The clutch in my newly bought Volkswagen Golf R is slipping - is the dealer we bought it from liable to pay for the repairs? | Ask Honest John

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The clutch in my newly bought Volkswagen Golf R is slipping - is the dealer we bought it from liable to pay for the repairs?

I bought a manual Volkswagen Golf R 2016 at 7500 miles in September this year. I'm the second owner. The clutch has started to slip when going through the gears, but doesn't always do it. The car is with Volkswagen and they have rang saying the private dealer we bought it from needs to pay for the strip down to investigate. They said there's a good chance it’s very worn, but if they find a defect in the strip down they will cover the cost. Does the garage we bought it from need to pay?

Asked on 28 November 2017 by Ben

Answered by Honest John

That seems to be very fair. Volkswagen only warrants a clutch for six months unless there is a proven defect. But if the car was sold to you in September, then it is fairly safe to assume that the damage was "present or developing" before you bought the car and the dealer who sold it to you is liable under the six month rule: www.honestjohn.co.uk/faq/consumer-rights

All that said, people don't seem to realise that clutch life of a manual high performance car can be quite short and 10,000 miles is about the norm.

Tags: liability legal and consumer advice known defect clutch problem buying second hand car

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