How long does a clutch last?

I have an '03 TDI Jetta manual shift with 133K miles. The car runs great, but how long can I expect the clutch to last for. I am considering trading the car while it still has some value, plus I do not want to be left stranded if the clutch, or any major mechanical part were to fail. Any suggestions?

The clutch likely won't fail first. The dual-mass flywheels are the weak point and they'll usually give you some warning (shudder on letting the clutch out).

I am 3 hours into rectifying this myself on my '01 Jetta @ 189K miles.

Sincerely,
Paul E. Turley

Really nearly impossible to predict. Anywhere from 1 mile to 200K plus. There are just too many variables:
1. experience of driver and driving style
2. all highway miles (very little shifting)
3. all city miles (tons of rowing the gears)
4. luck (or lack of it)

I'm not sure about the odd DMF "explosion" you hear about every so often, but on vehicles I've had clutches have always started to give ample warning (slipping and jerky/rough engagement) that the end was near.

Here is my suggestion - drive the car and keep up with regular maintenance and don't worry about it. So much can fail that can leave you stranded, you could even get a flat tire and that will mess up your day. Even if you pulled the transmission and replaced everything, that is no guarantee that you won't get a defective part that will break sooner than if you had left it alone!

But a clutch should last the life of the car in normal daily driving, like the previous posters said, there is too much to effect the lifespan to guess. The most preventative maintenance I would do is to replace the clutch master and clutch slave cylinder. These wear out due to time and corrosion and they are cheap and easy to replace.

210000 miles on my original clutch and just the slightest shudder if I have to stomp on it. It is getting the stiff first gear shift during the winter. Not sure if that's a bearing or not.Otherwise it operates normally A mixture of 75 % freeway 25% city. I've driven a stick for over 30 years.

If you start to do power upgrades, watch out... my clutch slips now

chittychittybangbang said:

But a clutch should last the life of the car in normal daily driving, like the previous posters said, there is too much to effect the lifespan to guess. The most preventative maintenance I would do is to replace the clutch master and clutch slave cylinder. These wear out due to time and corrosion and they are cheap and easy to replace.

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Actually, I'm not sure about that "cheap and easy" part. I would have to look up in the Bentley whether it's the master cylinder or the slave cylinder, but I know one of them can't be replaced without removing the transmission.

Brandon7: a clutch failure, from whatever cause, is not a major problem. The popular replacement kit is the G60/VR6 package, an upgrade good for up to 300 ft/lb of torque -- or about double that of the stock TDI engine.

Not only does a 2003 Jetta TDI have "some" value, it is perhaps the second-best car you can own.... second only to a 2003 Golf TDI. 133k miles is just barely broken in -- with continued good maintenance practices, your TDI will last you another 500k miles. Yes, it will need some new parts, now and then. But the engine, transmission, and most other parts last a good long time. I don't know of any other car that is more resistant to rust and corrosion.

TornadoRed said:

Not only does a 2003 Jetta TDI have "some" value, it is perhaps the second-best car you can own.... second only to a 2003 Golf TDI.

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Only in your opinion! Some of us like to have an actual trunk!

ibanix said:

Only in your opinion! Some of us like to have an actual trunk!

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Trunks? We don't need any steeenking trunks! LOL!!

Brandon...like they said, it can last 10 miles or 400,000. It all depends on how it was driven, and how you drive it. I've owned my car since new, and I'm still on my original clutch, but that's almost all highway driving and virtually never abusing it. An in-town car, or one that was owned by Speed Racer won't be so lucky.