You sell your modified car. Said car has a high performance clutch that has worked extremely well for you at all times and has been in the car about 5k km. No sign of wear on the clutch or reason to question it. Buyer takes car home and puts 2500km on it in about a week, mostly highway miles . All parties agree that the clutch appeared fine at time of purchase. A week later, its done.

TIA.

 

Caveat emptor. You sold the car as is. 2,500 is a lot of kms where someone can bung up a clutch. Did the buyer pay for a PPI before he bought it? Plus who else drove the car in that time? You don't know what happened to the car after you handed over the keys?

 

How do you know they are highway miles?

T.

 

You do nothing.

 

Caveat emptor... unless its a friend and you can and want to split the cost (because you are a nice guy) or you provide some sort of warranty in writing....

 

I agree with everything. Unless it's a friend, or someone to whom you might have some future relationship with, they're on their own. Is this the NSX? 2500 km in a week is a ton of mileage on anything, but in particular a car like that.

 

Is he sure it's shot?
Could just require adjustment after 7.5K of break in.
Is there free play at the top of the pedal?

If it is shot, and you didn't abuse it, then somebody has.
Can't see any other way a clutch would get toasted in 7.5K

 

And how would you adjust a clutch?

How was the clutch when he tried the car with you? Did you do some highway pull with him in the car so that he could see it wasn't slipping?

 

He agrees that the clutch was fine when he bought the car and for the first 2200 or so km. The issue has come up only very recently. He lives far away, so he did that first 2100 km in the first 48hrs. With the exception of horrific traffic in TO, which if you dont drive a performance clutch properly in can destroy it right there, the miles would have been highway miles.

He thinks it shot because he described hitting the gas and the revs building without the car accelerating. I dont know how many times he observed this. I told him to do the 4th gear test (stop, in 4th, no gas, let clutch out. It didnt stall. It is going to the tech on Monday.

He has described a burning smell. Im assuming that that has been him slipping the clutch in traffic and parking. He knows how to drive manual and has never had a problem with any cars before, but IMO a performance clutch is a different animal than a stock clutch.

Thanks for the replies so far. He is a nice guy and I want him to love the car, but I am wrestling with how this should be handled.

 

= misuse of clutch. Case closed, IMO.

 

Ask my mom how long it takes a poor driver to go through a clutch When I was 18 or 19 we had to replace the clutch on her 300ZX because I wasn't driving it properly. I learned on a Honda Accord.

 

how much is an equivalent replacement clutch worth, parts only?

 

Agree with the foregoing. 2500 kms in a week is too much to ask for consideration.

 

I always write "as is, where is" on the bill of sale. Once the money has changed hands I don't care if the engine explodes the next day, its not my car or my problem.

 

I sent him the stock clutch that I pulled out of the car when the performance clutch went in. He can buy a new disc for that for $250, if it needs, and he should be good.

But he isnt happy.