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TBentley · Mar 19th, 2008, 03:29 PM

Hi All,

I took a new Cooper S on contract hire (Lombard) in March 07, the car has only done 12K miles (and has not had a hard life as motorway miles in the main).

The clutch started to slip on the motorway over the weekend and this quickly resulted in a total loss of power and a hell of a lot of smoke.

The car was taken by RAC to dealers who have stripped the clutch and advised the contract hire company that the clutch has 'gone' due to abusive treatment and that the clutch and flywheel are 'blue' a clear sign (according to them) that the clutch has been abused. I can only assume the clutch / flywheel took on the fetching blue hue whilst more or less bursting into flames on the motorway

Despite having full maintenance (covering wear and tear) neither Lombard nor the dealer will pay for a replacement clutch, to me it seems clear that the clutch must have been defective as 12K miles is no life at all for a clutch.

The car has had no abuse / trackdays and mostly motorway miles.

I'm at a loss as to how the dealer can be so categoric (and wrong - I'm categoric as I know I have not abused the clutch) in their diagnosis.

There seems to be loads about gearboxes being replaced but not a lot about premature clutch wear?

I would really appreciate any help you may be able to give.

Thanks..

Tony.

I have spoken to Mini UK who were very disinterested / unhelpful.

Mar 19th, 2008, 03:29 PM	#1
TBentley MINI2 Newbie Join Date: Mar 2008 Local Time: 01:11 PM Posts: 2 Offline	Newbie - My Clutch is knackered at 12K miles!! Hi All, I took a new Cooper S on contract hire (Lombard) in March 07, the car has only done 12K miles (and has not had a hard life as motorway miles in the main). The clutch started to slip on the motorway over the weekend and this quickly resulted in a total loss of power and a hell of a lot of smoke. The car was taken by RAC to dealers who have stripped the clutch and advised the contract hire company that the clutch has 'gone' due to abusive treatment and that the clutch and flywheel are 'blue' a clear sign (according to them) that the clutch has been abused. I can only assume the clutch / flywheel took on the fetching blue hue whilst more or less bursting into flames on the motorway Despite having full maintenance (covering wear and tear) neither Lombard nor the dealer will pay for a replacement clutch, to me it seems clear that the clutch must have been defective as 12K miles is no life at all for a clutch. The car has had no abuse / trackdays and mostly motorway miles. I'm at a loss as to how the dealer can be so categoric (and wrong - I'm categoric as I know I have not abused the clutch) in their diagnosis. There seems to be loads about gearboxes being replaced but not a lot about premature clutch wear? I would really appreciate any help you may be able to give. Thanks.. Tony. I have spoken to Mini UK who were very disinterested / unhelpful.