New Clutch at 63,000 Miles?!?

I've driven manual transmission cars all my life, and I was surprised when I started having clutch problems with my 2014 Passat TDI. The mechanic thought is might be a master/slave cylinder issue, but after he cracked open the clutch assembly it was a mess.

It's the first diesel manual car I've ever driven, he thought it might be due to the torque the engine generates vs. a gas manual. In addition, I'm stuck in downtown Atlanta traffic at 10-20 mph on the interstate quite often, where I'm forced to ride the clutch more than I'd want.

My question is, has anyone else experienced a sooner than anticipated clutch replacement with a diesel Passat, and is there anything I can do so I don't have to spend $2000 getting the clutch replaced at 120,000 miles? However the ability to get this car in manual was one of the main reasons I bought it.

Honestly though, I'm thinking of trading it in when the final settlement is announced and get a newer automatic, as I really don't want to spend the money to replace the clutch again.

At 10-20mph I'm not riding the clutch. In fact I never ride the clutch. Drop back from the car in front and you should be able to drive along in second with no clutch slip.

Secondly the description "a mess" doesn't really help in determining the failure cause, or how to avoid it in future, so I can't help with what you should do to prevent it. Was the friction material worn out? Breakage of springs? What?

I've had this concern. I spend a lot of time in stop and go traffic. At 53k miles....I'm betting my clutch has the equivalent use/wear of a clutch with at least two times as many miles.

One thing I do is once I get down to ~5 mph...I slip it into first. I attempt to use the clutch as little as possible, but when it's backed up for 5+ miles (literally stop and go)...it's unavoidable.

I've driven in Atlanta. It's no different than near DC. Dropping back from the car in front of you doesn't solve anything, because then you just get cars jumping in front of you and you end up using the clutch and brake anyways.

I'm with poster #2. As for (#3) "...cars jumping in front of you...", what's the big deal? At 5-10 mph, even if 30 cars jump in front of you, your time of arrival won't change at all.

I've driven manuals since 1971, never had a clutch last less than 150k...and I lived in suburban Washington, DC. I was taught that the ONLY time the left foot is on the clutch is a quick in-out, NEVER lingering, and NEVER resting on the pedal.

csh1160: Not intending to beat up on you, but it's possible your clutch manners need to change a bit. I don't think there's enough torque in a stock CRTDI to cause premature clutch wear.

tdiatlast said:

I'm with poster #2. As for (#3) "...cars jumping in front of you...", what's the big deal? At 5-10 mph, even if 30 cars jump in front of you, your time of arrival won't change at all.

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I'm not talking from a time to arrive standpoint. Im talking about following distance impacting clutch and brake usage.

You're assuming a consistent 5-10 mph...which is not what I was talking about. In slow/steady traffic...what you're talking about...yeah...all you do is allow for a bit more space to help keep you rolling at a constant speed. I'm a big fan of allowing LOTS of following distance.

In my area...if you leave a significant distance for a buffer in bumper to bumper traffic thinking it'll give you an additional safety margin...the end result is generally that your buffer gets eaten up by cars people jumping in front of you attempting to get one car up in an attempt to get home 0.1 seconds earlier.

I've lost track of how many times I've had to jam on the brakes in a situation like that when someone will jump in front of me so close (less than a motorcycle length) that you end up having to drop from second to first. Just my $.02...

I've seen more than a handful NMS Passats with premature clutch failure. Same thing - when disassembled the clutch disk is a shredded mess.

Even driven wrong I've never seen a clutch do that - glazed, yes, pressure plate over-heated and warped, of course, DMFs in pieces, lots, but clutches turning to shredded pieces, nope.

Funny you use the word shredded. I didn't take a look at it after it was pulled from the car, but that's the same word the mechanic used to describe it.

Good discussion going. Glad no one is taking offense.
Another thing to consider: I've never driven an NMS manual, but we owned a 2011 GTI manual for 6 months. The engine/clutch engagement was so exceptionally smooth that, unless I was staring at the tach, it was very hard for me to tell if my son was "slipping" the clutch excessively. Even driving it, the point of clutch engagement was so smooth that it was virtually imperceptible.
We could very well have been "abusing" the clutch w/o even knowing it.
(Somewhat similar to the small turbo on the NMS: ...so smooth, and quiet, it is impossible to tell, during cold start-up, that the turbo is spinning wildly with the slightest fuel input...Abuse? Depends on your point of view, I suppose.)

cevans: Thanks for your input. Premature failure? At what mileage?

Guys mine was replaced on their dime after failing around 60k. Got the dreaded clicking noise when clutch wasn't compressed would go away when i pressed clutch in. turns out one of the fingers on the pressure plate sheared off and and stated scoring stuff and causing all kinds of damage. just like the turbos and the adblue heater/pump assembly this seems like another weak link in our cars. Open a case up with VWOA and demand they pay for it. I got pics of the damage on my phone I could upload or send anyone if needed.

I tried arguing with the VW dealer about it, they were firm on the 60k warranty. Naturally mine was 3k over the limit - why does this always seem to happen?!? I took it to a local import mechanic who charged me 20% less than what the dealer would.

ill chime in.... the TDI SUCKS at low speed driving. the traffic I drive in is too fast for 1st gear and too slow for 2nd. there is no in between. follow a rig and you will find yourself slowing down less.

not trying to point fingers, but im going to say user error on this one.

I have 100k+ miles on the OEM clutch. 45k were stage 2. I have almost 5k with stage 3.5 and I drive it hard.

no slip.

PS- try Miami traffic

Not happy with the manual in our 2013 either, been driving manuals since the 80's and never hurt one. At 63K ours will slip and 1st is tough to engage, VW will own it again soon.

Downtown interstate Atlanta traffic is legendarily horrid. It's what sootchucker described - not fast enough for 2nd and too fast for 1st. Its a mess and a grind for a couple miles each afternoon. The vast majority (80%+) of my miles are interstate.

I've probably driven 500,000+ miles on 5 different manual transmissions over the past 25 years and gotten over 100,000 on 4 of them, the Passat TDI being the only one that failed - none of the others needed a clutch replacement when I traded them in. I'm sure I can always learn how to drive a manual better, but I am no newbie.

Here was the specific failure - the clutch pedal on three occasion in 2 days failed to return to the correct upright position. In fact, it only came off the floorboard about an inch or two. The first time it happened I stalled because I let go of the clutch in a normal manner and didn't realize how close the clutch pedal was to the floorboard. Oddly enough, I could pull the clutch back to its correct position with my foot and drive on for awhile until it did it again. When it happened the next two times, I drove it like a race car with little travel with the clutch pedal, but pulled it up with my foot to reset it. After the third time I figured it was time to take it in as the last thing I wanted to have happen is this occur on a left turn in front of oncoming traffic.

I cannot comment directly on an NMS clutch but will share what I was taught. Clutch- either fully on or fully off. Our '91 gasser Passat bought new went 225k miles before we sold it with the original clutch, including wife time and teaching my oldest son to drive stick.

Start car and sit at lights in neutral, no clutch. If you match revs and shift points the clutch has almost no slip, just smooth engagement. You can do it.

csh1160 said:

I tried arguing with the VW dealer about it, they were firm on the 60k warranty. Naturally mine was 3k over the limit - why does this always seem to happen?!? I took it to a local import mechanic who charged me 20% less than what the dealer would.

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Skip the dealer and call VWOA. That's who you open a complaint with and a regional manager will get in touch with your dealership.

Clutch

Same here. 2013 Passat, clutch starting to slip. 32,000 miles.

Not an operator issue. I've been driving manuals for over 40 years. Long time diesel guy (and former OTR trucker), and TDI clubber since the beginning of TDIclub. Nobody else drives the car.

I'm just one data point, but in my personal experience the quality of the new Passat isn't what us repeat VW owners would have thought. It's not even close.

For us owners of the newer Passats, I'm starting to think that maybe this buyback could be a blessing.

- Pat

LagoonBlueTDI said:

Same here. 2013 Passat, clutch starting to slip. 32,000 miles.

Not an operator issue. I've been driving manuals for over 40 years. Long time diesel guy (and former OTR trucker), and TDI clubber since the beginning of TDIclub. Nobody else drives the car.

I'm just one data point, but in my personal experience the quality of the new Passat isn't what us repeat VW owners would have thought. It's not even close.

For us owners of the newer Passats, I'm starting to think that maybe this buyback could be a blessing.

- Pat

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Yup! Ours is gone first chance. It will be hard to walk away from 50 MPG but whats a guy to do? The clutch and the turbo problems already sealed the deal for us.

Wow, I'm another one in the bad clutch camp. My 2012 has 35,000 miles and about 200 miles ago I started to get the clutch clicking when not engaged. I have been driving manual trans for 30 years, just about all of my miles are highway with minimal traffic, and I use the clutch when shifting only about half the time. I'll hate to see the car go in the buy back, but like said before the quality doesn't seem to be there...

psd1 said:

Yup! Ours is gone first chance. It will be hard to walk away from 50 MPG but whats a guy to do? The clutch and the turbo problems already sealed the deal for us.

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wasn't expecting that one- I still plan on taking the money and going Malone + Rawtek and maybe buying a Leaf for short trips- have you seen craigslist, full of sub $9K leaf's

I'm another one leaning toward the cash + Malone and Rawtech, maybe throw in a CR 190 for good measure.

If your daily drive involves that kind of traffic,just get an auto trans and avoid the issues. I can't think of a more painful commute than to constantly be shifting. The DSG is a pretty good alternative.,despite the costs.

Nice to know I'm not the only one having these issues - misery loves company. My strategy is to keep driving the manual (since I just put in a new clutch) for as long as I can, then take the buyback.

I'm hoping there is a glut of 'fixed' automatics on the market and try to buy a 2015 at a very low price, as I love the car and the mileage. Even if the mileage is 10% less it's still better than just about anything out there.