Hey dudes/dudetts, maybe you guys can help me out. I will try to be as thorough and short as possible.

I bought my 2006 Z at El Cajon Nissan at the end of November, certified used. Certified used gives me or anyone else a piece of mind right? Yeah, it should. Well, come time April (roughly only 5 months) clutch pedal sticks half way and clutch goes out - took it to Kearny Mesa nissan and they confirmed this. Also said $2200 for parts and labor. I must drink quarters and pee out $100 bills.

Obviously as expected, "warranty does not cover clutch..wear/tear..." you know the rest. That I understood. But my gripe is that selling me a certified used car and the clutch going out after 5 months?! I put roughly 6,000 miles on it only. That in itself - as many of you and the mechanics at the dealership agrees - is VERY premature.

And YES, I did a search and found recommended dealerships to go to. I just wanted to pick your brains on how to go about this issue (specifically clutch being prematurely worn) with the dealerships here. I hear good things about El Cajon Nissan, but want to make sure I go about this the correct way. I respect people and their work environment - but I was so gassed up when my clutch was going out so early.

That whole clutch is not under warranty, frankly is not good enough for me in this case. People who track their cars and ride hard have had clutches last longer. Buying a certified used car I would imagine I could get at LEAST 20K miles out of the clutch.

 

Keep typing about this part of it. Need more into.

 

I guess it's a typical problem with Z clutches. Symptoms:
1) Depressing clutch when shifting goes down fine and can shift normally.
2) Upon releasing the clutch, it comes up only roughly half way.
3) Have to use my foot to literally flick the clutch pedal back up.

This happens randomly throughout the day. Their explanation was my clutch was sticking BECAUSE my clutch was going out. I confirmed (as they answered my questions):

Me: Were you guys able to replicate the problem?
Nissan: Yes
Me: So the clutch was sticking?
Nissan: Yes
Me: So now is there two separate problems? My clutch sticking and my clutch going out?
Nissan: Actually, your clutch is sticking because your clutch is going out.

And I wrote everything down, everything. I took names and titles. Let's just say if this EVER were to go beyond a resolution to a civil/service issue, having friends as lawyers is very, very helpful.

 

1) You bought a used car, the clutch was in good condition at time of purchase.
2) Clutch is not covered under warranty as you stated.
3) What's to say the clutch premature failure isn't due to driver error?
4) Don't pay $2200 to replace stock clutch, you can get an aftermarket clutch for $500 and have a performance shop installed it for 300-600 depending on the shop.

 

Very interesting on number 3 there. I posed this question to the mechanics and staff very carefully. First I apologize for my wall of text responses. From all the court cases I was in, I have formed a habit of paying close attention to details. I specifically asked:

- General life span of clutch in regards to miles (average driver)?
- General life span of clutch in regards to miles (track / lead foot driver)?
- Has the dealership encountered anything similar? How many times?
- Lowest amount of miles they've serviced w/cars with the same symptoms
- Highest amount of miles they've serviced w/cars with the same symptoms

There responses were exactly what I expected. Generally, "yes to all" and "we've serviced cars as early as 20K miles. Your car is already at 44K miles, so it's not too surprising."

This is true, not surprising at all. But what did surprise them was that I only had the car for 5 months - my actual miles were low. The "Oh..." look on their faces. Which then brings us to "certified used car." At this point, I had many more questions in regards to maintenance, any previous clutch replacements, some discoloration/dents/bumper not lining up. All of which the answers I began to receive were kind of held back so to say. There are records, but couldn't show me because of it was done in another person's name??

I actually respected the mechanics a lot, as I really began to dig deeper and ask the right questions, you can see they began to realize and acknowledge - like ANY right minded person would - that this is/was a widespread problem and it was premature wear. We discussed thoroughly "driver habits" and well, I think I drive a manual the way it's supposed to. I even offered to drive with the mechanics. And like I said before, people who track their car or dump their clutch have a higher life span on their clutch.

And I have looked into after market clutches and other reputable shops. I almost shaved off a grand from the estimate. But my main concern is that as Nissan consumers, we pay good money for our cars. We love our cars. Our cars should take care of us and we should take care of them. I just feel like this problem needs to be acknowledged and addressed, like a good business does...find a solution, or offer an alternative. Instead, I was fed the same'ol warranty/clutch response.

Have you had any trouble with your clutch? Anyone else have any feedback if you have same issues? Thank you everyone for taking the time to read and reply.

 

Are you sure it's not your driving? Cuz if I'm still driving the car like I first got it I wouldn't be surprised if my clutchs gone. Also you should know Z has lots of tranny problems (that's wat I saw on the forum). But are you sure you clutch is gone? Is it slipping? I'm not pro at this kinda stuff but I don't think a clutch pedal that gets stuck = bad clutch..........

 

I WISH it was my fault! LOL. That way at least I'd have some answers and I would own up to it no problem. It would be my excuse to put in an aftermarket clutch! But having the clutch prematurely worn on ours cars are just as prevalent as our tranny problems unfortunately.

Now as to the reasoning behind my clutch pedal sticking as the result of a "slipping clutch..." well is kind of questionable. Which is why I asked Nissan if these items were two separate and/or isolated. They basically stated they were related - I don't think so. But what do I know, they're the experts.

But I am about 99.9% sure the clutch is slipping. Did a quick test roll at about 25mph and then shifted to 5th/6th gear and oh yeah...slipping. In fact, I slip in the majority of 3rd - 5th gear. Peaking past 2400 RPM and it revs, while the car is trying to catch up It's like driving a slow *** civic. Ha!

 

Clutch pedal sticking halfway down= clutch master bad. Keep driving with it stuck down will = fried clutch.

Sometime you can get away with a good bleed, but probably end up having to tear the master apart to get the sedament out of it.

If i was a stealership i would tell you everything needs replaced. Honest shop owner that knows the car i would do rebuilt master and slave then let you know your clutch disk may have sustained some damage. Then doing the work at home, i would pay $15 for a master rebuilt kit from Fontana Nissan, maybe an extra $15 for the slave rebuild kit, take my man card out and spend 2 hours rebuilding the parts (one hour if you know what your doing). I had my 05 apart and back together within 1 hour to include the bleed when i rebuilt the master on it.

 

I wanted to make a quick update as I know I don't have thousands of eyes on this thread, but hopefully someone can stumble upon it and perhaps use it as reference/help. Additionally, sucks when people just leave threads "open."

To sum up the event, we now have TWO separate items.
Item 1) Clutch / Flywheel going out prematurely
Item 2) This certified used Z I bought is now in question as truly being "certified"

Item 1

My car has under 45K miles as of now and a local Nissan dealership has agreed to replace my clutch/flywheel under my warranty. Mind you it took a lot of persistence and questions for about a month now. I got in touch with Nissan Corporate and they happily help mediate the situation; obviously in my favor. The initial $2200 quote I received is now essentially, waived.
Note: At first, the dealership was VERY stern on "wear and tear, clutch not covered..blablablabla" you know the deal. But as soon as I got corporate involved, everything changed. Never give up, look at all your options. Everything changed as in a matter of DAYS, they called me repeatedly to get me to come in and fix my clutch/flywheel that somehow is magically covered by warranty.

Item 2
Looking at my paper work, a car to be certified (by my dealer here) must go through a thorough 156 independent point inspection. When buying the car, I looked at this long list of small boxes of text and check marks. It was like a wall of text. Fast forward to now, the inspection was incomplete and those not checked...dealt directly with my clutch/transmission. Corporate has contacted the original dealer and...surprise, surprise...they are not responding.
Note: Item 2 is STILL being investigated by corporate while they fix item 1. Not only am I frustrated, but so is corporate. We have come to an agreement that this is basically kind of well...shady.

I know some folks may view this as just some joe coming on the boards complaining, gripin about stupid ish, but it was principle for me. I think anyone in their right mind could not deny premature wear and the recent development of finding my certification paperwork should raise a flag. If anyone needs help and you may have a similar situation, please PM me. I am quite happy how things turned out, but now just awaiting item 2.

 

Good job, buddy. Hope things work out for you. I'm kind of in a bind with Toyota right now with my brand new Tacoma with less than 4K miles. Issue started with less than 3K clocked. I might have to get corporate involved too.

 

Sounds like the guy before you didn't know how to drive stick for ****. I tracked my car a couple times and it still lasted 60k before it started slipping. Stay away from stock and get a JW clutch and flywheel. It's cheaper than stock and will perform better while keeping the stock pedal feel.

As far as the pedal getting stuck that sounds more like a master cylinder issue not hold pressure which over time will wear out the disc.