I brought my car to Kirberg Motors in Belmont, ca to get some emissions codes cleared and hopefully the root of the problem fixed. Next thing I know the mechanic is calling me telling me he can't even drive my car around the block because the clutch is completely shot and it needs to be replaced right away! That the car wouldn't even make it up the hill I drive up everyday with no hesitation (He threw out a quote: $2K). I bought the car off of a dealership about a month and half ago, put 4 thousand miles on it, driving up and down the coast, hard and soft driving. All the while not one hesitation or slip at all in the clutch. I have even had this car serviced before by other mechanics and never a mention of the clutch. Not once has the clutch not performed the way it is supposed to.
The next day I go pick up my car and I'm shown two crank case lines that are worn and one had a whole in it. I'm told more about how bad the clutch is on my car that was working perfectly the day before!!!!! WTF!!! There seems to be something wrong here. Either the clutch suddenly went bad between parking it over night and driving it (literally 3 blocks) to the shop or my car was abused after I dropped it off.
After driving the car and inspecting it, sure enough. The clutch slips in all stages of gears whether I'm on the road of freeway. How do I go from having a perfect working vehicle to barely being able to drive it the next day? Either something happened on accident while being driven by one of the mechanics or something was purposely done while in the shop.
How should I proceed? I will definitely take it for a second opinion to another mechanic. I've already begun the process of shopping for a clutch and everything but I feel like this guy just screwed me over.
It actually seems like the car was driven about 8 - 10 miles while at the mechanic. I'm not sure what you mean by creep forward or backward though? The clutch does engage, I drove probably 16 miles myself to see what he was talking about after I picked it up. I did not inspect the odometer when I picked it up but it has 27 miles on it from the point when the mileage was recorded when I dropped it off. There are no apparent leaks. I will check in the morning after it sits.
It actually seems like the car was driven about 8 - 10 miles while at the mechanic. I'm not sure what you mean by creep forward or backward though? The clutch does engage, I drove probably 16 miles myself to see what he was talking about after I picked it up. I did not inspect the odometer when I picked it up but it has 27 miles on it from the point when the mileage was recorded when I dropped it off. There are no apparent leaks. I will check in the morning after it sits.
I think he means does the car move at all or does the engine spin freely with the clutch engaged and the car doesn't move. When my clutch was bad right after buying my car, I noticed it slipping in 3rd gear after accelerating in 2nd to 5k Rome or higher and then shifting. It was more gradual than the overnight experience you are explaining. Wish I could help more. Good luck.
It actually seems like the car was driven about 8 - 10 miles while at the mechanic. I'm not sure what you mean by creep forward or backward though? The clutch does engage, I drove probably 16 miles myself to see what he was talking about after I picked it up. I did not inspect the odometer when I picked it up but it has 27 miles on it from the point when the mileage was recorded when I dropped it off. There are no apparent leaks. I will check in the morning after it sits.
If this happened in England, I think tough luck mate....
But as you are in the USA, I'd :
Tell them there was no reason to drive your car 8-10 miles.
Tell them they damaged your perfectly fine M5.
Tell them that you will kindly offer them the opportunity to immediately fit a new BMW clutch and flywheel, for zero parts and labour cost to you, and you'll leave it at that, or you will have no other choice than to take a legal course of action, which will simply result in the above plus the legal fees to them.
Member ARD is very good at giving advice, if in fact they did burn your clutch out. Also he makes them sign something saying if you drive my car out of this garage, without my explicit permission, basically you are F.....D
It is pretty obvious that they damaged the clutch, which is not very hard to do.
I would stop driving the car (the more you drive it, the harder it will be to prove that it was their fault). Call the shop ONE time and try to resolve the problem. If that doesn't work call a lawyer and buckle up.
This will be your word against theirs- you have zero documentation. You need a work order showing miles when dropped off, a receipt when you picked it up with added miles AND a note that the clutch was slipping from the mechanic.
Imagine if you could get to court. You'd say "It was fine when I bought it in" and the mechanic would say "I noticed it was slipping immediately on arrival". End of discussion.
IMO
A
PS WHat did you mean by two crank case lines and a whole?????
I absolutely should have inspected the odometer better when I got the car back, I don't know what I was thinking. I guess I was actually in shock by what he was telling me. There is honestly not much legal course I can take, there is no way I can prove the car ran fine before taking it to them. I will be paying him a visit today, if I can't get him to do anything then it looks like I will be throwing my car up on the lift and doing a clutch install, I found a great upgraded F1 stage 2 racing clutch to drop in it. I will no longer be taking my car in to a shop. I am investing in everything I can to take care of my vehicles from now on. Just very upset I had to learn the hard way. Karma will get him!
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