Clutch crapped out at 51,000 on a 2017 Impreza?

[isabellekitty]

OMG.  Last night my car completely died.  I was leaving a stop sign and the clutch pedal felt a little weird, the engine revved like I was starting from 2nd.  I double checked I was in first as the car kinda crept forward.  I ended up limping into a parking lot as smoke came from the engine bay.  I had the car towed to the nearest dealer and should have a diagnosis tomorrow but I was told if it is a clutch replacement I'm looking at $2,300.  Does this sound ridiculously overpriced?  I'm pretty pissed.  I don't drag race.  All scheduled maintenance has been followed.  No warning signs that the clutch was wearing out....damn. 

[1 Lucky Texan]

seems weird...maybe broken clutch fork/lever or ???? broken front axle....?

make sure they show you the any bad parts they replace. They should be able to produce them quickly without any forewarning.

Edited January 21, 2021 by 1 Lucky Texan

[GeneralDisorder]

Clutch life varies greatly depending on driving habits. 

$2300 is a little high but you are in CA and at a dealership...... so likely about right.

Find an independent Subaru specialist. Probably cost around $1500. There's no magic in replacing a clutch.

GD

[idosubaru]

Could be hydraulic related or clutch fork...?  But clutch fork will still be mad labor and I'd replace the clutch while it's apart anyway. 

+1 to GD - clutches can go out at almost any mileage - depends on city/urban/driver/mountains/towing.

price +1 to GD again - get a local subaru independent - you'll get a better price and similar quality.  you price was high but not unexpected and you don't want a lower cost local shop slapping in a low grade local box store clutch kit. 

Manual trans is pay to play - they're less reliable and more maintenance and often more problematic to replace if needed. I assume a manual trans will need work way before it's likely so I'm not surprised or enamored into a purchase.

[isabellekitty]

So, a little update.  There is a TSB for the throwout bearing on my car.  The throwout bearing went bad, exactly as described in the TSB, which caused the clutch to go out.  Subaru refused to pay for the repair in full, citing the fact that my 3 year/36,000 warranty had passed.  After a bit of back and forth SoA agreed to cover half the repair cost.  I went to pick up my car today and the tech drove it around and presented it to me with 2 brand new scrapes on the bumper, one under the running light on one side and one under the headlight on the other.  I refused to accept it and went home in a loaner.  Also, there are 2 estimates attached to my receipt.  One has a $1600 repair cost, the other has the higher repair cost of $2800 and change, of which I paid half.  Interesting.  Some sort of manager is going to be in touch about how they will make this right.  

[idosubaru]

How do you know they caused the scratches? 

[isabellekitty]

2 hours ago, idosubaru said:

How do you know they caused the scratches? 

They weren’t on the car when it went into their shop. 

[idosubaru]

20 hours ago, isabellekitty said:

They weren’t on the car when it went into their shop. 

Dealers have specialists that come in every week for minor body repair of used car inventory so they should have an already existing option to address yours. 

If you have to check the car every time you drop it off for service, documenting with a video or photos would help.

if the area/shop are that bad then more than likely they also have customers who misrepresent their cars and blame the shop for things the shop didn’t do. I’m saying this from experience - for all the crying about untrustworthy shops, customers can be horrible - demanding, lying, litigious..  would be good to have evidence so you’re not lumped in with shady customers. Whenever I have an issue I want to as quickly as possible not have them associate me with one of those people.