My wife's 997.2 S Cab started feeling sluggish about a month ago. It just went into the dealer today, and the service rep stated the clutch is shot and needs to be replaced.

-2011 MY
-Carrera S
-Purchased with 19K miles as a CPO
-30K miles on the odo currently
-DD with a 45-mile round trip commute

I know that technically this is a "wear and tear" item, like brakes, but I am wondering if Porsche will pitch in some on this. Such as, maybe pay for parts. Question: what is the general life expectancy of a clutch in a non-tracked and generally babied P-car?

One guilty confession: The first week or two with the car in our possession, I was doing some hard accelerating and overreved a bit (2 times). I smelled a slight whiff of that classic clutch burning smell, but the car seemed fine afterward (and my wife didn't notice anything, thank stars). Now I'm wondering if Porsche will run a report showing overrevs and say, "Sorry, you broke it, you bought it." Sigh.

A final question: If we're buying parts anyway, are there better (as in more durable, or lighter, or whatever) ones we could have installed? I know a lighter flywheel, for example, will provide slightly crisper throttle response. Any advice appreciated!

 

PDK or manual, clutch is a wear and tear item so I highly doubt they will cover anything. I've heard people getting 100K miles on their clutch. I don't know, not anywhere near that number.

 

Good luck but dealer will not replace under warranty unless there's a defect on bearing or mechanical. Even with that you'd probably still pay for parts...still better than paying full price of approx $3k.

 

Sounds awfully early for a clutch to be replaced. Find a good independent and have them do it for less. I would stick to OEM replacement, if the car is stock you don't need more grip (nor potential chatter with the lighter flywheel). If it were modded then different story...


Who hasn't botched a launch and smelled that sweet $$$ smell? While glazed for a while as its super hot I doubt it killed it.

 

They are not going to replace clutch for all the obvious reasons.

 

30k is too soon, even if you overheted it once or twice. Your location can be a factor, if you are located where there aare steep hillls at stoplights (like in Pittsburgh or San Francisco). If I were in your shoes, I wou
D rn it until you notice the clutch slip. You have enough engine torque that you will start to notice clutch slip at full throttle before the worn out clutch disables the car. So I would run it to "failure" to see how long it lasts and. and also see how honest the service tech is.. Maybe it will go another 30k if you treat it right.
p.s., I am a AAA member at the Plus level which gets me up to 100 miles free flat bed towing to the location of my choice, in the event my.car is disabled.

 

IMO someone has not been driving it correctly. Maybe it was the previous owner??
30K is way early. Doesn t matter if it was tracked or driven hard, just has to be driven right.
It s hard to believe there is no easy way the check the clutch life left by inspection without pulling everything apart. OR is there a way to check that?
I also bought a CPO and wondered about how much clutch was used during the first 5000 miles I didn t own it. My point is even on a CPO d car I doubt they check clutch life (it either works or it doesn t must be there motto, LOL).

 

Not saying but... does she rest her foot on the clutch like so may people do?

 

First of all, thank for all the replies. Much appreciated.

To your specific question, no, she's an excellent driver and doesn't push it 99% of the time. The car was originally registered in New York (Westchester Co.) and my theory is that it was a garage queen when the weather was bad and driven like a bat out of h-e-l-l when the weather was nice.

We do live in a hilly area but are just 1/2 mile from the freeway, which is 90% of my wife's normal driving about a 45-mile roundtrip. A little bit of stop 'n' go near her office in San Francisco, but the company is in a flat area near the AT&T ballpark and bay. Garaged at night, covered parking by day.

Oh well, maybe we can get 60K out of the next one!

 

I totally agree with you that it was probably the previous owner.

 

No doubt it was the previous owner.Good luck with the replacement!

 

That is such a bummer though. 30k is low. I purchased my 997.2 with 23k miles and now I have 25k so I hope that doesn't happen at 30k !

 

Does it slip under WOT in the lower gears? If not, it still has some life left! How much remaining life can only be determined by driving it until it slips. I have never had a clutch fail and have driven several over 100k miles.

 

interesting and good to know.... why is there no other way to measure what s left?

 

according to "Click and Clack", manual drivers should shif into neutral at every stop rather than hold it depressed. It prematurely wears the throwout bearing and necessitates a new clutch as well.
I can't corroborate that as I've never had the problem. However, my ex-wife burned out the clutch in a fifteen minute period in a 78 Jeep CJ 7 trying to get it unstuck back in 78. I could smell the clutch a quarter mile away. I started to quit hunting and shoot her. As it turned out, I should have.