Des wrote:
> as far as the clutch life is concerned, how long is a piece of string? it
> could last 1 mile or 50,000 (I have had 250,000 out of a Mercedes on one
> clutch and a year after I sold it it is still going) The cost of a clutch
> plate is the difference between inspecting it and fixing it.
>
A reasonable average seems to be 70-80,000 for average use (say your
typical 12K mile per year driver), but like Des says it can vary wildly.
If the car is driven by learner drivers (or just bad drivers!)in heavy
traffic It could wear out very quickly. If it gets driven up and down
quiet motorways by a sympathetic driver with very few stop/start cycles
it could last for many hundreds of miles.

There's a few signs of a clutch close to worn out:
1. they'll quite often get heavier.
2. Crunch into reverse gear more than normal (clutch drag)
3. Biting point very high up the pedal, and the cluch only just engages
without slipping.

Some of these can be caused by just bad adjustment though.

The answer is to drive it until it slips/grabs/makes horrid noises, and
then change it quickly. If the engine or box comes out for any reason,
change the clutch unless it's very new.