheaper elsewhere.

The gm clutch kit is under $300

It also could be the throw out bearing and not the clutch itself.


My local shop tends to be cheaper labor then most people on here but I was quoted $360 labor to swap the clutch.



But I also call BS, I second the call gm.

 

[antipilor]

According to Chevy there is nothing they can do. They tell me the clutch going out at 13000 is normal wear and tear. Boy did I make a MASSIVE mistake buying a Chevy.

 

[sonic_braaappp]

lol what? im pretty sure warranties should cover that, and a clutch going out at 13k normal wear and tear? im gonna have to call some major B.S. on that, the stock clutch in my cobalt lasted 104,000 miles, so if you go through a clutch in 13k, either 1. You can't drive a manual very well, or 2. The factory clutches in these cars are a pathetic joke (which im going #2, because my clutch will grind going into 2nd-4th gear with the clutch pedal pushed all the way in, i also just crept over 13k this week so now i guess i know what to look forward to -__-

 

[Beastlick]

I have 3X more miles on my sonic and stock clutch is still functioning perfect.

 

[antipilor]

I've never driven anything but manual transmission. I don't claim to be the worlds best driver but 13k miles is insane. I have no idea what to even do at this point. If I have them replace it I won't drive it another day while it still does the grind, or I'll just have to replace the clutch again in 10k.

 

[Trevinator]

have you tried taking it to another dealer? a busted clutch at 13000 miles is NOT wear and tear. normal wear and tear would be the clutch slipping so bad that it cant hold the cars power. you could get a light weight flywheel and a better clutch for around $800 if you end up fixing it yourself. don't give up on the warranty claim though!

 

[ahtoxa]

Good luck, OP (not being sarcastic). The clutch going out in a scenario like yours is just about the hardest issue to claim under warranty, from my experience. It is true that the clutch is considered a wear-and-tear item, much line the brakes, and there are a LOT of people out there that have bad driving habits when driving manuals, so as good as you may be, they usually won't give you that benefit of the doubt based on vast majority of folks out there driving.

Can't tell you how many people I've seen lightly rest their left foot on the clutch when driving. They always claim that they barely put any pressure on it, but they don't realize that a small habit like that is what shortens the life of the clutch, or the throw out bearing, in this case.

Either way, OP. Good luck, and if you don't have any detrimental driving habits, there's no way a clutch should go out in 13k miles.

 

[Natesriv]

Light pressure can sure erode the clutch MUCH faster...

 

[ahtoxa]

By the way, OP, my 1-2 grind went away after maybe 15k miles or so. I've not had it grind in about a year and a half, at least. I'm at 47k miles now.

 

[NewZJ]

Mine grinds for the first time I shift into second, maybe the second time too, after that it's smooth

 

[antipilor]

An update on this. I ended up paying about $1800. It still grinds between 1st and 2nd but it's much more random now so the dealership has been unable to reproduce the problem. Chevy has maintained through the whole of it that the problem is normal wear and tear and not covered at all.

What's even more fun was the first time I went to pick it up they actually got the car into a fender bender with another car on the lot. So I had to wait another week to get my car back. They fixed all the damage and detailed my car but what a damn nightmare. They've insisted nothing is going on my car history and no value on my car has been lost.

All in all this has been a pretty nightmarish situation. Once I break even on the trade in (which is gonna take me a while now) I'm going to be getting away from Chevy.

 

[ChrisJ]

An update on this. I ended up paying about $1800. It still grinds between 1st and 2nd but it's much more random now so the dealership has been unable to reproduce the problem. Chevy has maintained through the whole of it that the problem is normal wear and tear and not covered at all.

What's even more fun was the first time I went to pick it up they actually got the car into a fender bender with another car on the lot. So I had to wait another week to get my car back. They fixed all the damage and detailed my car but what a damn nightmare. They've insisted nothing is going on my car history and no value on my car has been lost.

All in all this has been a pretty nightmarish situation. Once I break even on the trade in (which is gonna take me a while now) I'm going to be getting away from Chevy.

When a clutch goes out on a Nissan, Toyota or Honda @ 13K you think it's any different?

As has been said, many people out there either can't drive manual or have bad habits and sure as hell can burn up a clutch in 13,000 miles. Unfortunately, dealers know this and even if you're the best of the best they assume you caused the damage.

Something tells me you haven't had such bad luck in the past and I hope you don't again but if you do, you're going to find the same treatment from everyone.

I wish you the best of luck with your Sonic and future vehicles.

 

[antipilor]

Perhaps, though I do not intend to give Chevy another opportunity to treat me as they have.

 

[laborsmith]

Fair enough. I am like that about Jeep/Chrysler although likely with less good reason.

Laborsmith

 

[Swordsmith]

I put an aftermarket clutch and burned it up within 5K miles, put in another aftermarket clutch and the same thing happened. Put an OEM clutch in and have put about 45K miles on it thus far with no problem at all... and that's with a lot more power than the stock clutch is "supposed" to be able to handle. I don't know what year your Sonic is, but I think in 2014 they improved the clutch so it will hold even more... but that's not the clutch I have. I think any replacement they do now, even on older Sonics, is with the new clutch.

The grind is in the transmission, not the clutch, it's hard to see where there would be any connection other than coincidence... particularly when we have had a few folks with transmission issues and their clutches didn't give out. (And yes, I have transmission grind issues, going from 3rd to 2nd and from any gear into 5th. Have had the entire life of this latest clutch. No damage as far as I can tell)