Yeah, the clutch is very stiff, the gear change is jerky and it rattles when engaging the clutch too.

Don't blame VW, they sell hundreds of thousands of these and you rarely read of problems..

Blame the bloke who did the first 33,000 miles in it, Probably abused it and caused the problem. Possibly aware of the issue which may be why it was sold.

Are you happy selling a car with a known major issue passing the expense onto another person,

Get some more prices to fix the issue, it will still cost you but it should be less than the first VW quote plus you will not have the problem of buying another used car with a similar problem.

Edited by skidpan on 15/02/2014 at 10:15

Perhaps it's your driving style that has caused this. 10,000 miles of abuse is quite a lot.

Nope I don't know him.

And 10,000 is nothing I reckon. What is deemed as abusing the clutch and flywheel then? I don't snatch at the clutch and I don't rag the gearbox. I don't keep the clutch at biting point in traffic and I don't ride the clutch when I'm driving.

I do however drive quickly, I get stuck in alot of traffic and I do downchange aswell when slowing down. I above all change gear as smoothly as possible too.

To be honest, I think the cars always had the rattle there and its always had a weird clutch, I just thought it to be a characteristic of this car. But evidently it seems not.

Unless Ordovices knows the OP this just seems to be provocation.

Why is this provocation? Why could it not be a credible explanation?

It could be, but the OP says not, so let's be kind and believe him.

For me When soneone says they thought it was a characteristic of the car is when the alarm bells start making a loud noise. I am retired now, and was in parts, sometimes deputising at service reception and what the OP says IS credible, but why on earth are people afraid to ask AT THE TIME. Presumably he bought the car from a dealer, was he told, "they're all like that guv"

Number 1 rule is ASK, when you are told it requires investigation ask how much, or if the dealer fobs you off with the above excuse, get a second opinion.

Get it fixed and move on. (not meant unkindly)