Been away 3 months but car drama continues.
On the day I picked up my Alto I could hear a strange whirring noise when you depressed the clutch and overall the gearbox was quite vocal, especially when warmed through so I complained immediately and salesman left a note for workshop manager who called me the next day.
Booked it in, workshop foreman came out in car with me, heard noise, said thats not right and suspected clutch release bearing. They had the car a couple of days, changed bearing and clutch - had to wait 5 weeks because the clutch doesnt come as a kit and one part was on backorder - anyway it turned out that the release bearing sort of clips in place in a cage of sorts which slots into place - part of that cage was broken, problem solved we thought.
They also changed both front wheel bearings as they detected excessive wear, thanks for that guys!
Picked up car, got it warmed up and noise was still there so I complained again. Foreman came out with me again, agreed noise was still there and they had it in again, this time for over a week ( Wagon R saga repeats I thought ) and I gave permission to drive it about as it was hard to pinpoint - eventually after a workout in heavy traffic the foreman slotted it into second gear and the noise went up a notch, he said it was shockingly loud and took him by suprise, plus the noise from the 'box at idle was terrible.
This time they stripped the gearbox down. What they found made me glad I am a complainer - the differential bearings were almost completely shot, he reckoned they didnt have long to go before big mess and a few others were iffy. They changed every single gearbox bearing and not only is the gear change smooth as silk ( previously very notchy ) but it is noise free.
The theory is that a transit oil was put in the 'box at the factory and this wasnt changed at the PDI so the bearings went 48k without adequate lubrication.
I also had the air con stop working but a simple re-gas solved that, all free of course.
My car was built in Dec 2008 which makes it an extremely early car ( didnt start delivering until 2009 ) so all problems I get will be new to the car, I am part of the developmental team it seems!
Credit to the main dealer though who bent over backwards to help and didnt give up on a noise that many would have ignored - lucky they didnt really. I cannot imagine the cost of the repairs but I suspect it was pushing economic viability on a £3.8k car, but Suzuki UK pays so dealer just ploughs on.
Put these problems together with the engine mount before I bought the car and it is a long list for 2.5k of running but hopefully, touch wood, the car is running perfectly now.
I like the car in some ways, but the drivers seat gives me a dead leg if I dont use a cushion and steering is strangely heavy at parking speeds - it was the best car at the time but it is not a 'love in', more a practical arrangement until I can afford something I really like - like a Yaris SR 6 speed diesel mmm.
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Car drama update new
Car drama update new