Clutch Nightmare
 

I purchased a 2010 Mazda 3 at the end of February and have been running into some significant issues over the last few months. My clutch went out while out of town at the end of April with 58k on the odometer. I've driven standard for the last 11 years, replaced 1 clutch at 123k so hard to believe it's user error. Did a little research online after this occurrence to find premature clutch failure had been one of the top complaints on this make/model/year.

The place that replaced my clutch was not my normal shop and 3 hours from home. While heading home, I kept hearing a rattle when I released my foot from the clutch. After a few days, noticed the rattle was occurring more frequently and more clearly once the car was warmed up and running. Had my normal shop take a look and could not replicate what I was hearing. Finally, had it towed to the dealer last night because I could not get it to shift into 2nd without grinding and popping back out. Thought it was transmission related and did not feel comfortable driving.


The dealership tech drove it around most of the day to identify that it may be the pressure plate. They will contact the other repair shop to see what exactly they replaced, etc. The dealer is telling me worst case scenario is another new clutch. My thing is, if I paid for a clutch replacement 5 weeks ago should there not be responsibility on the part of the shop and original repair?

Recommendations, advice, experiences? Thanks!

i have a 2009 Mazda 3 and got it last year and clutch went out 30 days after i got it as well as the master and slave cylinders took them a week to fix it. anyway after all that was done they said it has a 12 month warranty and i believe it was a shop and part manufacturer. so i would call the shop and explain what happened as well as ask about the part warranty and if they give you the run around call a lawyer or something see if any laws in your area apply to issues like this.