MINI Countryman 2015 - Business Edition - Clutch gone

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Tue 27 Feb 2018 21:13
MINI Countryman 2015 - Business Edition - Clutch gone - Clutchingatstraws

Hello,

First post on this forum so apologies if this is in the wrong place.

I bought the above car around July last year with around 5000 miles on the clock. Since buying the car I have done mostly motorway miles commuting back and fore to work every day. I view myself as a decent driver, and have not had any clutch break before.

While on my way home from work on Monday, the clutch started to faulter while pulling off in 1st, before finally breaking down not far from home. The car currently has 16000 miles.

I'm aware clutches in most of these cases don't seem to be covered under warranty due to being 'wear and tear' parts. But. given the above, the clutch going at this point in my opinion indicates it may not be fit for purpose.

I've contacted Mini who have asked me to take it in to them, at which point they will take a look at it and diagnose whether it appears to be wear and tear or not.

The car has also been in to a local garage, who have advised me the dealer are likely to take the car apart to check the clutch, tell me its wear and tear then bill me for putting it back together.

As someone who, you may have guessed, isn't car savvy, could anyone give me any advice regarding this?

Many thanks

Lee

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Tue 27 Feb 2018 21:38
MINI Countryman 2015 - Business Edition - Clutch gone - FiestaOwner

Hi Lee

Normally when a clutch fails it's worn out or burnt out and is slipping. When this happens it's usually blamed on driving style (perhaps by the previous owner of the car). This wouldn't normally be covered by any warranty. However you should have have experienced slipping (on some occasions) for quite a while before it failed altogether.

You don't say what the symptoms were.

If the clutch won't disengauge, then the clutch master cylinder or clutch slave cylinder may have failed. Or there might be a fluid leak. In this case it should be covered by warranty, if the car is still covered by the manufacturers warranty.

You don't say if the car is petrol or diesel. Diesels usually have a DMF (Dual mass flywheel) which can fail too. I don't know if this failing would be covered under warranty, perhaps others can advise.

The fact that it went from being fine to breaking down on the one journey is making me think that the clutch isn't burnt out, but I could be wrong!

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Tue 27 Feb 2018 22:02
MINI Countryman 2015 - Business Edition - Clutch gone - Clutchingatstraws
Hi

Thanks for the reply.

The first symptoms were on my commute home, which is around thirty minutes, again 90% of that journey is on the motorway.

The car is a diesel.

Ok I appreciate it thanks very much.
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Tue 27 Feb 2018 21:44
MINI Countryman 2015 - Business Edition - Clutch gone - gordonbennet

I've known drivers who could destroy a clutch in days, let alone that mileage.

Your problem is that you haven't a clue how the car was driven in its first 5k, if it had a poor driver, doesn't need to be a fast driver just incompetent, then it could have had 50k's worth of wear in those 5k, little old ladies can wreck them just as fast as baseball hatted boy racers.

I have no idea how MINI treat their customers over such issues, hopefully another poster can help here, all i can say is what i would do now.

I would ask MINI for a quote for a complete new clutch, should they decide that its down to wear and tear with no goodwill offered.

I would then get quotes from a couple of good independant garages to supply and fit a quality new clutch ie LUK branded parts.

When you have these costs the difference between the two might help you decide if the risk of 'sorry sir no goodwill' is worth it.

Is the clutch just slipping or are there horrid expensive sounding noises too?

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Tue 27 Feb 2018 22:06
MINI Countryman 2015 - Business Edition - Clutch gone - Clutchingatstraws
Yeah that’s a great point.

I can only give the best possible description, which is that I drive into work that day without any issues. Immediately after starting the car on my way home, I noticed the clutch was slipping going from 1st to second. Car drove completely normally apart from this. When the car broke down, the car was behaving as if in neutral when it was in first gear. Again, sorry for the lack of detail.
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Tue 27 Feb 2018 22:06
MINI Countryman 2015 - Business Edition - Clutch gone - Clutchingatstraws
Yeah that’s a great point.

I can only give the best possible description, which is that I drive into work that day without any issues. Immediately after starting the car on my way home, I noticed the clutch was slipping going from 1st to second. Car drove completely normally apart from this. When the car broke down, the car was behaving as if in neutral when it was in first gear. Again, sorry for the lack of detail.
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Tue 27 Feb 2018 22:17
MINI Countryman 2015 - Business Edition - Clutch gone - kiss (keep it simple)

That sounds more like a gearbox failure.

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Tue 27 Feb 2018 22:29
MINI Countryman 2015 - Business Edition - Clutch gone - gordonbennet

Slippage only noticed going from 1st to second then later on all drive lost?

That sounds like the clutch plate itself might have failed, ie the facings come adrift, dmf broken up or the pressure plate seized open on the spline, but this is only guesswork, it will probably have to come apart for an accurate diagnosis, if there was anything external to see your garage man should have spotted it already.

Sorry can't be any more help.

I'd be inclined to post on a MINI forum with as full a description of how the failure developed as you can muster, more likely to get a better idea from any MINI experts there than a general car forum, it might be a common failure on the model which people like us would be unlikely to know about, and they would have more idea if MINI is likely to fix it under warranty.

Edited by gordonbennet on 27/02/2018 at 22:30

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Wed 28 Feb 2018 09:38
MINI Countryman 2015 - Business Edition - Clutch gone - elekie&a/c doctor

This could turn out to be a very expensive repair if you have to pay for it yourself. Mini dealer will probably want around £1k to replace a clutch on this .If it needs a Dmf,then this figure could double. The only way anyone can identify any wear or fault is to pull out the gearbox.You are then faced with a do or die situation.

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Wed 28 Feb 2018 12:27
MINI Countryman 2015 - Business Edition - Clutch gone - skidpan

I bought the above car around July last year with around 5000 miles on the clock.....

The car currently has 16000 miles.

You have no idea how the car was driven before you bought it. Some drivers treat clutches with no sympathy and can destroy them in a few miles let alone 16,000.

Unless you can prove it was a faulty clutch you are on your own.

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Wed 28 Feb 2018 13:01
MINI Countryman 2015 - Business Edition - Clutch gone - Gibbo_Wirral

The car has also been in to a local garage, who have advised me the dealer are likely to take the car apart to check the clutch, tell me its wear and tear then bill me for putting it back together.

Check with the dealer first. The local garage may just be touting for your business and putting out scare stories.

I can't speak for Mini dealers, but when my OH's Kia Ceed had a similar problem the Kia dealer inspected it at no cost. In the end it was found an oil leak had gone into the clutch and they fixed it all under warranty.

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Wed 28 Feb 2018 13:17
MINI Countryman 2015 - Business Edition - Clutch gone - John F

Sounds like driveshaft problem to me. Do let us know the eventual diagnosis.

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Wed 28 Feb 2018 13:15
MINI Countryman 2015 - Business Edition - Clutch gone - SLO76
Over the years I’ve managed to have two clutches replaced under manufacturer warranty. One a VW and the other on a Honda. Both however were due to severe judder that indicated clutch plate oil contamination.

Both firms took the vehicles in to be inspected with the intention that if a fault was found it would be covered but if the clutch was simply burnt out through operator error then I’d be fully liable for all costs. I knew what was wrong in both cases and was ready for any fighting that needed to be done. Fortunately none was needed after both cars were inspected. VW in particular were swift to resolve things and the vehicle in question (a 2yr 11mth old Caddy van) was returned fully valeted inside and out.

If your car exhibited no judder or noise and simply began slipping it does however point to a worn clutch through driver error. Are you prone to riding the clutch on hills and at junctions? Was the previous owner who possibly elderly on account of the unusually low mileage? I fear you’re facing a bill for a new clutch which is as you rightly say a wear and tear item in most cases.

Best of luck!
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Wed 28 Feb 2018 13:27
MINI Countryman 2015 - Business Edition - Clutch gone - skidpan
Over the years I’ve managed to have two clutches replaced under manufacturer warranty. One a VW and the other on a Honda. Both however were due to severe judder that indicated clutch plate oil contamination.

Only had one clutch replaced under warranty and that was a VW. No judder, no slip but sometimes it was impossible to get a gear when stationary, I suspected a distored clutch plate and on inspection it was proved to be exactly that. Clutch replaced FOC.

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