They burnt the EVERLOVING SH*t out of my clutch...

For a history click here:

 

http://www.legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=98663

 

I'm kinda annoyed. I bring my car back to the body shop to get an appraisal for additional damage that was not fixed during the initial repair.

 

I go to pick it up after work. I tell them to just lock up the car and leave the keys.

 

I go after work and pick up the car. The FIRST thing I notice is the STRONG clutch smell emanating into the interior.

 

I drive it home the engagement point is notably further up in the throw and it seems to not be as grippy.

 

Pissed off I park it in the garage only to have the smell stink up the entire garage with a burnt clutch smell...

 

I realize they did not just burn it... they burnt the EVERLOVING SH*T out of it.

 

I am contemplating some lines to use when I call them up tomorrow... The OWNER of the shop lives down the street from me so I will try to keep my cool so I don't muck up the relationship with my neighbors.

 

Lines:

 

Hey did you guys have trouble moving my car yesterday.... cause you burnt the everloving sh*t out of my clutch...

 

Did you guys notice a burning odor coming from the car... cause you burnt the everloving sh*t out of my clutch...

 

Hey would you let the car air out a little bit so when I come to pick it up I won't know you burnt the EVERLOVING SH*T out of my clutch...

 

Any more Politically Correct Lines would be appreciated cause I am seriously fuming out my buttocks right now...

dang that sucks. yea you really need to bring it to their attention, find out who drove the car around confront him/her about it. - with a COOL head

 

you have an accessport? i usually put mine in valet mode that restricts the rpm to < 3k. would probably scare the heck out of someone if they hit that, and if they brought it to my attention, they'd have to explain what they were doing at 3k...

How about.

 

Hey, is there anything you guys want to tell me about what happened to my car yesterday? Like why it smells and feels like the clutch is all burnt out...

 

 

I don't think there is an easy way to do this...

How about.

 

Hey, is there anything you guys want to tell me about what happened to my car yesterday?

 

Sounds like the winner. Let them tell you. If they question why then you can explain without coming off harsh right from the start.

 

Either way it sucks.

 

Good luck.

dang that sucks. yea you really need to bring it to their attention, find out who drove the car around confront him/her about it. - with a COOL head

 

you have an accessport? i usually put mine in valet mode that restricts the rpm to < 3k. would probably scare the heck out of someone if they hit that, and if they brought it to my attention, they'd have to explain what they were doing at 3k...

 

 

I have an access port... I don't think 3k is a good indicator... when driving lightly I pass 3k at low load and throttle position. Highly conceivable.

yeah, losing your cool will not be good.

and make it known, you have a good lawyer.

 

i'd be pissed.... talking to them? lol, that would come later when i get bailed out of jail.

dont bother, their going to deny, deny,deny...

 

just dont ever go there agian, i once had a cat back installed on my civic and they melted the crap out of the side black molding with the torch, i saw it as i was walking out.

 

showed the mngr and they denied it to all hell, this is 5 minutes after the car was done!!!

 

you could still smell the freshly burnt plastic! i was a loyal customer for 7 yrs, never went back after that...

I hoping not to need a lawyer. The owner lives down the street from me. It just not easy telling your neighbor, hey you guys *****d up...

 

But your probably right though whoever did it is gonna deny it... Im left with a stinky car for a while at best..... and a buggered up clutch at worst.

 

Im still probably gonna mention it.

I hope I never go back there again... its a body shop LOL...

 

 

just dont ever go there agian

I hoping not to need a lawyer. The owner lives down the street from me. It just not easy telling your neighbor, hey you guys *****d up...

But your probably right though whoever did it is gonna deny it... Im left with a stinky car for a while at best..... and a buggered up clutch at worst.

 

Im still probably gonna mention it.

Why? If they did eff up, they should know about it. Neighbor or not it doesn't matter. A clutch is a pretty penny to spend, especially when you don't need to.

They will know about it... Its just diffrent telling sombody you know. Its uncomfortable especially when you see the guy watering his lawn in the summer as you jog by everyday.

Let us know how it turns out.

^probably with a bag of burning sh*t, a doorbell and some toilet paper...

Tell them you're going to contact the Better Business Bureau. Or tell them you know a lot of people, and have a big mouth. I work at a bodyshop and don't let that crap happen. Usually cars that are modded or nicer, I pay better attention to detail with them.

Sadly, they will most likely deny it. I think the biggest mistake that was made was to leave the shop without telling them anything. Whoever did it will probably keep their mouth shut and the owner, in the best interest of his business, will make the argument that he has no idea what happened between when you left the shop and when you complain to them. I had my STi in for a 60k service a few months ago and the retarded monkies that had their claws on my engine decided to loosen the intake pipe downstream of the MAF and not retighten it when they were done. About 3 days later I was getting delayed throttle response so I checked under the hood, and viola! Intake was completely disconnected. I called them back, trying to argue that they messed up something trivial like that. It had been tight for 50k miles (and rechecked/retightened every oil change) and it just "happens" to loosen and disconnect 2-3 days after they serviced it... interesting....

 

Same thing goes with the airlines and damaged bags.

 

Best of luck, though. Doesn't hurt to try.

I'd say use the tactics from good reality cop shows like "The First 48." Start a conversation, keep it light and friendly to get them relax, then hit them with what happened. If you are angry from the start, they will be defensive.

Hey man,

 

I'm going to play devil's advocate here, I'm sorry to say. It's incredibly easy to slip the clutch in this car all to hell. And it's incredibly easy to make it smell.

 

It's a really bad part about dropping a manual-trans car off at a shop that, perhaps, isn't used to driving an AWD Subaru. If you have recent, comparable experience to a 2-wheel drive car with a higher compression ratio (i.e. low-end power), you'll definitely know that it takes ALOT more to get the Subaru moving smoothly.

 

Anyway...point is: One guy pulling the car out of the shop could've revved it up to 4k and slipped the shit out of the clutch in 5 seconds, and you'd get that burnt smell and a temporarily messed up engagement point.

 

Was your clutch life shortened? Probably. But it might not be worth the aggravation.

 

One thing I find interesting: Why was the clutch still stinking? The stink is from, IIRC, the friction material overheating and glazing. It shouldn't stink after it's already cooled off and you drive it home.

 

Joe

 

P.s. Worst stink and most guilt I've ever smelled: I tried to spin the rear tires on my father's 99 Boxster 5-speed about 4-5 years ago. I left the stability control on. Idiotic. So I wound up revving it to like 4-5k and just slipping the hell out of the clutch trying to get the rear tires to spin (besides which, it's a low torque engine with 265 width rear tires). I felt so freaking bad. He never found out...

 

And the clutch is still going strong today

One thing I find interesting: Why was the clutch still stinking? The stink is from, IIRC, the friction material overheating and glazing. It shouldn't stink after it's already cooled off and you drive it home.

 

had a friend try to go up a hill in my ACT. the clutch stink did not go away for awhile. 2-3 days of driving.

 

after that it never felt the same.

 

so i sympathize with you, OP.

 

but some people here had to change their clutches at 60k. the aftermarket ones are way better.

I hoping not to need a lawyer. The owner lives down the street from me. It just not easy telling your neighbor, hey you guys *****d up...

 

But your probably right though whoever did it is gonna deny it... Im left with a stinky car for a while at best..... and a buggered up clutch at worst.

 

Im still probably gonna mention it.

I wouldn't call except to make an appointment with the owner to have him sit in the car, himself. If it's that obvious, he's going to understand right away what happened.

 

Whenever I take my car into a shop, I reset the B tripmeter so it has 0.1 miles on it when I get there. That way, I can see exactly how far they've driven it.

I am contemplating some lines to use when I call them up tomorrow... The OWNER of the shop lives down the street from me so I will try to keep my cool so I don't muck up the relationship with my neighbors.

 

Since the owner is your neighbor I think that you can start with a friendly talk with him. No need to piss him off, he will probably be willing to kick someone's balls for that.

quick story.

a friend of mine has a Mazda RX7 R1.

took it to a mazda dealer for some warranty work, dropped it off on Friday night.

picked it up on monday, all was fine.

 

a few weeks later, he gets a photo ticket in the mail for doing 68 in a 55. in Seattle....

he hasn't been to Seattle in years.

come to find out, the mechanics took a drive over the weekend to seattle in his car... got caught on radar.

the dealer denied it like there's no tomorrow. he pulled out the picture, the passenger was easily recognized as one of the mechanics.

he got a new RX7 from the dealer. they didn't want to go to court.

 

 

and 2nd what ehsnils said above. go talk to him first, if you havn't already.

Funny (not so), I just got my car back from a clutch replacement, and I have a brand new dent in the rear quater panel..

 

Shop is paying for it without question tho..

Spoke to the shop... of course they said they didnt know what happened. They said they would talk to the person that moved the car...

 

I think Im done here... the car still smells but it drives ok.

people these days...

 

i recently had my tires replaced. while i'm sitting in the waiting room, i hear an engine revving really high, and it sounds an AWFUL lot like a boxer engine... more specifically, MY boxer engine. i take a look outside just in time to see the tech launch my car in the parking lot.

 

i walk outside and into the garage.

me: "wtf was that about?"

him: "what's the problem, sir?"

me: "i just heard you revving the hell out of my car and SAW YOU launch my car just now."

him: "no, i assure you, it was driven very carefully to the garage."

 

I go to the manager. Denial denial denial. They did however offer me a free wheel alignment. which i didn't even need.

 

just can't trust anyone with your car these days...

Maybe it's time to install a rev limiter on the car to be activated every time the car goes into the workshop. Max it to 2500rpm.