Should the warranty cover a burned-out clutch on my mother's 3000-mile-old Suzuki Grand Vitara?

My 71-year-old mother drives a six-month-old Suzuki Grand Vitara manual diesel and recently the clutch started slipping, so she took it back to the dealer. They diagnosed it completely burned out and refused to repair it under warranty, as they blamed it on driver error after carrying out tests. I am very surprised that this has occurred if they are right, as I have been a passenger with my mother on a number of occasions and she does not ride the clutch unduly and I cant see any aspect of her driving style that should have burnt out a whole clutch in six months (3000 miles). Is there anything she can do to try and get the new clutch covered under the new car's three-year warranty?

Asked on 16 September 2010 by mattking9

Answered by Lucy
Clutches are exempted from every warranty I have ever come across and I would be surprised if they will cover it. This is a very low mileage for a clutch to need replacing and you might make that point. The problem is that if you wish to fight the issue, at the very least you are going to need an engineer's report (around £300) and will have to pay for it. You then take the additional risk that this will support the garage or prove inconclusive.
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