More car drama this week. I was returning from a Vermont ski trip yesterday and my clutch went. Luckily we had just gotten off the highway. The car would not go into gear, but instead made a grinding sound like something was knocking around in the clutch. Since I have no faith in Queensboro Toyota, I took it to the local Shell service station. They have been quite helpful with inspections and changed my serpentine belt last week for 40 dollars in labor. I bought the part at Toyota, but they wanted to charge $93 to install it. The Shell station replaced the clutch. They said the clutch separated and the bearing jumped, which was causing the sound. They also said the drive shaft ball joint snapped. They said this happened because of the clutch seizing. After all was said and done I had to pay them $1574, which include the clutch, rebuilding of the drive shaft, and new front brake pads. The car feels like everything is ok, but I will have to take it on the highway tomorrow. My question is why did the clutch fail before it wore out? I realize that driving a manual transmission in NYC might not be the greatest idea, but should this happen to a 4.5 year old car with 60,383 miles? PS this is my third car with a manual transmission.
Years ago I had a car with a manual transmission. It's cool to have such precise control the manual gives you, but maintenance is a pain, as you know. Since then I've had all Toyotas with auto transmissions, without a minute's malfunction or failure. Advice- next time get a Toyota with an auto!
ReplyDeleteRich