Oh by the way.... my clutch was murdered after all.
 

As I posted a few weeks ago, my clutch seemed really bad after picking it back up after some minor paintwork at a body shop over in brooklyn with a good reputation link here. I didn't remember it feeling so hard but wrote it off to getting too used to my daily driver Mini Cooper. I started to suspect something after my mechanical guru told me he thought my pressure plate felt fried after driving it.

Today, we removed the clutch to replace and do the IMS. It was completely burnt, but there was plenty of friction material remaining on the flywheel side. There was shiny on the outer circumference but burnt brown inside (photos tomorrow if you want). I am a hard driver, but not a clutch killer. My dude told me he thought someone had tried doing burnouts.

I have a good relationship with the paint shop owner and have had him touch up some other cars for me and I really don't like confrontation but this irks me and I suppose all I can do is vent about it here....

Good grief! Now is the time to paint their walls with their blood. :troll: Clutches sure as heck aren't cheap, and that's without the labor. Looking on the bright side, at least they did not crash your car and what not.

That's one of those things that is going to be VERY hard to prove and get the paint shop to agree to cover. Good relationship and all. The best advice is to just "forget about it" and keep a good painter. But I would at least mention it to the owner to let him know you know.

If the car was used when you bought it not only would this be hard to isolate down to the body shop, it might not have been them. Inspecting the plate just shows the lifetime wear, I know it seems unlikely but maybe it was just time for the clutch to be changed, with the pedal feeling changes being serendipity. Many on here turn clutch longevity into a trophy or use it as a resume to prove they are phenomenal gear changers. IMO, on these cars especially, the flywheel cost and gearbox cost make changing the disc sooner the smarter economic choice; making the disc last more miles for ego can get expensive.

A good tip is to always write down your exact millage when dropping a car off for any service work. If you pick your car up from getting painted and 15 miles are put on it, you know someone was joy riding and the company can not repute it.

Let him know in a friendly way... doesn't hurt. Who knows what the reaction will be!

I would not say anything to him, you might offend the guy and loose a good connection. I will relay and experience I had with my clutch. Let a good friend of mine drive the car, I was with him the whole time. Clutch was working perfectly when he took over. Drove around maybe 60 miles tops. no burnouts etc. as a matter of fact he was taking it easy. Make a long story short, when we finished I got back in the car to drive home and realized the minute I sat in it the clutch was toast. Stiff pedal, did not respond the same etc etc. If I had not been with him the entire time I would have blamed him, but thats how clutches go, good one minute bad the next.

Well after reading the various posts I have come to the conclusion that the high road is the way to go .
As harrycob above says it is not worth mentioning.
How many miles on the clutch before it went? Maybe it was due to be changed anyway if it was high mileage. It is easy to get mad but sometimes it pays to zip the lip and count to ten. Then u can think straighter!